Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest The completion of the roads was followed by a wave of resettlement; these settlers had a significant effect on the forest as well. Research conducted by Leydimere Oliveira et al. has shown that the more rainforest is logged in the Amazon, the less precipitation reaches the area and so the lower the yield per hectare becomes. Thus for Brazil as a whole, there is no economic gain to be made by logging and selling trees and using the logged land for pastoral purposes. A September 2016 Amazon Watch report concludes that imports of crude oil by the US are driving
Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest rainforest destruction in the Amazon and releasing significant greenhouse gases. The annual rate of deforestation in the Amazon region dramatically increased from 1991 to 2003. In the nine years from 1991 to 2000, the total area of Amazon rainforest cleared since 1970 rose from , comparable to the land area of Spain, Madagascar or Manitoba. Most of this lost forest was replaced by pasture for cattle. Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest continued to accelerate in the early 2000s, reaching an annual rate of 27,423 km² of forest loss in the year 2004. Today the remaining forest cover continues to dwindle,