Amazon Deforestation “Halved”
by Jason GodeskyHerbs for Healing is talking about a report by the BBC’s Tom Gibbs from August, “Deforestation of Amazon ‘halved’.” Great news! But also, a lot more ambiguous than it at first appears. It’s too soon to know if this is an honest-to-gods reversal, or just a momentary lull. The Brazillian government wants to proclaim the success of its environmental protection measures, but it’s more likely that a recent down-turn in the soy market had more to do with it. The estimates come from satellite photos which, due to cloud cover, could be off by 20% or more, and environmental groups “point out that most of the fall in deforestation occurred over a two-month period in June and July this year, when the army and police mounted unusually large operations against illegal logging. … The only firm conclusion, [Greenpeace] said, was that when the government decides to mount major operations against illegal loggers, this does have a positive short-term effect.” That positive effect: this year, we’ve only cut 9,000 square kilometers (3,474 square miles, or 2,223,948 acres). Using the Amerocentric scale that seems to be the only one Americans can conceive of, that’s 1.3% of Texas, or 3 Rhode Islands.
This is very good news, even if it is only a temporary lull. It’s even better news if it really is the start of things turning around in the Amazon. But we have to be careful not to get too carried away. “Heading Out” noted an interesting phenomenon in an article on Katrina’s effects on oil for the Oil Drum:
There is a rather odd side to human nature. Take a problem, present it to the audience in its maximum horror and suggest it is about to happen, then ameliorate it a little, and tell everyone how the world is not nearly as bad as it is painted. And everyone agrees that things are looking up. But you are still facing a very bad situation - only the way the news has been presented makes it seem that there is no longer a problem.
So, take a moment to celebrate, but don’t become complacent. We’re talking about the world’s single most dense repository of biodiversity, our biggest carbon sink, and the source of 80% of the planet’s oxygen. Without it, human life may not be possible on earth.
And right now, we’re burning through 9,000 square kilometers of it a year. But hey, it’s better than 18,000 square kilometers a year, right?
David Hodgson sent me a rather depressing counter-weight to this story….
Comment by Jason Godesky — 20 October 2005 @ 10:27 PM
I thought I read an article about how the president of Brazil was cutting down the forest at an astronomical rate, and he even said (clear cut) that anyone who gets in the way of it is slowing down Progress and not thinking of the “People.”
With that in mind, can I really trust these figures?
Comment by Scott — 20 October 2005 @ 10:36 PM
Short answer: No.
Long answer: Hell no.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 20 October 2005 @ 10:44 PM
Just saw this story: new study claims that Amazon logging has been underestimated by 60%…
BBC News Story
Comment by Jeff Vail — 21 October 2005 @ 1:17 PM
Yes, Dave Hodgson sent me that link last night (see above). I guess the only good news is made-up news….
Comment by Jason Godesky — 21 October 2005 @ 1:26 PM
Doh!
Comment by Jeff Vail — 21 October 2005 @ 1:47 PM
Yeah…John Stewart is great.
Comment by Benjamin Shender — 22 October 2005 @ 1:48 AM
Well, well, well,
Amazon rainforest vanishing at twice rate of previous estimates….
http://www.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,13369,1597398,00.html
you sure screwed up this time jason.
Comment by Scott — 22 October 2005 @ 4:54 PM
Hey, I was lied to, OK?
Comment by Jason Godesky — 22 October 2005 @ 5:04 PM
People ask me how I’m able to so easily accept collapse.
I have a new answer.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 22 October 2005 @ 5:06 PM
I was kidding. hehe.
Comment by Scott — 22 October 2005 @ 5:12 PM
The picture brings to mind this quote by Sam Webster on pagans:
Pagans are a peculiar crowd. We buy stuff but are not particularly consumption driven. We don’t have the same aspirations to acquire and so we tend not to be ambitious in the way the Mega-culture would expect of us, striving after money, property and status. We’d rather live in harmony with our world, not over consume and take the time to enjoy life. Most folks
out in our Mega-culture don’t enjoy life, they just consume and are left dissatisfied.
Much of this is rooted in one key value. To us, the world is sacred. Not fallen. Not irrational. The World is our Mother, the World is our Lover, the World is our Friend and Companion. We do not seek to subdue it or have dominion over it. We work with it and it works with us. This support will be a profound advantage to us because this relationship is one we need to share with our neighbors before they trash the place. To do this we must work on ourselves and work to transform our society.
Source
Comment by Peter — 22 October 2005 @ 5:39 PM
After reading this I couldn’t help but dig up this quote by Mahatma Gandhi “What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another.”
Comment by Curt — 24 October 2005 @ 1:22 PM