Four countries accounted for 80% of tropical forest loss due to industrial mining, study finds.
(Bloomberg) — More than half the tropical deforestation caused by industrial mining in the last two decades took place in Indonesia, according to a new study.
The researchers, whose paper was published Sept. 12 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), overlapped the geographic coordinates of industrial mines with forest loss data from 2000 to 2019, focusing on 26 countries.
They found that just four countries — Indonesia, Brazil, Ghana and Suriname — accounted for 80% of tropical forest loss due to industrial mining.
Forests are a powerful ally in the struggle against climate change. They soak in 29% of the carbon dioxide humanity emits every year, preventing the atmosphere from warming even faster than it already is. Tropical deforestation gnaws away the planet’s own ability to maintain that balance.
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