On May 25th, 2012, after almost two years of discussions in Congress, a new version of the Brazilian Forest Code was approved (Law 12.651/2012). The new law reaffirmed important norms for forest conservation in all the Brazilian biomes. It also established innovative tools for the support of forest activity and the monitoring of its implementation.2 Among these innovative tools, is the Rural Environment Registry (CAR). It is a public electronic registry, self-declaratory and mandatory to be applied to all of the rural properties in the country. Its function is to generate environmental information regarding rural properties, allowing for the “control, monitoring, environmental planning and economic planning and the fight against deforestation” in rural properties nationwide (Article 29, Law 12.651/2012; Decree 7.830/2012).
The gathering firestorm in southern Amazonia
The gathering firestorm in southern Amazonia
Wildfires, exacerbated by extreme weather events and land use, threaten to change the Amazon from a net carbon sink to a net carbon source. Here, we develop and apply a coupled ecosystem-fire model to quantify how greenhouse gas–driven drying and warming would...