Brazil vegetation loss tops twice France's size, study says

Brazil has lost native vegetation covering more than twice the area of France over the past four decades, increasing its vulnerability to extreme weather from El Niño, environmental monitoring network MapBiomas said in an annual land-use study.

MapBiomas said native vegetation covered 79 percent of Brazil’s territory four decades ago but now covers 65 percent. It said the biggest losses were in the Amazon rainforest and the Cerrado savanna.

Much of the affected land was converted for agriculture or livestock farming, which MapBiomas said now covers 32 percent of Brazil’s territory, up from 18 percent in 1985.

The study said areas where native vegetation had been replaced by agriculture were more vulnerable to weather extremes during strong El Niño events. Tasso Azevedo, general coordinator of MapBiomas, told AFP that deforested areas of the Amazon saw a larger drop in rainfall than forested areas during the 2023-2024 El Niño.

Azevedo said land-use patterns do not change El Niño itself, but can alter its impact. He said one hypothesis is that removing forest in the Amazon reduces evapotranspiration and local air humidity, raising temperatures and reducing rainfall.

Brazil’s government warned last month of a “very strong El Niño,” with Pacific Ocean sea-surface temperatures forecast to exceed two degrees above average. The Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock warned that a “super El Niño” could affect crops including coffee, soy and sugar.