GREG WILPERT // #Amazon in Danger of Total Destruction Under #Brazil's Right-Wing President #Bolsonaro

Amazon in Danger of Total Destruction Under Brazil's Right-Wing President Bolsonaro: The policies of Brazil’s right-wing President, Jair Bolsonaro, is placing the Amazon Rainforest under extreme threat once again. For a while, from 2004 to 2016, the Amazon’s destruction had been slowed and even partially halted. However, ever since Bolsonaro has taken over as president, the rainforest destruction has been accelerating again at a frightening pace. According to Imazon, a Brazilian research center, deforestation in the first months of 2019 increased by more than 50%, relative to the same period in 2018. Most of this deforestation took place illegally in protected areas. The Amazon is an ecological system that is essential for the world’s climate. 20% of the world’s freshwater cycles through its rivers, plants, soils, and air. And about 20% of the rainforest was already destroyed in the course of the 20th century. If another 20% were to be destroyed, which could happen in less than 30 years, it would trigger a vicious feedback loop that scientists called “dieback.” This is what happens when the forest begins to dry out and burn on its own, until it disappears completely.