How Fast Is The Rainforest Disappearing? Brazil Confirms 28 Percent Increase In Amazon Deforestation Rate

Brazil Deforestation — Furnaces used to make charcoal from wood discarded by the illegal logging and lumber industries are seen from a police helicopter during the "Hileia Patria" operation against sawmills and loggers who trade in illegally-extracted wood from the Alto Guama River indigenous reserve in Nova Esperanca do Piria, Para State, Sept. 29, 2013. The Amazon rainforest is being eaten away at by deforestation, much of which takes place as areas are burnt by large fires to clear land for agriculture. Initial data from Brazil's space agency suggests that destruction of the vast rainforest -- the largest in the world -- spiked by more than a third over the past year, wiping out an area more than twice the size of the city of Los Angeles. If the figures are borne out by follow-up data, they would confirm fears of scientists and environmental activists who warn that farming, mining and Amazon infrastructure projects, coupled with changes to Brazil's long-standing environmental policies, are reversing progress made against deforestation. Environmental issues will be under the spotlight as a United Nations Climate Change Conference opens in Warsaw, Poland on Nov.r 11. Picture taken on Sept. 29, 2013. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

Following years of decline the Brazilian government has announced the rate of deforestation in the Amazon has increased 28 percent between August 2012 and July 2013. Brazil's Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira announced that the government is looking to reverse what she called the "crime" of deforestation. Environmental activists are blaming the rise in deforestation on a controversial reformation made to Brazil's forest protection law. According to the BBC, the statistics show that the area suffering from the most deforestation was 2,225 square miles in August 2012 compare with the 1,765 square miles it currently spans.

The Amazon rainforest is able to absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide which makes it a useful tool in the fight against global warming. Last year it was reported that the Amazon was in the midst of its lowest deforestation year since monitoring of the decline began. The decline in deforestation began in 2009 and has been steady until last August. Blame for the rise in deforestation can be placed on the vast farming and soybean production coming out of the northern state of Para and the western state of Mato Grosso.

Teixeira also blamed the rise on what she called ineffective monitoring of the Amazon by federal authorities. Teixeira will be meeting with senior environmental officials in the Amazon region to try to determine what needs to be done in order to preserve the shrinking forest. "The Brazilian government does not tolerate and does not accept any rise in illegal deforestation," Teixeira said. The minister was sure to show her insistence that the Brazilian government is committed to reducing deforestation. "Our commitment is to overturn any increase in in deforestation; our goal is to eliminate deforestation."

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