Brazil Amazon rainforest has already shrunk drastically

According to a study, the Amazon rainforest has shrunk by the size of Germany and France in the last 40 years. According to RAISG, 88 million hectares of rainforest have disappeared in several countries.

Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guyana are affected, as the association of scientists and non-governmental organizations reported on Monday.

The researchers report an "accelerated transformation" of the Amazon region with an "alarming increase" in the use of land previously covered by forest for mining, agriculture or livestock farming. "Numerous ecosystems have disappeared to make way for vast pastures, soy fields or other monocultures, or they have been transformed into craters for gold mining," the study states.

"The loss of the forest releases more carbon into the atmosphere, disrupting an entire ecosystem that regulates the climate and the water cycle, which has a clear impact on temperatures," Peruvian scientist Sandra Ríos Cáceres, who was involved in the study, told the AFP news agency. The loss of vegetation in the Amazon region is directly linked to the severe drought and forest fires affecting several South American countries.

Scientists from the World Weather Attribution Network stated on Sunday that climate change is increasing the risk and severity of fires in the wetlands of the Amazon and Pantanal, which release "massive amounts" of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The drought has caused the level of some Amazon rivers to fall to their lowest levels in decades, threatening the way of life of around 47 million people who live along their banks. The drought has caused fires to spread in Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru, often set to clear farmland.

SDA