Forests and other land ecosystems failed to mitigate climate change in 2023, as severe drought in the Amazon rainforest and record wildfires in Canada hindered their natural capacity to absorb carbon dioxide, according to a new study released on July 30. The combination of fires and drought in the Amazon led to a record amount of CO2 entering Earth’s atmosphere last year, when these forests should have been taking gigatonnes of CO2 out of the atmosphere, the researchers reported. Plant life plays a crucial role in combating climate change by absorbing large amounts of CO2, the primary greenhou…