A study published on Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that logging, forest burning, and other human activities, along with natural disturbances, are releasing more carbon dioxide and warming the climate more than clear-cut deforestation.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who took office in 2023, vowed to address Amazon deforestation and reestablish Brazil as a climate leader after significant damage during Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency.
Lula’s goal to end deforestation by 2030 is progressing well, with stricter enforcement reducing deforestation rates by over 50%, according to government data.
However, a recent study reveals that deforestation itself is only a small part of the broader climate damage affecting the Amazon.
Also read: Over a third of Amazon rainforest struggle to recover from droughts, study finds
The study, which employed airborne laser scanning to assess Amazon rainforest changes more accurately than satellite imagery, found that human-caused degradation and natural disturbances account for 83% of carbon emissions, while deforestation accounts for just 17%.
The research highlights the severe damage from fires exacerbated by drought, turning the region into a fire-prone area.
“The government thinks if we reduce deforestation, we also reduce degradation,” told Erika Berenguer, a tropical ecologist at the University of Oxford and Lancaster University in England, to Reuters.
In 2021, over 140 countries, including Brazil, committed to ending both deforestation and other forms of environmental degradation by the end of the decade.
Also read: Over a third of Amazon rainforest struggle to recover from droughts, study finds
However, Manoela Machado, a fire expert at the Woodwell Climate Research Center in the US, notes that monitoring and addressing degradation is much more complex due to its many varied causes.
