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The Amazon rainforest could reach a ‘tipping point’ by 2050, according to an international group of scientists.

They warn of dire consequences for the world from pressures on the Amazon after computer modelling indicates that up to half of the critical forest cover could be pushed into an irreversible collapse by 2050.

Over the past year large swathes of the Amazon have experienced a historic drought. The research, published in the journal Nature, is said to be the most comprehensive analysis yet of the threat faced by the world's largest tropical rainforest.

For an independent view on the analysis Newsday turned to Henna Hundal, a Climate and Policy Researcher at the Stanford School of Medicine where she specialises in natural disasters, and policy to contain the effects of climate disasters.

"The Amazon is really critical for its cooling effect for the globe and as a carbon sink. I think the ray of hope resides in international collaboration... the need for the so-called Global North to support the Global South in their climate efforts in order to prevent catastrophes like what we're potentially witnessing happen to the Amazon."

(Pic: Amazon rainforest; Credit: Â鶹Éç)

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