The Brazilian Amazon currently releases about 0.2 Pg-C to the atmosphere each year as a result of net deforestation. Logging and forest fire activity are poorly quantified but certainly increase this amount by more than 10%. Fires associated with land management activities generate smoke that leads to heating of the lower atmosphere, decreases in overall cloudiness, increases in cloud lifetimes, and the suppression of rainfall. There are considerable uncertainties associated with our understanding of smoke effects. Present development trends point to agricultural intensification in the Brazilian Amazon. This intensification and the associated generation of wealth present an opportunity to enhance governance on the frontier and to minimize the damaging effects of fires.
Hydropower Construction and Deforestation: Linking Forest Cover to Changes in Water Balance
Hydropower Construction and Deforestation: Linking Forest Cover to Changes in Water Balance
In early August 2016 the environmental license to build the largest of these dams, the São Luiz do Tapajos, was denied. In addition to future expansion of hydropower throughout the Amazon, 43 dams are still planned for the Tapajos River Basin.