Campsite in The Heart of the Amazon Studies Effects of Climate Crisis
A place in the heart of the Amazon holds the forest's climatic secrets. This does not mean that it is a space with special properties despite a certain mystique that surrounds the area. What makes the so-called Camp 41 different is that it is the place where the search for the impacts and responses of the Amazon to the climate crisis is being conducted. Camp 41, in the state of Amazonas, is part of a network of campsites set amongst the trees. They are where researchers settle for long periods of time to discover interactions between the Amazon and changes in climate. Important themes for understanding the biome, such as forest fragmentation and edge effects, are some of the studies carried out by these research centers immersed in the forest. In Camp 41, more recently, a project has also been developed that focuses on limiting the potential of the Amazon to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2), something essential for climate modeling that is, for projecting the future of the planet. Linked by a network of trails, the research camps today five are active, against ten in the 1980s are a few kilometers apart. They are, however, kilometers of closed vegetation, where getting lost is not difficult. 41 is the most used of them. With a simple structure, the scientists themselves have to manage the food and organization during their stay. The important thing for the work, however, is the surrounding forest itself. Conceived by renowned American biologist Thomas Lovejoy (1941-2021), along with other environmentalists, the space is the birthplace of projects such as the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments, which has been developed for over 40 years by Inpa (National Institute of Research in the Amazon ).