Category: Amazon

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who assumed office in 2023, has been actively working to reverse the intense deforestation that plagued the Amazon during the tenure of his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro. President Lula’s administration has set ambitious goals, including ending Amazon deforestation by 2030. Early results show promising progress, with deforestation rates reportedly …

Continue reading “Study reveals drivers of Amazon carbon emissions”

A recent study highlights the severe Amazon rainforest drought impact, showing that over a third of the Amazon is struggling to recover from persistent drought conditions. This research, detailed in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, underscores a critical slowing down of the forest’s resilience, pushing it towards a potential irreversible degradation. The …

Continue reading “Study reveals critical Amazon rainforest drought impact”

The Brazilian Amazon economy has traditionally been supported by activities like farming and mining, which lead to extensive deforestation. However, a new study from WRI Brasil and New Climate Economy suggests that economic growth in this region can continue without further deforestation.

The European Union has thrown its support behind a comprehensive plan to safeguard the Amazon rainforest. This initiative entails the coordination of financial contributions from EU member states, with the aim of ensuring that these funds are allocated according to their intended purpose, as part of the EU’s Global Gateway investment scheme.

The Brazil Amazon Summit ended with leaders and ministers from eight Amazon nations signing a declaration to protect tropical rainforests and counter climate change. Despite criticism for lacking clear goals, the declaration balances economic growth with preventing irreversible Amazon damage.

The American space agency NASA has offered its satellite technology to Brazil to help monitor and identify destruction in the Amazon rainforest. 

A new artificial intelligence tool called PrevisIA is predicting where deforestation in the Amazon will happen next. It was created by researchers at the environmental nonprofit Imazon. Instead of trying to repair damage done by deforestation after the fact, they hope to prevent it from happening at all. 

The Amazon rainforest is the lung of the Earth’s respiratory system. The region holds roughly half of the tropics undisturbed forests. Its plants absorb 1.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, equivalent to 4% of emissions from fossil fuels.