Experts also list protecting the defenders of Brazilian biomes as a priority and point out challenges such as reviewing the budget for environmental agencies, which were “drained out in the Bolsonaro government”
As Amazon forest-to-savanna tipping point looms, solutions remain elusive
by Shanna Hanbury on 23 February 2021
Leading scientists project that if an additional 3-8% of rainforest cover is lost in the Amazon, it may overshoot a forest-to-degraded-savanna tipping point. That shift could mean mega-drought, forest death, and release of great amounts of stored carbon to the atmosphere from southern, eastern and central Amazonia.
Despite this warning, Brazilian Amazon deforestation hit an 11-year high in 2020. Government clampdowns on environmental crime greatly decreased deforestation in the past, but Brazil is now facing a political backlash led by President Jair Bolsonaro, resulting in agribusiness and mining expansion and deforestation.