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.
Slowing Amazon deforestation through public policy and interventions in beef and soy supply chains
Slowing Amazon deforestation through public policy and interventions in beef and soy supply chains
The recent 70% decline in deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon suggests that it is possible to manage the advance of a vast agricultural frontier. Enforcement of laws, interventions in soy and beef supply chains, restrictions on access to credit, and expansion of...