Mining, logging, ranching, agriculture, and oil and gas extraction have put unsustainable pressure on the delicate rain forests of the Amazon Basin.
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Threats to the Amazon
Unchecked Agricultural Expansion. Uncurbed expansion of ranching and unsustainable farming practices clear forests and leaves areas more prone to fires that can quickly become uncontrolled.
Mining pollution, deforestation, agricultural pollution, large hydro dams, and massive dredging projects for industrial shipping routes threaten homes and livelihoods. The local fight to protect the Amazon is of global urgency.
Mining, logging, ranching, agriculture, and oil and gas extraction have put unsustainable pressure on the delicate rain forests of the Amazon Basin. The resource is available in English and Spanish.
About the AmazonThis vast untamed wilderness is under increasing threat from huge-scale farming and ranching, infrastructure and urban development, unsustainable logging, mining and climate change.
The Amazon region itself—the seven million square kilometer basin stretching over nine Brazilian states and eight other sovereign countries—would become virtually uninhabitable, according to the model. Rainfall would be 25 percent lower and temperatures up to 4.5°C hotter.
Scientists emphasize that while the extreme drought is influenced by El Niño, deforestation over the years has worsened the situation. Additionally, wildfires linked to slash-and-burn practices favored by cattle ranchers and soybean producers are pushing the region beyond its limit.
INPE's deforestation alert system, known as DETER, indicates that forest clearing in Brazil's section of the Amazon totaled 563 square kilometers in August 2023. This is a 66% decline — equating to nearly 1,100 square kilometers — compared to the same month the previous year.