Strong El Nino turned section of Amazon into major carbon polluter, new research says

The research found that in the three years after the El Nino, the Lower Tapajos region emitted 494 million tonnes of carbon dioxide

Researchers carried out an eight-year study in Brazil’s Lower Tapajos in eastern Amazonia. Picture: Erika Berenguer/PA

A section of the Amazon rainforest has flipped from a carbon sink to a major polluter after decades of human activity made it vulnerable to drought and wildfires, new research has found.

An eight-year study in Brazil’s Lower Tapajos in eastern Amazonia found the smaller, younger trees in re-growing – “secondary” – forest and in areas being selectively logged were much more vulnerable to extreme weather.