Claim: Climate Change is Making Amazon Rainforest Trees Fatter
by Eric Worrall
Excepting those Amazon trees which were bulldozed for the COP30 climate conference of course.
Amazon rainforest trees are resisting climate change by getting fatter from CO2 in the atmosphere
By Sascha Pare
Tree trunks in the Amazon are getting 3.3% thicker every decade as the plants absorb extra carbon dioxide, suggesting they are more resilient to global warming than previously thought.
Trees of all sizes across the Amazon rainforest are getting fatter due to climate change, a new study shows.
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“We knew that the total amount of carbon stored in the trees of intact Amazonian forests has increased,” study co-author Tim Baker, a professor of tropical ecology and conservation at the University of Leeds in the U.K., said in a statement. “What this new study shows is that all sizes of trees have grown larger over the same period — the whole forest has changed.”
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I led with the “fat trees” article because it is an admirable attempt to spin this good news into something bad, because being fat is bad right?
The university press release also attempts to maintain the tension in the face of some very good news.
Average size of trees in Amazon has increased as CO₂ levels rise
SEPTEMBER 25, 2025
by University of Birmingham
edited by Sadie Harley, reviewed by Robert EganAverage tree size across the Amazon has increased by 3.2% every decade, consistent with a response to rising carbon dioxide levels, a new study suggests.
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Co-author of the study, Professor Beatriz Marimon, from Universidade do Mato Grosso, who coordinated much of the Brazilian data collection in southern Amazonia, commented, “This is a good news story. We regularly hear how climate change and fragmentation is threatening Amazonian forests. But meanwhile, the trees in intact forests have grown bigger; even the largest trees have continued to thrive despite these threats.”
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Joint lead author of the RAINFOR paper Dr. Adriane Esquivel-Muelbert, from the University of Cambridge—who led the research while at the Universities of Birmingham and Leeds—commented, “Ahead of COP30 in Brazil later this year, these results underscore just how important tropical rainforests are in our ongoing efforts to mitigate against man-made climate change.
“Large trees are hugely beneficial for absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere and this study confirms that. Despite concerns that climate change may negatively impact trees in the Amazon and undermine the carbon sink effect, the effect of CO2 in stimulating growth is still there. This shows the remarkable resilience of these forests, at least for now.”
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According to Professor Oliver Phillips of the University of Leeds, “What happens to big trees—including how they deal with increasing climate threats and manage to disperse their seeds—is now mission-critical. The only way the giants will stay healthy is if the Amazon ecosystem stays connected. Deforestation is a huge threat-multiplier and will kill them if we let it.”
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Read more: https://phys.org/news/2025-09-average-size-trees-amazon-co8322.html
No soup for Professor Beatriz Marimon, “this is a good news story” gets you in trouble with the climate community.
