Measuring Carbon in the Amazon Rainforest

Measuring Carbon in the Heart of the Amazon

With a small rope secured around his ankles, 50-year-old Eugenio Sánchez deftly maneuvered himself up a towering tree, resembling a human inchworm. His chest heaved with effort as he ascended, all for the purpose of gathering a handful of leaves. Listen to this article with reporter commentary

These leaves, found only on the highest branches, would be crucial for the scientists stationed below. Their identification would contribute to understanding the tree’s species, which, combined with the tree’s precise measurements (or as accurately as one can estimate the size of a living giant), would reveal a significant piece of information: the amount of carbon stored within it.

The team, clad in gumboots thick with mud, embarked on a meticulous, months-long endeavor to measure nearly every woody plant thriving in this section of the Colombian Amazon rainforest—one plant at a time. This ambitious project involves cataloging all 125,000 individual plants that boast a trunk diameter of at least one centimeter.

This initiative is part of a groundbreaking, multimillion-dollar global effort aimed at understanding, with unprecedented precision, how forests provide an invaluable service to humanity by sequestering large quantities of carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas driving climate change.

The Amazon rainforest is an immense expanse, vast enough that nearly ten states the size of Texas could fit within its boundaries. Within this green ocean, however, lies a minuscule patch—less than a tenth of a square mile—that serves as a microcosm for the larger ecosystem. Representing the northwestern region of the Amazon, this area is home to approximately 1,200 species of woody plants, ranging from towering kapok trees to intricately coiled liana vines. All of this biodiversity can be found within the confines of just six or seven New York City blocks.