deforestation

Cristiana Barreto says deforestation threatens to erase evidence of huge, dispersed civilizations, including rock art, ceremonial earthworks and waterways.

Not since 2008 has the Amazon been destroyed at a faster rate, according to Brazilian authorities. They say an area more than 12 times the size of New York City was deforested in the span of a year.

Palm oil plantations have led to widespread deforestation in Indonesia. But now some farmers are turning to a different crop — damar, a kind of anti-palm oil, grown in forest-based farms.

Researchers say there's been a huge rise in the number of fires compared with last year. That's likely linked with a similar leap in deforestation since President Jair Bolsonaro took office.

Dozens of food companies have promised to stop their suppliers from clearing forests in order to grow crops or graze cattle. Now the companies have a tool to monitor those farmers from space.

In 2017, 39 million acres of tree cover disappeared, an area as big as Bangladesh. "The report is telling a bleak picture," researcher Mikaela Weisse said. "What we are doing right now isn't enough."

Governments dole out millions each year. Researchers debate whether the payouts actually work. A new study from Uganda offers some answers.

Brazil's National Institute for Space Research found that more than 3,000 square miles of forest cover were lost between August 2015 and July 2016 — a substantial increase over the year before.

Hundreds of food companies have promised to keep their suppliers from cutting down forests. A global coalition of environmental groups is watching to see if the companies are keeping their promises.

Brazil's Environment Ministry announced that deforestation in the country has increased by 16 percent. A separate study warned that more than half the Amazon's tree species may be threatened.

In Sao Paulo, home to 20 million people, water shortages have become part of daily life. Some residents are leaving for lusher regions. Ecologists say Amazon deforestation may be affecting rainfall.

Earth is home to more than 3 trillion trees, a new map of forest density shows. That's more than anyone realized. But the total is also down about 46 percent since the first humans arrived.