Atlantic Forest Lost Almost 200 Thousand Football Fields of Forest in 10 Years: Study Reveals Alarming Destruction!

Written by Bruno Teles

Published on 13/02/2025 at 17:35

Updated on 13/02/2025 at 17:36

A Mata Atlântica é um patrimônio natural insubstituível, essencial para a biodiversidade, o clima e a qualidade de vida de milhões de brasileiros. No entanto, a cada ano, ela perde mais espaço para atividades predatórias.

1 person reacted to this.

Between 2010 and 2020, the Atlantic Forest lost 186 thousand hectares of native vegetation, with Minas Gerais and Bahia concentrating 60% of the destruction – Impacts on climate, biodiversity and water supply are devastating!

The Atlantic Forest continues to shrink at a concerning rate. A study published in the scientific journal Nature Sustainability revealed that, between 2010 and 2020, more than 186 thousand hectares of native forest disappeared – the equivalent of almost 200 thousand football fields. This means that, every day, enormous areas of this essential biome are converted into pastures, plantations, or developments.

The data was collected by scientists from the Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica, the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), and the University of São Paulo (USP). The research identified over 14 thousand deforested areas over a decade, many of them on private properties and with clear signs of illegal deforestation.

The Alarming Impact of Deforestation in the Atlantic Forest

**The Atlantic Forest stretches along the coast of Brazil, from Rio Grande do Norte to Rio Grande do Sul. It spans 17 states and covers parts of Paraguay and Argentina.**

Deforestation in the Atlantic Forest is not an isolated phenomenon, but rather a continuous process that intensifies every year. The survey indicates that destruction occurs in all 17 states that have areas of the biome, but the problem is more severe in Minas Gerais and Bahia, which concentrated 60% of the total loss. These two states were responsible for half of the area of mature forest deforested in the analyzed period.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

Why the Atlantic Forest Is Disappearing?

The conversion of the forest for other uses is the main reason for this deforestation. Among the culprits for the devastation of the biome are:

Agricultural and Silviculture Expansion

Cattle ranching and silviculture (tree planting for timber and cellulose extraction) are the main villains in Bahia and Minas Gerais. In the former, 36% of the deforested land was converted into pastures, while in the latter, 33% of the forest gave way to eucalyptus plantations.

Temporary Agriculture and Urbanization

In Southern Brazil, deforestation follows a different logic: 41% of the devastated areas were allocated to temporary agriculture, hindering forest regeneration.
Uncontrolled urbanization also threatens the Atlantic Forest, with cities encroaching on areas that should be protected.

The Consequences of Destruction

Deforestation is not just an environmental problem, but a direct risk to human life. The destruction of the Atlantic Forest brings profound impacts on biodiversity, climate, and water security.

Loss of Biodiversity

This biome is one of the richest in diversity in the world, harboring thousands of endemic species, that is, those that do not exist anywhere else. With deforestation, many of these species face the risk of extinction, which affects the ecological balance of the region.

Impacts on Climate and Water Supply

The Atlantic Forest plays an essential role in climate regulation and the water regime. With the destruction of forests:

Water supply is reduced, harming rivers and reservoirs;
The risk of droughts and floods increases, putting millions of people in danger;
The biome loses resilience to climate change, making Brazil more vulnerable to extreme events.

1 Comment

most recent

older Most voted

Built-in feedback

View all comments

Paulo yoshiyasu fujimoto

#124911

13/02/2025 18:06

E muito triste essa situação vamos ser otimistas e achar que a situação vai melhorar.

Respond

Atlantic Forest Lost Almost 200 Thousand Football Fields of Forest in 10 Years: Study Reveals Alarming Destruction!

Between 2010 and 2020, the Atlantic Forest lost 186 thousand hectares of native vegetation, with Minas Gerais and Bahia concentrating 60% of the destruction – Impacts on climate, biodiversity and water supply are devastating!

The Alarming Impact of Deforestation in the Atlantic Forest

Why the Atlantic Forest Is Disappearing?

The Consequences of Destruction

A giant printer called the “Ferrari” of concrete has landed in Latin America and can already build a 120-square-meter house in just 48 hours, making the traditional construction site look like something from the last century.

Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt has ceased to be a climatic phenomenon and has become a biological system that feeds on itself, with 8,000 kilometers in length, 37 million tons of algae, and scientists confirm that it is now permanent.

A British company has installed in the middle of the ocean the world’s first floating platform that generates electricity 24 hours a day from the temperature difference between the surface and the depths of the Atlantic, without relying on wind or sun.

China is building an artificial island in the middle of the sea, covering 20 km², to construct the largest offshore airport in the world, the Dalian Jinzhouwan. This $4.3 billion project is anchored on more than 3,000 pillars embedded in the rock beneath the ocean and is scheduled to open in 2035.

Brazil will harvest a record crop of up to 357 million tons of grains, but it does not have the capacity to store a large part of it. The storage deficit has reached the highest level in history and is equivalent to almost the entire production of Argentina.

Engineers had to pour concrete mixed with tons of ice throughout entire nights in the Dubai desert to erect the Burj Khalifa; any carelessness could clog the pipes half a mile high.

The James Webb telescope spotted a planet 700 light-years from Earth with mornings full of sand clouds and nights with clear skies, the temperature difference between the two hemispheres reaches an impressive 170 degrees.

Find out which are the 5 busiest bus stations in Brazil and what they offer to travelers.

He looks alien, and it’s on purpose: the Helios abandons the legs of common humanoid robots and gains four arms to move, anchor, and operate in zero gravity, with the promise of eventually even helping with the maintenance of satellites and structures in orbit.

Brazilians create cashierless mini-market in the USA, use AI to define products and prices, raise R$ 10 million, and achieve financial balance in the first month before planning nine more units in Miami by the end of 2026.

Three of the five winners of one of the UK’s most prestigious literary awards are suspected of having submitted books written by AI, as detectors cannot distinguish human from machine, and writing too well has become a reason for suspicion.

Atlantic Forest Lost Almost 200 Thousand Football Fields of Forest in 10 Years: Study Reveals Alarming Destruction!

Between 2010 and 2020, the Atlantic Forest lost 186 thousand hectares of native vegetation, with Minas Gerais and Bahia concentrating 60% of the destruction – Impacts on climate, biodiversity and water supply are devastating!

The Alarming Impact of Deforestation in the Atlantic Forest

Why the Atlantic Forest Is Disappearing?

The Consequences of Destruction

A giant printer called the “Ferrari” of concrete has landed in Latin America and can already build a 120-square-meter house in just 48 hours, making the traditional construction site look like something from the last century.

Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt has ceased to be a climatic phenomenon and has become a biological system that feeds on itself, with 8,000 kilometers in length, 37 million tons of algae, and scientists confirm that it is now permanent.

A British company has installed in the middle of the ocean the world’s first floating platform that generates electricity 24 hours a day from the temperature difference between the surface and the depths of the Atlantic, without relying on wind or sun.

China is building an artificial island in the middle of the sea, covering 20 km², to construct the largest offshore airport in the world, the Dalian Jinzhouwan. This $4.3 billion project is anchored on more than 3,000 pillars embedded in the rock beneath the ocean and is scheduled to open in 2035.

Brazil will harvest a record crop of up to 357 million tons of grains, but it does not have the capacity to store a large part of it. The storage deficit has reached the highest level in history and is equivalent to almost the entire production of Argentina.

Engineers had to pour concrete mixed with tons of ice throughout entire nights in the Dubai desert to erect the Burj Khalifa; any carelessness could clog the pipes half a mile high.

The James Webb telescope spotted a planet 700 light-years from Earth with mornings full of sand clouds and nights with clear skies, the temperature difference between the two hemispheres reaches an impressive 170 degrees.

Brazil joins a 5-year international mega project to combat plastic pollution on the coast with scientific monitoring, new environmental policies, and integrated actions that promise to reduce waste in strategic coastal cities of the country.

More than 10 tons of garbage are removed from Vila da Barca during a revitalization operation in Belém, in an initiative that combines urban cleaning, structural recovery, and environmental improvements to transform one of the most well-known areas of the capital of Pará.

Study by Brazilian scientists identifies microplastics and persistent pollutants in deep areas of the national ocean, increasing global concern about invisible waste that persists for decades in the marine environment and threatens strategic species of Atlantic biodiversity.

Understand how whey protein residue ceases to be an environmental problem, gains innovative industrial use, and helps reduce CO2 emissions with technology applied to sustainable food production and intelligent reuse on a global scale.

Landfill in Chile becomes the “mountain of garbage” that emits the most methane on the planet and frightens residents with a strong smell, flies, and global alert

Find out which are the 5 busiest bus stations in Brazil and what they offer to travelers.

He looks alien, and it’s on purpose: the Helios abandons the legs of common humanoid robots and gains four arms to move, anchor, and operate in zero gravity, with the promise of eventually even helping with the maintenance of satellites and structures in orbit.

Brazilians create cashierless mini-market in the USA, use AI to define products and prices, raise R$ 10 million, and achieve financial balance in the first month before planning nine more units in Miami by the end of 2026.

Three of the five winners of one of the UK’s most prestigious literary awards are suspected of having submitted books written by AI, as detectors cannot distinguish human from machine, and writing too well has become a reason for suspicion.