For the past decade the world has been losing a battle against deforestation. There have been several reports on the loss of biodiversity and the continuous impacts humans have on the environment. According to BBC News, on average, an area of tree cover the size of the United Kingdom was lost every year between 2014 and 2018 and this year, 2019 things did not improve. Instead, the Amazon rainforest has seen a high number of fires and was the burning spotlight in August.
Naturally, forest fires are common to occur during the dry season. However, according to reports most are caused by intentional human actions. With respect to the Amazon, many questions were raised….. “Was this deliberate deforestation?” Reports stated that since President Bolsonaro took Office in January 2019, there have been a hike in forest fires used as a way for clearing land to support ranching. These fires continue to emit large amounts of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide which is known to have adverse effects on human and animal life.
If the above statement is true regarding the clearing of land for crops and grazing, this will be detrimental for the future generations to come. According to FAO, total emissions from global livestock equates to 7.1 Gigatonnes of Co2-equiv per year, representing 14.5 percent of all anthropogenic GHG emissions.
With this being said, halting deforestation and restoring forests could aid in the mitigation process. However, this will not be possible if obligations and assurances are continuously being tainted.
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