Consequences of Deforestation on the Amazon Rainforest with Michael T. Coe, associate scientist at the Woods Hole Research Center, is at the Vineyard Haven library at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 21. The event is free.

The Amazon represents more than half the planet’s remaining rainforests and comprises the largest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest in the world. More than one-third of all species in the world live in the Amazon Rainforest. What is happening to this ecosystem as this rainforest is being cleared to make way for soybean and corn production?

Dr. Coe is an earth system scientist who is particularly interested in the causes and consequences of water resource variability. He uses data and earth system computer models to study how climate variability interacts with human land and water. He is currently participating in the Woods Hole Research Center’s most aggressive research program in the Amazon basin of Brazil.

As part of his presentation, Dr. Coe will include photos of the Amazon rainforest. He will be speaking at the Vineyard Haven Public Library just days before his journey back to the Amazon to join the large research team from the WHRC.