In the Amazon, carbon emissions soared in the first two years of far-right ex-Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s tenure. The Amazon, known as the “lungs of the planet,” is vital to curbing global warming. But a study has shown that the world’s largest rainforest has already begun to release more CO2 than it absorbs, approaching a “point of no return” that would see it turn into savannah.
Using air samples collected during jungle overflights, researchers have shown that emissions in the Amazon have fallen from an average of 240 million tonnes from 2010 to 2018 to 440 million in 2019 (+ 83%) and 520 million in 2020 (+117%). The average of these two years is double that of the previous eight years.
Deforestation up 80%
The study, published in the journal Nature, was conducted by a team from the Brazilian space agency INPE. This same team was one of the first to detect that the Amazon was releasing more carbon than it was absorbing, in another study published in the same journal in 2021. The researchers noted that deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon (about 60% of the South American rainforest, which spans nine countries) had increased by 80% in 2019 and 2020, compared to the average for the period 2010-2018.
They also noted a 14% increase in areas burned in 2019, and 42% in 2020. According to the authors of the study, these figures show the effects of the “dismantling” of public environmental protection agencies during the mandate of Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022). These agencies “have stopped issuing fines or seizing land where environmental crimes have been found,” lead author Luciana Gatti told AFP.
the Amazon, engine of agriculture
In Brazil, almost a fifth of the rainforest has been deforested, leaving room mostly for agricultural land or livestock pasture. The agricultural sector is one of the growth engines of the largest country in Latin America, which massively exports soybeans and beef around the world. “The world wants cheap meat, cheap soya to feed the cattle, that’s also why the forest is being destroyed”, deplores Luciana Gatti.
Leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who took over from Jair Bolsonaro in January, promised Brazil was “back” in the fight against climate change. In the first seven months of his term, deforestation in the Amazon has fallen by 42.5% compared to the same period last year (January-July).