There is a devastating development
in the fight against climate
change.
Oftentimes, when
we think of the Amazon rainforest,
we think of it as an important part
of fighting CO2 in the atmosphere,
because it's known to absorb CO2.
However, because of the damage done
to the rain forest,
which was accelerated under
Bolsonaro in Brazil.
Now, there are parts of
the rainforests that
are actually emitting CO2.
So I want to give you these data
points, because it gives
you a sense of just how much damage
human behavior is doing to our
planet, to our environment.
Findings from the nearly
decade-long research project
published in the journal Nature,
suggests that deforestation and
fire among other factors
have dramatically undercut
the Amazon's ability to absorb
heat-trapping carbon emissions from
the atmosphere.
The results showed the greatest
changes to the ecological balance
in areas that had suffered large
scale deforestation, and
had been heavily burned to dispose
of dead trees and to clear land.
So I want to direct your attention
to this map that gives you a sense
of how much damage has been done by
essentially chopping down trees.
If you look at the pink areas,
those are the areas that indicate
the most deforestation.
And so it's not a surprise that as
you get closer to Brazil, the pink
areas are a little more common.
Because Bolsonaro certainly had no
interest in protecting the Amazon,
and he certainly was very much in
favor of allowing for
an accelerated rate
of deforestation to take place.
Can't wait for
him to lose to Lula da Silva in
the upcoming elections in Brazil.
But this is just terrifying stuff,
Francesca, I mean,
we talk about climate policy in
the context of the United States.
But really, this is something that
requires collaboration globally.
And we have to keep fighting but
it's difficult to see a light at
the end of the tunnel with
the United States for instance
still using incredibly hawkish
rhetoric toward China and Russia.
And then it's also difficult when
you think about other right-wing
leaders globally who also don't
seem to take climate change
very seriously.
And have rolled back any progress
that's been made on this effort.
>> Totally, you're 100% right.
I mean, this is what happens when
you let strong men
demagogue dictators run amok
throughout the world.
I mean, and
that's what Bolsonaro does.
And there's no reason for Bolsonaro
to negotiate with Trump, right?
because you just get into
this endless whataboutism, I mean,
to negotiate with Trump before or
anything.
So that's what happens when you
have strong men in their own camps,
your chances
of diplomacy completely unravel.
And the reason diplomacy matters is
because climate change is
a global issue that has to be
tackled globally.
And I know it's hard for leftists
who are like, man, can the US do
anything good in the world?
It's a good question.
But if there's one reason why
we need to keep on trying,
it's to stop climate change and
to curb climate change.
And there's a number of ways that
that can happen.
First of all, countries like
Brazil need to be paid to preserve
the Amazon, full stop.
Because the only reason that these
fires are burning is because it's
more profitable to use that land
for monocrop and culture.
Whether it's soy, wheat,
most things are actually for
export for foreign cows,
that's like foreign cows?
But for cattle and
livestock to eat,
to then sell to Americans and
other first world countries, right?
So it's all this self-perpetuating
terrible recipe for climate chaos.
It's got to be more profitable for
that country to preserve
the Amazon.
So it should be illegal to be
buying anything like feed from
formerly deforested Amazon
rainforest.
That should be illegal.
And countries like
the United States,
countries like China, countries in
Western Europe who have contributed
vastly to the amount of CO2.
Disproportionately to the amount of
CO2 in the atmosphere need to be
shelling over the dough, there is
no other way at this point.
Yes, Bolsonaro has a role to play,
but there needs to be a carrot at
the end of that stick and
otherwise, you're going to keep on
seeing this.
And just to explain, y'all know
that like The Amazon, lungs of
the world, rain clouds that form
in the Amazon end up falling on
Southern California, and Texas, and
all over, right?
So extreme drought in the US,
a lot of it is thanks to
this deforestation.
>> Yeah, now you make such a great
point there.
And if you look at some of
the regulations in a state
like California, which to be sure,
governance in California,
I have complained about quite a bit
recently, and
I stand by those criticisms.
However, There are certain
environmental protections in
California that I'm fond of.
Including a recent story involving
a family who bought a home in
Joshua Tree, California, and
decided that they're expanding
this home,
they're adding some additions.
They're like, look, these four
Joshua Trees are in the way, so
we're going to go ahead and
uproot them and get rid of them.
It turns out that there are strict
regulations against chopping down
or getting rid of Joshua Trees
because, I didn't know this,
they are actually endangered.
And so they had to pay these pretty
hefty fines as
a result of what they did.
And so I think that in some
context, the stick works, right,
the fines, the penalties, real
consequences could work especially
domestically, but you're right.
I mean, internationally, we need to
find ways to collaborate but also
to provide incentives, especially
to countries that aren't as
privileged as the United States is.
To ensure that they're protecting
their environment or the the nature
that surrounds their country.
So yeah, I think that's
a really great point.
One final thing I wanted to bring
up in regard to the recent studies
that were done into this.
So researchers who routinely tested
the atmosphere of four areas in
Amazonia, twice a month over
a nine-year period found that not
only are carbon emissions higher in
the eastern areas of the rain
forest than in the western areas.
But that the south eastern area is
putting more carbon dioxide into
the atmosphere than it absorbs.
Going back to what the lead of
the story is, the Eastern Amazon
is a hotspot of deforestation to
facilitate logging and agriculture,
including cattle ranches.
So, whenever it comes to business
opportunities versus the health of
our planet, or
the lives of actual human beings.
Under this model, the profits,
the corporate incentives are always
going to outweigh what's in
the best interest of mankind.
And again, the incentives are just
in the wrong place.
Short-term profits seem to rule all
of the decision-making that takes
place not just here in
the United States, but globally.
And we got to change that
structure, that's really at
the heart of a lot of the pain and
suffering that we're seeing around
the world right now