How much of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed?

Scientists say the Amazon is on the brink. Deforestation has already claimed 17 percent of its area . Climate change and deforestation have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/03/07/amazon-rainforest-tipping-point-climate/?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wp_news_alert_revere&location=alert&wpmk=1&wpisrc=al_environment__alert-hse--alert-national&pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJjb29raWVuYW1lIjoid3BfY3J0aWQiLCJpc3MiOiJDYXJ0YSIsImNvb2tpZXZhbHVlIjoiNTk2YTkyOTJhZGU0ZTIwZWUzNzM4MTY3IiwidGFnIjoid3BfbmV3c19hbGVydF9yZXZlcmUiLCJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy53YXNoaW5ndG9ucG9zdC5jb20vY2xpbWF0ZS1lbnZpcm9ubWVudC8yMDIyLzAzLzA3L2FtYXpvbi1yYWluZm9yZXN0LXRpcHBpbmctcG9pbnQtY2xpbWF0ZS8_dXRtX3NvdXJjZT1hbGVydCZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPWVtYWlsJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj13cF9uZXdzX2FsZXJ0X3JldmVyZSZsb2NhdGlvbj1hbGVydCZ3cG1rPTEmd3Bpc3JjPWFsX2Vudmlyb25tZW50X19hbGVydC1oc2UtLWFsZXJ0LW5hdGlvbmFsIn0.k5WKBwfI5LNzsu32KDSFRppqaL4hJ0TldfuHl-fy6Mk" target="_blank">weakened as much as 75 percent of what remains, researchers say. Some scientists worry that if between 20 and 25 percent is lost — which, if trends continue, could occur within a decade — the Amazon could hit a tipping point, when it can no longer maintain its own ecology and swaths are converted into degraded open savanna.

What is the biggest threat to the Amazon now?

The forest is trapped in a self-reinforcing loop of deforestation, degradation, fire and climate change. Deforestation and degradation are reducing the amount of water the Amazon can recycle back into the atmosphere, leading to less rain and higher temperatures. Climate change is further heating up the forest, contributing to lengthier and more-intense dry seasons and even extreme droughts. Both are making the forest drier, hotter and more vulnerable to fires — the method of deforestation preferred by those who seek to exploit the rainforest commercially.

What does this mean for the world?

A lot. The Amazon has historically acted as a vast carbon sink, helping to absorb carbon emissions and curb the rise of global temperatures. But scientists worry that the biome, if it passes the tipping point, could be so weakened that it becomes a “carbon bomb.” There are already portions of the forest that are emitting more carbon gases than are absorbed . The worry is that the world will have no chance of achieving its most ambitious climate goals — and averting catastrophic warming — if the Amazon is lost. The dilemma was made clear in 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic shut down most of the world and global carbon emissions fell. But in Brazil, emissions actually rose. The primary reason: deforestation.

How do local communities view deforestation in the Amazon?

In much of the Amazon, people are more likely to see deforestation as a pathway toward development and economic prosperity than as a crime that needs to be punished. During the 1970s, the Brazilian government, then a military dictatorship, encouraged the settlement of the region, calling it a “land without men for men without land.” The forest was seen as a resource to be tamed and commodified, rather than preserved. That foundational story has helped forge a new way of life that has led to the election of nearly 1,200 people who have been cited for environmental crimes; made local heroes out environmental wrongdoers ; and turned President Jair Bolsonaro, who has frequently chafed against environmental regulations, into one of the region’s most popular politicians.

What other factors are contributing to deforestation?

The vast majority of deforested land has been cleared to pasture cattle. There are several reasons. First, Brazil is a deeply carnivorous country. It’s both a massive market for beef and the world’s largest exporter. In recent years, the country’s cattle population has surged — and most of this expansion has occurred in the Amazon, where putting down cattle is a cheap and easy way to claim land that has been illegally deforested. At the same time, law enforcement officials say, nearly every tool used to fight deforestation has been dulled to the point of ineffectiveness , snagged by bureaucracy, case overloads and the grinding appellate system that has long stymied Brazil’s criminal justice system.

Does the United States buy Brazilian beef from the Amazon?

Yes. In February 2020, the United States lifted a suspension on raw beef imports from Brazil — and the trade took off. The United States is now the world’s second-largest buyer of Brazilian beef. Seven of the meatpacking plants authorized to export to the United States are located in the Amazon. Three of them are owned by JBS, the world’s largest beef producer. JBS has vowed to prioritize the environment and the Amazon. But The Post found that the company’s efforts haven’t eliminated ties to illegal deforestation from its supply chain — or from the beef shipped to consumers in the United States.

What can help deter the destruction of the forest?

The Amazon is of continental proportions — it occupies about 40 percent of South America’s land mass. Brazil’s portion alone would cover all of Western Europe. Environmentalists say the nine countries that share the rainforest must drastically expand their enforcement capacity to overcome the geographic and logistical challenges posed by the forest’s vastness. Then there are economic factors: Most Latin American economies have been stagnant for years — and have been struggling under the coronavirus pandemic. If the regional economy improves, environmentalists believe, people will have less impetus to try their luck in the forest.

What is President Bolsonaro’s role in all of this?

Bolsonaro, a former army officer, campaigned for president on promises to open up the Amazon to business . During his administration, deforestation has risen to a 15-year high . Environmentalists accuse him of emboldening criminal actors with his rhetoric and actions. He has repeatedly sided with people who seek to exploit the forest’s resources for economic gain. He has moved to permit mining in Indigenous territories and has reacted with suspicion to pleas by the international community to safeguard the forest. He has vowed in international settings to eliminate deforestation, but is accused in Brazil of failing to lay the groundwork to realize that ambition.

How are Indigenous groups affected?

As deforestation has surged, Indigenous lands have come under increasing threat. The territories, which protect nearly 14 percent of Brazil’s total area, have historically acted as buffers against deforestation. But in recent years, fires , illegal gold mining and irregular logging have surged, leaving communities trying to protect the rainforest themselves . Bolsonaro, who has frequently lamented the amount of land reserved for Indigenous peoples, has pushed to expand mining on it.

What types of animals and plants are affected or threatened?

In one of the world’s most ecologically diverse regions, where multitudes of unique species roam , scientists believe <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03876-7.epdf?sharing_token=AyH1yfXZNMQM1q1SVJcsddRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0NTCnBBOD2EQsyUPfbeUxYDKjya6Vzpx-r5NkL3xvPS4cpAKLxgGB5W07hikKhNYK9MVga2IZOwVpjpdnUCazDjUHMBT4KT2BxB6I47f2uMZg-T8EHmjn3KycJV-x3EIKhObK4tkbKL2aNqYJt7A3k9LsgFT9DBTXK4z8uk1lTnrswFkJ130bg57462dkhYQL6cwQ1n17oJg-E-ujhXBHe88B4g0zTzAazfzQtsVPx-QStEHj_ZcKeLNFx4oXz2PTBDqYqMzIHo3pN1Zw_RVUeVKe3_X6Pg_R6UF3tpKyK-QdRCtpYWOmD6O_PLZl2LQcM%3D&tracking_referrer=news.mongabay.com">the vast majority of wildlife has been affected by fires and deforestation. The habitats of three-fourths of the forest’s endangered species have been touched by fire, researchers reported last year in the journal Nature. Habitat loss increases pressure on wildlife, intensifying competition for food and slowing breeding rates.

Americas

How deforestation is pushing the Amazon toward a tipping point

By Terrence McCoy

Updated August 30, 2022 at 6:00 a.m. EDT|Published March 14, 2022 at 4:46 p.m. EDT

The rough middle section of Brazil's Highway 319, in the rural area of Humaitá in Amazonas state, on Oct. 19, 2021. (Raphael Alves for The Washington Post)

Every day, deforestation brings the Amazon closer to what scientists warn will be its death, when the loss of tree cover finally pushes it past the point of no return and the world loses its greatest shield against rising temperatures.

The Washington Post is focusing on the rainforest in its new series “The Amazon, Undone.” We’re traveling throughout Brazil, home to roughly 60 percent of the Amazon. To examine the effects of deforestation, we took a 500-mile trip down a highway that slices through the rainforest, wreaking havoc on the ecology of the forest itself and fueling criminal behavior such as land-grabbing and even murder. To follow beef tied to illegal deforestation from Brazil to the United States, we examined thousands of shipment and purchase logs and obtained satellite imagery that exposed illegal cattle grazing.

Here’s what we know about the dire state of the Amazon rainforest and why it’s increasingly important to pay attention to its destruction.

The Amazon, Undone

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