Nature study finds the Amazon is a net carbon source, with fires the dominant cause

26 October 2026

A study published in the journal Nature reports that the Amazon has become a net source of carbon rather than a sink. Using fifteen years of atmospheric carbon dioxide measurements, the authors put the region's overall carbon balance at 0.32 plus or minus 0.08 petagrams of carbon a year, with fire emissions of 0.40 plus or minus 0.07 petagrams of carbon a year. The study separates the record into three groups of years. In wetter years with low human activity the balance was 0.11 plus or minus 0.08 petagrams of carbon a year. In years dominated by deforestation and degradation under low climatic stress it rose to 0.43 plus or minus 0.13. In warm, dry years linked to El Nino, Tropical North Atlantic warming and biomass burning it was 0.49 plus or minus 0.07. The finding is that human action drives the emissions and drought amplifies them.