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A new study suggests that tropical rainforests like the Amazon and Western Ghats might survive future global warming, led by IIT Kharagpur.
Key Findings
The study analyzed 56-million-year-old coal layers from the Vastan mines in Gujarat, which contain fossilized remains of tropical rainforests.
These forests survived a period of extreme global warming (Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum or PETM), when carbon dioxide levels were much higher than current levels.
Rainforests not only survived but also diversified during this period.
The key factor for survival was an increase in rainfall, which likely helped cool temperatures and sustained the rainforest ecosystems.
The findings suggest that similar rainforest ecosystems today could survive and adapt to global warming, provided rainfall patterns continue to buffer temperature increases.
However, a 2023 IPCC report warns that if CO2 emissions continue unchecked, tropical rainforests could collapse by the end of the century, risking global ecological and human impacts.
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