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Amazon Rainforest Deforestation 'Worst in 10 Years', Says Brazil (bbc.com) 90

Posted by msmash from the things-getting-worse dept.
Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil has hit its highest rate in a decade, according to official data. BBC reports: About 7,900 sq km (3,050 sq miles) of the world's largest rainforest was destroyed between August 2017 and July 2018 -- an area roughly five times the size of London. Environment Minister Edson Duarte said illegal logging was to blame. The figures come amid concerns about the policies of Brazil's newly elected president, Jair Bolsonaro. During the 2018 election campaign, Mr Bolsonaro pledged to limit fines for damaging forestry and to weaken the influence of the environmental agency. An aide for the president-elect has also announced the administration will merge the agriculture and environment ministries, which critics say could endanger the rainforest. The latest government data says most of the deforestation occurred in the states of Mato Grosso and Para, and marked a 13.7% rise over last year's figures. Mato Grosso is the top producer of grains in Brazil, and critics say expanding agriculture is also encroaching on the rainforest.
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Amazon Rainforest Deforestation 'Worst in 10 Years', Says Brazil More

Amazon Rainforest Deforestation 'Worst in 10 Years', Says Brazil

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  • It's pretty bad. There are critics who say some species would literally have died out had the environmental agency not taken the limited steps it took over the past couple years

  • The process (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 24, 2018 @12:01PM (#57692966)

    The first step in deforestation is removing the trees - so the logging companies are the initial scapegoats. Once the land is cleared, they can start raising cattle for beef sales - which is what 90% of the deforested Amazon is used for.

    Beef eaters are funding the deforestation one purchase at a time: -
    https://www.globalmeatnews.com/Article/2018/01/18/Brazilian-beef-exports-keep-on-growing

    • Re:The process:Palm Oil Industries (Score:3, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      The Amazon's new danger: Brazil sets sights on palm oil
      https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jun/29/brazil-palm-oil-amazon-rainforest-deforestation-temer-farming-para-cerrado

      Brazil’s ambition to become a palm oil giant could have devastating social and environmental impacts if the move is not carefully managed, say experts
      Jorge Antonini takes a palm kernel in his hands and slices it open. Squeezing it between his fingers, the kernel oozes the oily liquid found in hundreds of everyday p

    • Bullshit (Score:2, Interesting)

      by rsilvergun ( 571051 )
      the US screwing with the economic stability of the region is the biggest problem. Want folks to care about the environment? Give them a strong enough economy they can think about something besides tomorrow's meal. The US keeps butting their heads in (it's become pretty clear our CIA was responsible for the scandal that let Brazil's right wing depose their left, then there's the crap we did in Honduras, and the entire drug war, and "Banana Republics"....). Meanwhile the US voters keep looking the other way.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Z80a ( 971949 )

      It's kinda the other way around.
      Those "farms" are just a decoy for the purpose of illegally selling expensive wood you find there. The terrain of the amazon forest is actually quite bad for planting and stuff.
      The literal criminals that do this, the "grileiros" falsify land ownership documents, cut down the trees, sells em, and just keep a shitty barely functional cattle farm due legalese.
      So, if you make the legal system actually work in brazil, you stop the grileiros and you stop the deforesting.

  • Deforestation under the previous regime is now blamed on the new President who won't be seated until January 2019. Got it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by PPH ( 736903 )

      If Trump can claim credit for economic recovery under Obama ....

    • Re:Tenuous connections here... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by DogDude ( 805747 ) on Saturday November 24, 2018 @01:02PM (#57693252)
      Nowhere in that article was the incoming president blamed for past deforestation, you thick fuck. That's just you trying to make some stupid, pointless argument about nothing.

      • The figures come amid concerns about the policies of Brazil's newly elected president, Jair Bolsonaro.

        The summary clearly implies it. It's pre emotive blame. I have no idea who this guy is but my bet is he's not popular with the media establishment because he represents the people.

        • No, it "implied" nothing. It clearly stated that Bolsonaro's announced policies are likely to make this problem worse:

          During the 2018 election campaign, Mr Bolsonaro pledged to limit fines for damaging forestry and to weaken the influence of the environmental agency. An aide for the president-elect has also announced the administration will merge the agriculture and environment ministries

          This is not a strategy to fix the problem. But you seem to have a problem with people mentioning that fact.

      • Then why did TFS spend 90% of it discussing the new President, and how it's going to be bad? It's called implication, and if you can't understand that, well, you're a bit too dense.

  • in a year, 79% of one wildfire in California over a few days in terms of destruction of areas.

    Biomass lost should be compared and contrasted.

    Seems like a double whammy, burning, plus loss of plant life.

    Is there a carbon tax on Brazil?

  • so basically a square 55 miles on each side.

    that's small, tiny. put that on a map of Brazil and get some perspective, you fucking math illiterates.

    talk about mountains out of molehills

  • The most advanced nations of the planet mostly deforested their nations too. Europe has basically nothing left of the old growth forests outside of some small preserves. The US has a smaller percentage of forest than Brazil and two third of that is fucking timberland ...

    So lets not be sanctimonious here, they are in economic dire straits and they need the agricultural land and timber. It's not like anyone is standing up and offering them a couple trillion dollar to buy up most of the Amazon as an official p

    • The most advanced nations of the planet mostly deforested their nations too. Europe has basically nothing left of the old growth forests outside of some small preserves. The US has a smaller percentage of forest than Brazil and two third of that is fucking timberland ...

      Yes, but we're smarter now. We're not supposed to be repeating those mistakes.

      • I don't live there and my standard of living is a lot higher than theirs. I do not vote to share the wealth of my nation with Brazil and I don't expect them to preserve their nature for my benefit.

        It's a shame, but it is what it is.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by spth ( 5126797 )

      Deforestation was a big problem in Europe. The wood were cut down to provide wood for building ships, and as well as for use in other industries. After a while few old forests remained.

      But the problem was noticed, and starting in Germany there was a shift to a sustainable wood economy. "Sustainability" became a big trend (initiated by Hans Carl von Carlowitz, "Silvicultura oeconomica" in 1713). Today 32% of Germany are wood, the EU average is 40%.

      Though there are exceptions. It seems sustainability never ca

  • No one is above nature. If you destroy nature, you destroy us all. If you fail to understand this, your life should be taken from you.

  • The figures come amid concerns about the policies of Brazil's newly elected president, Jair Bolsonaro.

    Bolsonaro is so evil that he traveled in time and has been causing deforestation for decades!

  • you're going to tell me somebody is illegally chopping up 3 times the size of London without it being noticed?
    that's not a few trees here and there they just secretly drag off, something of that size surely must be noticable and you should be able to act on it.

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