Amazon deforestation by the numbers

Amazon deforestation by the numbers
Amazon deforestation by the numbers

Amazon deforestation by the numbers

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More than 15,000 species of trees exist in the Amazon rainforest. Recently, a team of 150 scientists surveyed the status of these 15,000 trees and found that more half were under threat. But the news actually isn’t all bad. Deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon are down 75 percent since 2005. The team of researchers also credits expanded protected areas for exceeding their best case scenarios going into the project.We talk with the two lead authors of the report: Dr. Hans ter Steege from the Netherlands and Dr. Nigel Pitman from Chicago’s Field Museum. (Photo: Flickr/Torrenegra)