Brazil builds climate tower in pristine Amazon jungle

Brazil builds climate tower in pristine Amazon jungle
August 26, 2015 by Javier Tovar

Deep in the pristine Amazon jungle, Brazil's newest skyscraper has a mission unlike any other: to save the world.
The white and orange metal frame called Amazon Tall Tower Observatory, or ATTO, is a bold new tool in the push to understand climate change and the vital role of rainforests.

At 325 meters (1,066 feet), the ATTO is a meter (3.3 feet) higher than the Eiffel Tower and a good bit taller than London's loftiest building, the Shard. But instead of the typical city din of honking horns and engines, the loudest noise around the skinny structure is the chatter of cicadas and tropical birds.

Built in the Uatuma nature reserve, 350 kilometers (217 miles) from the city of Manaus and reachable only after hours of rough roads and a boat ride, the ATTO is seriously remote—and for the climate scientists that's the point.

"Being far from towns and man's influence ensures we can collect relatively pure data," said Meinrat Andrae, director of the Max Planck Institute of Chemistry, which is partnering with Brazilian research agency Inpa on the German-Brazilian funded project.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-08-brazil-climate-tower-pristine-amazon.html#jCp