The illegal cutting of Amazon rainforest increased 29 percent

According to the official information, released recently by the Brazilian government, in the past year, the growth of deforestation in the Amazon basin was 29%, compared to 2008. Satellite data provided by the Center for space research of Brazil, show that for the 12-month period ending in July 2013, it was illegally cut down approximately 2275 square miles of forest.

 

Of course, this news does not Bode well for the environment on the planet, the Amazonian forests are a major carbon sink in the world, annually catching more than 16.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Do not forget that Amazon is still famous for its great biodiversity of flora and fauna, some species of which have not yet been studied.

In addition, last year the volume of illegal logging of the Amazon forest began to pick up again – and this is particularly noticeable on the background of the gradual reduction in the rate of deforestation, which emerged in 2009. As suggested by environmental experts, it is connected not only with expansion of agriculture in Brazil, especially in the States of Steam and Mato Grosso, but also speeding up the construction of large energy and infrastructure projects, such as hydroelectric station, high-speed roads and railroads.

However, in this news there is one positive thing – according to the report of the Brazilian government, since the beginning of monitoring illegal logging, the current indicators are not so bad, in 2004 destroyed more than 11.5 thousand square miles of forest.

Source: www.ozemle.net