This piece examines the ongoing harm from land conversion in the Amazon, where agricultural and livestock expansion threatens vital ecosystems and the climate. The Amazon rainforest, a major global reservoir of biodiversity and a key player in carbon cycling, is facing pressure from farming, cattle ranching, and fire-driven damage that jeopardizes the health of local and global environments.
A recent scientific study shows that human activities have degraded more than a third of the forests in the Amazon basin, an area roughly five times the size of Spain. The researchers urge urgent action to curb unauthorized clearing, illegal burning, and the rapid spread of disturbances that compound ecological loss.
The study, conducted by an international team of 35 scientists from Brazil and the United Kingdom, finds that anthropogenic changes are unfolding at a pace far faster than any natural variations recorded in the past. The researchers emphasize that these disturbances pose a much larger threat to biodiversity and carbon storage than previously understood.
The researchers note that the period from 2001 to 2018 saw extensive human influence across the region, with emissions from disturbed areas reaching levels comparable to or exceeding those produced by outright deforestation. The findings highlight that much of the Amazon has experienced some form of human disturbance, contributing to significant carbon release and habitat disruption.
The report states that approximately 2.5 million square kilometers of the Amazon rainforest are now degraded by fires, edge effects, logging, or extreme drought, representing about 38% of the forest in the region. The authors warn that these figures reflect a landscape where land use has changed, yet the extent of forest clearance may be uneven, with some degraded areas retaining their land cover status while still suffering ecological losses.
biodiversity loss
Researchers differentiate between deforestation, defined as the complete removal of forest to establish new land uses such as agriculture, and disturbances that alter forest structure without fully converting land. They point out that even heavily degraded forests can lose most of their trees while land use remains comparatively unchanged, underscoring the subtlety of ecological decline in some areas.
This degradation is evident in landscapes subjected to multiple stressors—events like selective logging, fragmentation along borders, fires, and prolonged droughts—each intensifying the other and reshaping ecosystems. A photograph from 2019 illustrates a patch of forest scarred by past disturbances, a reminder of the lasting impact of human activity on forest health.
Analyses of land-use change consistently show that anthropogenic disturbances contribute to forest degradation and threaten the future viability of the Amazon. The most salient drivers include border effects from fragmentation, illegal timber extraction, fire regimes increasingly set by human activity, and droughts amplified by climate change. The cumulative impact of these forces is profound, affecting biodiversity and the resilience of ecosystems.
According to Jos Barlow, a conservation scientist, the combined effects of these shocks can rival the carbon emissions associated with outright deforestation. While some negative outcomes can be mitigated by addressing edge effects and other localized issues, the broader challenge requires policies that reduce deforestation, curb degradation, and implement proactive measures to lessen disturbances that degrade the rainforest. Smart, data-driven approaches are highlighted as potential tools to improve environmental management and monitor changes more effectively.
carbon emissions
The study argues that curbing corruption and leveraging broad collaboration among stakeholders are essential to enact meaningful protection. It calls for policies and programs that prevent harmful practices and promote transparent, accountable actions to safeguard forests and the communities that depend on them.
The researchers estimate that degradation-related carbon emissions could reach as high as 0.2 petagrams per year, a figure on par with or exceeding emissions from direct deforestation in the region. Degraded forests also reduce evapotranspiration during dry periods, a drop that can reach around a third, further stressing water cycles and local climates. The loss of biodiversity in these altered landscapes translates into unequal burdens for forest communities and ecosystems alike.
A concise summary of the disruption drivers shows how fires, edge effects, illegal logging, and climate-driven droughts act in concert to reshape the Amazon. The overall trend points to degradation as a persistent and significant source of carbon emissions, influencing atmospheric chemistry and regional weather patterns. Even in scenarios with reduced deforestation, these degradation factors remain a dominant force affecting forests and climate.
The study leader emphasizes that preventing deforestation remains crucial, but it must be paired with strategies that address degradation and other disturbances. Innovative ideas—such as deploying smart forest technologies and sensor networks to gather actionable environmental data—are proposed as part of a broader effort to safeguard the Amazon. Investments in smart, data-backed approaches are presented as essential steps toward resilient forest management.
Reference work: Science, 2023. Attribution: Science magazine and the researchers behind the study. The information presented here reflects their findings and interpretations as summarized for broader audiences.