Brazilian agribusiness is losing up to $1 billion dollars a year as rising deforestation cuts rainfall in the southern Amazon - a problem set to expand if forest loss continues, a group of Brazilian and German researchers have warned.
Updated:
June 05, 2021 13:59 IST
The new study looked at rainfall changes between 1999 and 2019 in the southern Brazilian Amazon as a model for future rainfall shifts
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In this Nov. 25, 2019 file photo, highway BR-163 stretches between the Tapajos National Forest, left, and a soy field in Belterra, Para state, Brazil. | Photo Credit:
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The new study looked at rainfall changes between 1999 and 2019 in the southern Brazilian Amazon as a model for future rainfall shifts
Brazilian agribusiness is losing up to $1 billion dollars a year as rising deforestation cuts rainfall in the southern Amazon a problem set to expand if forest loss continues, a group of Brazilian and German researchers have warned.
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BRASILIA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Brazilian agribusiness is losing up to $1 billion dollars a year as rising deforestation cuts rainfall in the southern Amazon - a problem set to expand if forest loss continues, a group of Brazilian and German researchers have warned.
In a study published in the journal Nature Communications in May, they found that smaller-scale forest losses can enhance rainfall on adjoining agricultural land - but once losses pass 55-60%, rainfall plunges.
Losses of tree cover in particular seem to delay the start and shorten the length of the rainy season, they found.
As Brazilian Amazon forest destruction continues, drier conditions could put a massive strain on the region’s mainly rainfed agricultural industry, the authors said.
New clearing of forest in protected area in Brazil linked to mining
by Liz Kimbrough on 27 May 2021
An expansive clearing of primary forest has been detected in Tapajós Environmental Protection Area in the Brazilian Amazon, possibly driven by illegal mining activities.
Satellite imagery from Planet confirms that the deforestation, which covers around 1,250 hectares (3,090 acres), or an area the size of a large international airport, occurred between January and February of this year.
Mining activity is the suspected driver of this forest loss, as the cleared area surrounds a long-standing feature resembling an airstrip and partially overlaps a proposed gold mining concession.