Hot Droughts: A Window Into the Amazon’s Future

The Amazon is changing faster than the world realizes. In partnership with UC Berkeley scientist Dr. Jeffrey Chambers, filmmaker Henrique Campos Ligeiro takes viewers deep into the rainforest to witness the emerging reality of “hot droughts”—extreme heat and dryness that are reshaping the ecosystem and offering a preview of a future climate with no modern equivalent.

Published alongside a landmark Nature article, this film brings to life the research that introduces the term “hypertropics” and visualizes the science behind this rapidly evolving climate state.

Hot droughts in the Amazon offer a rare glimpse into a future tropical climate that hasn’t existed on Earth for millions of years—the “hypertropics.” 

The research showcased in this video reveals how trees die under heat and water stress, and shows that these extreme conditions are projected to become a regular feature of the central Amazon dry season by the 2040s. How far these forests are pushed toward hypertropical conditions depends on how quickly we reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit the severity of climate change.