Source: OfficialWire (press release)
The number of fires taking place in the Amazon rainforest is increasing, according to a new study. Deliberate deforestation produces around the same number of carbon emissions as the fires in the Amazon basin, the scientists, writing in Science, found.
Areas that experience less deforestation had increased rates of fires occurring, with them taking place in 59 per cent of the places with fewer trees being cut down. The result of these fires is that they may affect the long-term efforts of schemes designed to reduce carbon emissions caused by deforestation. Findings for the study, which was conducted by researchers from the University of Exeter in the UK and Brazil`s National Institute for Space Research, were based on satellite-derived data on forest fires and deforestation.
The Amazon rainforest represents 54 per cent of the total forested area left in the world. It covers a region of 2.5 million square miles, encompassing nine different South American countries.