Despite gains combating deforestation in Brazil's Amazon, forest degradation is a looming threat
SAO PAULO (AP) — The administration of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva frequently touts how it has sharply slowed deforestation in the Amazon, and indeed it has. When the next official annual numbers are released in October, the deforestation rate is expected to be the lowest since 2012.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk. Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated in 2026 with a strong El Nino, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
“Degradation is slower and more silent. It is like a chronic condition,” said Taciana Stec, a climate policy specialist at Talanoa, a Brazilian climate think tank.
While the Amazon is still a carbon sink — that is, it absorbs a vast amount of planet-warming carbon dioxide — it could reach a tipping point beyond which it cannot recover. At that stage, the forest could emit more CO2 than it absorbs.
https://apnews.com/article/brazil-amazon-rainforest-wildfires-el-nino-ff6208f102ad9976f033ec39c3d1481b
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