MSGID: 1:317/3 63163946   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   September 5, 2022 - Fires and Deforestation in Brazil and Bolivia   
      
      Fires   
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      Smoke and fires continue to mark increasing deforestation in the Amazon   
      Rainforest through early September 2022. According to Global Forest   
      Watch, there were 6,423,870 integrated deforestation alerts reported in   
      Brazil between August 24, 2022, and August 31, 2022. This covered a   
      total of 77.7 hectares. 8.2 percent of these alerts were considered   
      “high confidence” detected by a single system and 2.1 percent were   
      detected by multiple systems. That translates to 526,727 “high   
      confidence” alerts and 134,901 confirmed by multiple systems. These   
      alerts are not just fire, but also watch for canopy disturbance and   
      other parameters that signal potential deforestation is happening in   
      near-real time.   
      
      On September 1, 2022, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer   
      (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of   
      a hazy pall stretching across both Bolivia (west) and Brazil (east).   
      Each red “hot spot” marks an area where the thermal bands on the MODIS   
      instrument detected high temperatures. When combined with typical   
      smoke, as in this image, such hot spots mark actively burning fire.   
      Despite the cover of smoke, which is thick in some areas, hundreds of   
      hot spots are visible in just this one section of the Amazon.   
      
      Most of the territory in this image belongs to the Brazilian state of   
      Mato Grosso, which is located on the southeastern edge of the Amazon.   
      One driving factor in deforestation in this region is agriculture,   
      particularly soy farming. According to an article by the Monitoring of   
      the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP) published online in June 2022, “The   
      Amazon Soy Moratorium has often been credited with significantly   
      reducing soy-related deforestation in the Amazon over the past 15   
      years. The Moratorium is a voluntary zero-deforestation agreement in   
      which traders agree not to purchase soy grown on land cleared after   
      2008.” However, soy prices are increasing, resulting in increasing   
      pressure to grow the product—and increasing pressure to tear down the   
      Amazon for farming and profits. In their report, MAAP reported that   
      there was an additional direct deforestation due to soy of at least   
      42,000 hectares in the Brazilian Amazon since 2020, with all of this in   
      the state of Mato Grosso. Recent major fire activity in recently   
      deforested areas signaled burning in preparation for the upcoming   
      planting season.   
      
      Despite recent commitments from Brazil to strongly rein in   
      deforestation and destruction of the Amazon, fires in Brazil’s   
      rainforests are reportedly increasing this year. In addition, fires and   
      deforestation are reported to be encroaching on protected forests as   
      well as indigenous land. An article published by The Washington Post on   
      August 30, 2022, describes the frustration of inspectors and impotence   
      of attempting to enforce any environmental regulation designed to   
      protect Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. The compelling investigative story   
      states, “The violent and lawless erasure of the Amazon is perhaps the   
      world’s greatest environmental crime story. Scientists warn that the   
      forest, seen as vital to averting catastrophic global warming, is at a   
      tipping point. But in Brazil, home to about 60 percent of the Amazon,   
      nearly one-fifth has already been destroyed. And virtually no one, law   
      enforcement officials say, has been held accountable.”   
      
      Image Facts   
      Satellite:  Terra   
      Date Acquired: 9/1/2022   
      Resolutions:  1km (480.1 KB),  500m (1.7 MB),   
      Bands Used: 1,4,3   
      Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC   
      
      
      
   https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2022-09-05   
       
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