Amazon fire beat News

A new index measures the human impacts on Amazon waters

Based on the best scientific data available, the unprecedented Amazon Water Impact Index draws together monitoring and research data to identify the most vulnerable areas of the Brazilian rainforest. According to the index, 20% of the 11,216 Brazilian Amazon microbasins have an impact considered high, very high or extreme; half of these watersheds are affected by hydroelectric plants.
Fire line moves through a degraded forest area in an undesignated public forest area in Porto Velho, Rondônia on July 29, 2021. Photo © Christian Braga / Greenpeace

Mongabay’s top Amazon stories from 2021

For the Amazon, 2021 was yet another year under the pandemic where the onslaught against nature never seemed to end. Deforestation continues, surging at year’s end Deforestation continued in the…
Fire line moves through a degraded forest area in an undesignated public forest area in Porto Velho, Rondônia on July 29, 2021. Photo © Christian Braga / Greenpeace
Aerial view of an area in the Amazon deforested for cattle pasture in Candeias do Jamari, Rondônia state. Overflights organized by the Amazon in Flames Alliance -- Amazon Watch, Greenpeace Brazil and the Brazilian Climate Observatory -- between September 13th and 17th documented land use change and fire around the cities of Porto Velho, Rondônia, and Lábrea, Amazonas. Photo © Victor Moriyama / Amazônia em Chamas (Amazon in Flames Alliance)

Brazil reports increase in Amazon logging

Selective forest cutting in the Amazon is on the rise, according to data released on Friday by the Brazilian government. Monthly deforestation alert data published by Brazil's national space research…
Aerial view of an area in the Amazon deforested for cattle pasture in Candeias do Jamari, Rondônia state. Overflights organized by the Amazon in Flames Alliance -- Amazon Watch, Greenpeace Brazil and the Brazilian Climate Observatory -- between September 13th and 17th documented land use change and fire around the cities of Porto Velho, Rondônia, and Lábrea, Amazonas. Photo © Victor Moriyama / Amazônia em Chamas (Amazon in Flames Alliance)
Planet image of Altamira (-5.79, -53.69) in the State of Pará, Brazil taken on August 8, 2020. Courtesy of Planet.

Amazon deforestation rises modestly in June

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon continued on an upward trajectory in June, reports the country's national space research institute INPE. INPE's satellite-based forest monitoring system detected 1,062 square kilometers (410…
Planet image of Altamira (-5.79, -53.69) in the State of Pará, Brazil taken on August 8, 2020. Courtesy of Planet.