Burning Rainforest in the Amazon

Burning rainforest and degraded land in the influence zone of BR-163 highway in the National Forest of Jamanxim, Pará. The deforestation, especially in the Amazon, is responsible for 75% of the greenhouse gas emitted from Brazil, putting the country as the 4th top polluter of the climate in the world.
The deforestation is happening so that forest is converted to pasture. The Amazon has already lost 17 per cent of its original forest cover, the equivalent to approximately 700,000 square kilometers, or 16 times the size of the state of Rio de Janeiro. Some 70 per cent of this destruction is currently occupied by pasture. In June 2008, an area equivalent to approximately 1.5 football fields were destroyed every minute.