The Amazon rainforest is widely considered to be one of the most amazing ecosystems on the planet. With millions of different plants, animals, insects, fungi, and other things living here (many of which live nowhere else), it is also one of the most studied places on Earth.

According to new research published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, however, this rainforest is at a tipping point due to climate change. The researchers, which consisted of a team of European scientists, created a computer model to look at one of the areas within this massive forest. The area was 2.3 million square miles.

With that model, they did experiments to see what would happen in various scenarios including if the rate of deforestation continued or the global temperature keeps rising. In some projections, the whole ecosystem could shift from being a rainforest to being more like the savanna. A coauthor of the study and University of Cambridge professor, Andrew Friend, talked to Live Science about it, saying:

“We are reasonably confident that such a shift is possible. The question is what degree of climate change and/or deforestation will cause the system to change.”

Based on a number of their models, they found that there are a number of conditions that could cause the rainforest to drastically change. First, if the area had a drop of just 10% in precipitation from the Atlantic Ocean, that could be devastating. Also, if deforestation got to 65% destruction, that could contribute to the desertification of the region. Of course, a rise in average global temperatures could lead these these results.

Any one area could have a devastating change, but the reality is that if it happens, it would likely be due to a combination of smaller changes such as a 5% reduction in precipitation and a 50% destruction due to deforestation, for example.

While the loss of the rainforest would be terrible for many reasons locally, it would also have a big impact on the whole world. The Amazon rainforest is often called the lungs of the world because of how much carbon it absorbs and how much oxygen it creates.

Friend went on to say about the importance of taking action to prevent this shift:

“Both climate change and deforestation have to be reduced over the next 10-20 years if we want to be confident that the system will remain intact. Our understanding is far from complete, and we may be wrong about how the system will respond to these threats, but it would be unwise to rely on this possibility.”

The bottom line is, it doesn’t matter whether this exact research is right or wrong, the reality is that the rainforest is at risk in many different ways. Taking action to preserve it is critically important both for the locals living in the area and the world as a whole.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about why we should be worried about the leak in the bottom of the ocean.