India, Oct. 17 -- Driven by climate change, forests in Australia's tropical north have become the first in the world to transform from carbon sink to a source of emission, a study has found.

The study was published by scientists from the Australian National University in the journal Nature. They found the change in the forests located in northeastern Australia, including the state of Queensland, began about 25 years ago in the year 2000. The findings have direct implications on vegetation estimates and determining the carbon budget to ensure that global temperatures remain under 2 degrees Celsius.

But data suggests the transition may have begun around 1998.

The scientists used long-term forest inventory data from 1971 to 2019 to assess...