IDB to support study on the greenhouse effect on the Amazon

The Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Clelio Campolina, and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) representative to Brazil, Daniela Carrera-Marquis, signed an agreement Wednesday (May 14) committing investments of $2.3 million to the Amazon FACE program. The project uses the free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) method to study the effects of increased carbon dioxide on the ecosystems of the Amazon rainforest.

According to the ministry's Secretary for Research and Development Policies and Programs, Carlos Afonso Nobre, the cooperation agreement will ensure a steady source of funding to enable project execution. “This is a very expensive kind of experiment. We're talking about world-class science going out to the field to study the Amazon, so it takes robust, steady funding. This IDB partnership will ensure the first level of funding for the project's first couple of years,” he said.

The secretary stressed the importance of the study in understanding how the rainforest is responding to the greenhouse effect. “We'll see if we can identify any limits and measure the extent of the rainforest response [to the carbon dioxide enrichment]. Until we've found this out, we can only make tentative forecasts,” he explained.

According to assistant professor David Montenegro Lapola of the Department of Ecology, São Paulo State University (UNESP), a system of towers arranged in a circle will sprinkle air containing high carbon dioxide concentrations in selected areas of the forest. Then, researchers will observe how plants react, from the uppermost leaves to the deepest roots.

The project is designed to be a long-term experiment, with completion expected by 2027. A total of eight areas of Amazon rainforest will be monitored, four of them under high carbon dioxide concentrations against another four under the existing levels.

“Now are starting the first phase and carrying out the first experimental measures. If things go all right, we'll implement the two rings towards the end of next year. Then we'll be able to start the pilot experiment so we can learn the logistics and infrastructure aspects. If successful, we'll add another three pairs of towers,” he concluded.

Translated by Mayra Borges