For many atmospheric scientists, the Amazon Rainforest is a natural cloud laboratory. The vegetation exhales tremendous amounts of water vapor that drapes over the forest as a thick mist. The mist blends with layers of clouds that can reach from the treetops to altitudes of 10 kilometers. When the air over the Amazon is clear, the clouds that form over the forest are so like maritime clouds that scientists have referred to the Amazon as “the Green Ocean.” But increasingly, the air over the Amazon is not clear, at least not during the annual dry season.
Published Mar 11, 2008
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