A study conducted in 2005 by the Amazon Environmental Research Institute suggests that the extreme drought characterizing the Amazon Basin may have been driven by Atlantic Ocean surface warming and resultant air circulation changes. Researchers at a forest monitoring station run by the Woods Hole Research Center also state that rising sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic could be responsible for the record drought.

• Amazon Environmental Research Institute. "Amazon Basin experiencing extreme drought." 19 October 2005 at forests.org/articles/reader.asp?linkid=47478

• Hopkin, Michael. "Amazon Hit by Worst Drought for 40 Years: Warming Atlantic Linked to Both US Hurricanes and Rainforest Drought." Nature News. 11 October 2005 at www.nature.com

Warming sea surface temperatures create both low-pressure and high-pressure storm systems over the Atlantic. The low-pressure systems are characteristic of the North Atlantic and bring increased precipitation to nearby regions. The high-pressure systems, however, hold less rainwater and concentrate over the South Atlantic, leading to lower precipitation levels in regions like the Amazon. The current drought is considered the most severe in the last half century and has brought devastation to many local communities and ecosystems in the Amazon.

Implications: Increasing greenhouse gas concentrations and resulting global temperature increases may lead to even more pronounced and lengthy periods of drought in the Amazon. Not only will the Amazon's ecosystem services, population and biodiversity be negatively impacted, but the rainforest's capacity to sequester carbon may also be compromised.