Amazon rainforest is absorbing less carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

 This is due to wildfires, whose pollutants react with sunlight to form tropospheric ozone, scientists from the University of Exeter in the UK revealed.

 "Wildfires do not just emit carbon dioxide when they burn. They also contribute to rising levels of tropospheric ozone, a pollutant that damages the leaves of surviving trees and reduces their capacity to continue absorbing carbon," the researchers noted.

This effect intensifies during major droughts. In fact, three of the most extreme droughts recorded in the Amazon over the last three decades, in 1998, 2016, and 2024, occurred during El Niño episodes.

Given the strengthening of this phenomenon this year, which could become one of the most intense on record , the study's authors warn that another significant increase in large carbon concentrations is likely to occur.