The vast Amazon rainforest is on the brink of being turned into desert, with catastrophic consequences for the world’s climate, alarming research suggests. And the process, which would be irreversible, could begin as early as next year. Studies by the blue-chip Woods Hole Research Centre, carried out in Amazonia, have concluded that the forest cannot withstand more than two consecutive years of drought without breaking down. Scientists say that this would spread drought into the northern hemisphere, including Britain, and could massively accelerate global warming with incalculable consequences, spinning out of control, a process that might end in the world becoming uninhabitable. The alarming news comes in the midst of a heatwave gripping Britain and much of Europe and the United States. Temperatures in the south of England reached a July record of 36.3C (97.4ºF) on Tuesday. And it comes hard on the heels of a warning by an international group of experts, led by the Eastern Orthodox ‘ pope’ Bartholomew, last week that the forest is rapidly approaching a ‘ tipping point’ that would lead to its total destruction. The research ­ carried out by the Massachusetts-based Woods Hole centre in Santarem on the Amazon […]