Amazon's emissions 'doubled' under first half of Bolsonaro presidency
Source: The Guardian
Amazon’s emissions ‘doubled’ under first half of Bolsonaro presidency
New study published in Nature says period was as destructive as record 2016 El Niño drought and heatwave
Patrick Greenfield
@pgreenfielduk
Wed 23 Aug 2023 17.22 BST
Last modified on Thu 24 Aug 2023 02.30 BST
The first half of Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency was so destructive for the Amazon that it was comparable to the record 2016 El Niño drought and heatwave in terms of carbon emissions, according to scientists.
Annual emissions from the world’s largest rainforest roughly doubled in 2019 and 2020, compared with the 2010 to 2018 average, according to a new study published in Nature, as swaths of forest were deliberately cleared and burned for cattle ranching and farming during the first two years of the far-right leader’s time in office.
While the amount of carbon that the Amazon absorbs and emits changes with weather cycles, generally sucking in more in wet years and less in dry periods, the study found that the rise in emissions under Bolsonaro had little to do with natural processes, but was instead caused by the systematic removal and downgrading of environmental law enforcement in Brazil.
Under Bolsonaro, the number and severity of fines for illegal deforestation by Brazilian authorities fell dramatically while fires and land-clearing soared, the study found. Carbon emissions increased from an annual average of 0.24 gigatonnes from 2010-18 to 0.44GtC in 2019 and 0.55GtC respectively.
The analysis, produced by many of the scientists who first established that the Amazon is now emitting more CO2 than it is able to absorb, ...
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/23/amazons-emissions-doubled-under-first-half-of-bolsonaros-presidency-aoe
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