Brazil registers huge spike in Amazon deforestation

[OrbitalDawn]

Clear cutting in the rainforest has gone up 88% in June compared to the same time last year. The new government's push for more logging may, however, scuttle the new EU-Mercosur free-trade agreement.

The Brazilian Space Agency has released data documenting a massive spike in deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. Citing figures from June, the agency registered an 88.4% increase over the same month in 2018.

That figure comes on the heels of increased deforestation in May, which was up 34% compared to 2018.

The agency measures annual July to July activity, but says the first 11 months of this year's report already show a 15% rise over the previous period.

That increase translates to some 4,565 square kilometers (1,762 square miles) of lost rainforest over an 11 month period. June alone saw the loss of 920 square kilometers.

 

[NarrowBandFtw]

dafuq is Jeff Bezos up to now?

 

[grok]

dafuq is Jeff Bezos up to now?

Prepping for divorce?

 

[Ninja'd]

dafuq is Jeff Bezos up to now?

Why do you think he called it a Kindle?

 

[Emjay]

Yet, here we have two people taking things into their own hands and doing something about it. Something which I have been a very big advocate of.

Brazilian Couple Created 1,502-Acre Forest In 20 Years, Which Houses 500+ Endangered Plant & Animal Species

http://www.scienceinsanity.com/2019/03/brazilian-couple-created-1502-acre.html

The article is not completely correct though. They didn't plant all those trees, but really just reseeded the area.

 

[Gordon_R]

It doesn't help that the Brazil president is a denialist: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-49052360

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has accused his own country's national space institute of lying about the scale of deforestation in the Amazon.

He said the institute was smearing Brazil's reputation abroad by publishing data showing a dramatic increase in deforestation there.

The far-right president said he wanted to meet with the head of the agency to discuss the issue.

The National Space Research Institute (Inpe) says its data is 95% accurate.

Mr Bolsonaro's comments on Friday came a day after preliminary satellite data released by Inpe showed that more than 1,000 sq km (400 sq miles) of the rainforest had been cleared in the first 15 days of July - an increase of 68% from the entire month of July 2018.

Speaking in a meeting with foreign journalists, Mr Bolsonaro said the data "doesn't relate to the reality".

Scientists say the Amazon has suffered losses at an accelerated rate since Mr Bolsonaro took office in January, with policies that favour development over conservation.

Over the past decade, previous governments had managed to reduce deforestation with concerted action by federal agencies and a system of fines.

But Mr Bolsonaro and his ministers have criticised the penalties and overseen a dramatic fall in confiscations of timber and convictions for environmental crimes.

Several scientific institutions, including the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, have defended Inpe and the accuracy of its data.

 

[Tokolotshe]

Yet, here we have two people taking things into their own hands and doing something about it. Something which I have been a very big advocate of.

Brazilian Couple Created 1,502-Acre Forest In 20 Years, Which Houses 500+ Endangered Plant & Animal Species

http://www.scienceinsanity.com/2019/03/brazilian-couple-created-1502-acre.html

The article is not completely correct though. They didn't plant all those trees, but really just reseeded the area.

(Not to take away from these folks)

Some numbers to show the scale of what needs to be done vs what is lost. We sometimes magnitude of teh problem get slost between aces, hectares, square kms and square miles. A like for like comparison
It took 20 years to recreate the 1502 acre forest, so a rate of ~75 acres / year

That increase translates to some 4,565 square kilometers (1,762 square miles) of lost rainforest over an 11 month period. June alone saw the loss of 920 square kilometers.

So that would be 1 230 585 acres / year.

That means we require ~16408 teams replanting.

Scary. Yes, some will come back naturally, but will take centuries if at all.

Reward:

The afforestation project, which is undoubtedly one of the greatest environmental initiatives in the world, has also helped to control soil erosion and revived the natural springs in the area. Eight water springs which once dried up, flow at around 20 litres per minute at present, relieving the drought-prone region of its woes. Salgado’s forest also happens to solve the much-debated notion about climate change, proving that the trend can be reversed if tried. His forest has resulted in causing more rainfall to the area and cooler weather, bringing a drastic and desirable change in the climate.

 

[Gordon_R]

After the deforestation come the fires, and the denials: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-49415973

Brazil's Amazon rainforest has seen a record number of fires this year, according to new data from the country's space research agency.

The National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) said its satellite data showed an 83% increase on the same period in 2018.

It comes weeks after President Jair Bolsonaro sacked the head of the agency amid rows over its deforestation data.