Amazon rainforest may collapse within decades if critical point is reached: Study

News: According to a study published in the journal Nature Communications, large ecosystems, such as the Amazon rainforest, may collapse and disappear quickly, once a critical point in their destruction is reached.

Facts:

Key takeaways:

• An ecosystem the size of the Amazon could collapse in approximately 50 years once a tipping point had been reached. 
• For a system the size of the Caribbean coral reefs, collapse could occur in 15 years once triggered.

Additional information:

Amazon rainforest

• It is a moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America.
• The majority of the forest is contained within Brazil (60%), followed by Peru Colombia with 10%, and with minor amounts in Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.

Caribbean Coral reefs:

• Most Caribbean coral reefs are fringing reefs.However, other important coral reefs are present in the Caribbean- Example:The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, stretching from the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico to the Bay Islands of Honduras, is the second-largest barrier reef system in the world.