14 DAY TRIAL // A new report pieced together by scientists working with NASA and NOAA warns that the Amazon rainforest risks being devastated by wildfires this dry season.
The specialists explain that, according to the fire prediction system they have rolled out, higher-than-average temperatures in the high Atlantic are the ones to blame for the fact that forest fire risk in the Amazon rainforest is significantly higher than it was just one year ago.
Mongabay explains that these warmer-than-average temperatures in the high Atlantic directly influence rainfall in the Amazon.
More precisely, they cause moisture to head towards the Gulf of Mexico, thus upping wildfire incidence in the Amazon.
“University and NASA researchers predict that the severity of the 2013 fire season will be considerably higher than in 2011 and 2012 for many Amazon forests in the Southern Hemisphere. The outlook is based on a fire severity model that produced a successful first forecast in 2012,” reads NASA's official website.
“In 2012, climate conditions were less favorable for burning. Sea surface temperatures in the Central Pacific and North Atlantic were cooler than normal, which lead to increased rainfall across the southern Amazon in the months preceding the fire season,” the scientists further explain.
By the looks of it, the states of Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia and Acre in Brazil are the regions expected to witness the most wildfires during this year's dry season.
The Bolivian departments of Santa Cruz and Pando should also ready to deal with an increased incidence of fire, the same source informs us.
Besides using this prediction system to determine fire risk, the scientists hope that the model they have developed will allow them to roll out better predictions concerning flooding patterns in this part of the world.
They say that, since 2005 until present day, the Amazon rainforest has experienced a so-called drought/fire and flood cycle, and that their work could help local communities better prepare to face these extreme conditions.
“With this forecasting system we're hoping to build some advanced warning about whether the Amazon region is facing a fire year or a flood year. This year, plan for fires,” NASA scientist Doug Morton says.