The Amazon is reaching a dangerous tipping point. We need to scale solutions now if we have any chance of saving it

Aug 23, 2019

An aerial view shows a tract of Amazon rainforest which has been cleared by loggers and farmers for agriculture, near the city of Santarem, Para State April 20, 2013. The Amazon rainforest is being eaten away at by deforestation, much of which takes place as areas are burnt by large fires to clear land for agriculture. Initial data from Brazil's space agency suggests that destruction of the vast rainforest - the largest in the world - spiked by more than a third over the past year, wiping out an area more than twice the size of the city of Los Angeles. If the figures are borne out by follow-up data, they would confirm fears of scientists and environmental activists who warn that farming, mining and Amazon infrastructure projects, coupled with changes to Brazil's long-standing environmental policies, are reversing progress made against deforestation. Environmental issues will be under the spotlight as a United Nations Climate Change Conference opens in Warsaw, Poland, on November 11. Picture taken on April 20, 2013.

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest has spiked alarmingly in recent months. Image: REUTERS/Nacho Doce

Paulo Barreto

Senior Research, IMAZON- Instituto do Homem e Meio Ambiente da Amazônia

Robert Muggah

Co-founder, SecDev Group and Co-founder, Igarapé Institute

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Guardian graphic | Source: Brazilian National Institute for Space Research

Smoke billows during a fire in an area of the Amazon rainforest near Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil, Brazil August 21, 2019. Image: REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

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