BRAZIL MAP OUTLINES DEVELOPMENTAL SPRAWL INTO AMAZON
18 February 2007 :: Lainey Johr
For the first time, Brazil’s national statistics office (IBGE) released maps detailing the country’s geographical, social and political conditions, which include the human agricultural encroachment into the Amazon region. This could mean the beginning of a real recognition by the state of the toll its development projects are takin the integrity of the region's ecology.
For decades, economic pressure and increased demand for arable lands has led to the degradation of one of the world’s most prized biodiversity hotspots. In total, Brazil lost 13.3% of its Amazon rainforest between the years 2000 and 2003.
Showing data from as recently as 2003, the map allows scientists and environmentalists worldwide to analyze detailed human encroachment activities in the Amazon region, including cattle ranching and soy farming.
Using satellite imagery, the map shows that most deforestation has occurred along the Trans-Amazon highway and the BR-163, roads that link the Para and Mato Grosso regions in the south of Brazil. These regions, along with Tocatins and southern Maranhao are noted to have the most suitable land for soy plantations.
In the state of Para alone, 207,000 square kilometers of forest have been cleared. In total, approximately 16,700 square kilometers of rainforest were felled between the years 2005 and 2006- a land mass as large as the state of Hawaii. The whole Amazon rainforest is bigger than the entire state of India.
The Amazon takes up about 60% of the state of Brazil, and houses 20.3 million people.
The government touted a slowdown in Amazon deforestation by 11% in 2006, and curtailed land clearing by 52% over the last four years. Although the Brazilian government is making efforts to decelerate the destruction, it seems almost an economic necessity to use its biggest asset.
With an Amazonian population expected to reach nearly 25 million by 2008, the state of Brazil has to weigh the negative effects of rainforest destruction with the economic benefits of expanded agriculture, mining and natural resource extraction.
Brazilian exports are at their peak, as Brazil is now the second largest producer of soy, out-farmed only by the US. The government encourages droves of immigrants to come into the Amazon region for its abundant work opportunities.
At least now with enhanced mapping of the region, the government can better analyze the use of the Amazon and to plan future operations, including conservation. [s]
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BACKGROUND:
WIND ENERGY DEMAND BOOMING COST DROPPING BELOW CONVENTIONAL SOURCES MARKS KEY MILESTONE IN U.S. SHIFT TO RENEWABLE ENERGY
22 March 2006 :: Lester R. Brown
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Cuando Austin Energy, agencia pública de la ciudad de Austin, Texas, lanzó su campaña GreenChoice en el año 2000, el cliente que quería adoptar fuentes energéticas "verdes" tenía que pagar más. Durante el otoño, la persistente subida de los precios por el gas natural hizo que superaran los precios de la energía eólica, un momento clave para el proceso de mudar economía energética del país hacia las fuentes renovables. [Texto completo]
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En 1991, un estudio del Departamento de Energía de Estados Unidos para medir los recursos eólicos nacionales sorprendió al mundo cuando demostró que los tres estados más ricos en viento —North Dakota, Kansas y Texas— poseían un recurso bastante como para satisfacer la demanda nacional para electricidad. Ahora un estudio nuevo, hecho por un equipo de ingenieros de Stanford, reporta que la energía eólica potencial supera por mucho los cálculos de 1991. [Texto completo]
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