Nick Visser - Deforestation Rates Skyrocket In Brazil As Country Struggles To Save The Amazon
Deforestation rates in
the Amazon rainforest in Brazil have soared, with an area roughly three times the size of Rhode
Island illegally chopped down, an annual satellite survey by the country’s government
shows. Brazil’s National
Institute for Space Research found the rate of deforestation rose
29 percent from August 2015 to July 2016, representing more than 3,000
square miles of rainforest. The region has been under near constant threat from
lucrative illegal logging and the expansion of cattle and agriculture
plantations. An area roughly the size of California has been wiped out in the
past 40 years.
The Brazilian
government has made a concerted effort to protect the rainforest, which is home
to about 10 percent of the planet’s known biodiversity. Conservation
efforts have cut the rate of deforestation by 71 percent since it peaked in
2004. But the recent uptick reflects the ongoing struggle the country faces as
it seeks to completely end illicit logging by 2030, in an effort to
curb greenhouse gas emissions.
The Amazon is an important fixture in the
fight against climate change because it absorbs about 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide every year. When vast
swaths of the rainforest are lost, not only is that ability hindered, but the
carbon stored within the trees is quickly released back into the atmosphere,
spurring more global warming. Researchers have
warned that ongoing rates of deforestation also threaten more than half of all tree species in the
Amazon as well as about
180 indigenous groups that live in and depend on the forest for survival.
A report this week
from Reuters news agency found the environment ministry doesn’t have enough funding to adequately patrol the
forest after a 30 percent budget cut. The group in charge of that effort, IBAMA, can’t even afford
fuel for vehicles and helicopters. “We haven’t even had
enough money to pay for [$60] aptitude tests to allow our agents to carry
guns,” Uiratan Barrossa, the head of law enforcement for IBAMA, told Reuters.
“The loggers are better equipped than we are. Until we have the money to rent
unmarked cars and buy proper radios we won’t be able to work.”