The climate crisis is putting natural balances to the test. Temperatures are increasingly hotter, even above the 1.5 degrees within which we should remain to avoid the worst, and the perfect order that existed on earth until a few years ago is falling apart. Some animal species are in danger of extinction, others are moving in search of a habitat more in line with their needs, however becoming alien to those areas and therefore invasive , breaking the balance.
The glaciers are melting and the sea level is rising and even the plant world is in serious difficulty. Also in this case, many tree species are at risk of extinction and others, however, may even find themselves in difficulty in carrying out chlorophyll photosynthesis . This was revealed by a recent study that worries experts quite a bit.
Climate crisis and photosynthesis at risk: the study
Tropical forests represent the green lung of our planet, a treasure chest of biodiversity and a powerful weapon against the climate crisis as they are able to absorb large quantities of carbon from the atmosphere through the process of photosynthesis. Well, even this process, for tropical trees, could be put at risk with the increase in temperatures until it stops completely.
This was revealed by a study published in the journal Nature which raises doubts about the resistance of the leaves of some tropical trees to the increasingly muggy and extreme temperatures that they would not be able to withstand. The effects of the climate crisis would thus put photosynthesis at risk. Experts have calculated that the critical threshold occurs when, on average, 46.7 degrees centigrade is reached.
In these conditions the leaves suffer and the photosynthetic capacity of tropical plants is lost. Excessive predictions? Well no, it must be considered that in the driest periods in the tropical forest 40 degrees can be easily reached and even the limit of the critical threshold is not so impossible.
The alarm of scientists
Experts are very worried about what could happen more soon and are therefore raising a serious alarm in this regard. If, in fact, global temperatures, according to some analysis scenarios that have been done on the evolution of the climate crisis, increase by another 4 degrees , the effects on tropical forests would be catastrophic , reaching a point of no return. However, scientists explain that the damage, for the moment, can still be recovered and therefore is not irreversible.
By increasing efforts aimed at climate mitigation by all countries in the world, it is still possible to save natural ecosystems from total disintegration and therefore the possibility of still having a safe life on earth. This is a further reason that must push us to adopt responsible behaviour, each in our own small way, to prevent the temperature from continuing to rise.