COTW: Exports Increase Amazon Deforestation

The vast majority of Amazon deforestation is caused by clearances for beef and soybean production. These charts from a new study published in Environmental Research Letters* show that 30% or 2.7billion tons of carbon emissions between 1990 and 2010 were exported in the form of beef and soy. Brazilian consumption accounts for 50% of emission attributable to soy products and 85% of emissions attributable to beef. The paper is additional research showing a global shift from subsistence agriculture to industrial commodity production.

*Jonas Karstensen, Glen P Peters, Robbie M Andrew. Attribution of CO2 emissions from Brazilian deforestation to consumers between 1990 and 2010. Environmental Research Letters, 2013; 8 (2): 024005 DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/8/2/024005