A tower rises deep in Amazon jungle to study climate change and rainforests
Sao Sebastiao Do Uatuma, Brazil
DEEP in the pristine Amazon jungle, Brazil's newest skyscraper has a mission unlike any other: to save the world. The white and orange metal frame called Amazon Tall Tower Observatory, or ATTO, is a bold new tool to understand climate change and the vital role of rainforests.
At 325 metres, the ATTO is a metre higher than the Eiffel Tower. But instead of the typical city din of honking horns and engines, the loudest noise around the skinny structure is the chatter of cicadas and birds.
Built in the Uatuma nature reserve, 350 km from the city of Manaus and reachable only after hours of rough roads and a boat ride, the ATTO is seriously remote - and for the climate scientists that's the point.
"Being far from towns and man's influence ensures we can collect relatively pure data," said Meinrat Andrae of the Max Planck Institute of Chemistry, which is partnering with Brazilian research agency Inpa on the German-Brazilian funded project.
The Amazon is seen as a big piece of the global warming puzzle, since trees are a key weapon in safely capturing destructive carbon gasses. And at 3,000 km wide, the Amazon is the greatest of all rainforests, known to many as the lungs of the world.
"Thanks to this tower we'll be able to better understand the role of the Amazon, its effect on the local climate and also on the global climate," said Antonio Ocimar Manzi, one of the Brazilian scientists.
Rising far above even the mightiest Amazonian trees, the tower is good place to swap the suffocating jungle heat for fresh air, as long as you don't mind heights.
The observatory is the tallest of its kind, beating a similar structure known as ZOTTO in Russia's Siberia region. And ATTO is in a geographical area that has come to symbolise the whole world's struggle.
Greenhouse gas emissions have rocketed since the second half of the 20th century, dangerously warming the globe, according to scientists. Healthy forests are one of the best ways to absorb the gases. But deforestation for lumber or farming is a major cause of the gases, since the stored up carbon dioxide is released from the dead tree into the atmosphere.
A worst case scenario predicted by some models foresees a vicious circle where global warming and drought kill so much of Amazon that drought increases and the remains of the jungle become unsustainable, leading to even worse global warming.
"The Amazon region is of global significance: it produces half of the word's oxygen, impacts the water cycle through evaporation and stabilises the climate," the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry said.
The tower, which cost about US$7.4 million, was inaugurated last week, but won't collect data until later in the year. The goal is to have ATTO running for 20 to 30 years to allow a long-term study. AFP
