Fighting Recession, Level of Deforestation in Brazil Reaches Nine Year High

RONDONIA STATE, BRAZIL - JUNE 27: A drainage pond sits at the Bom Futuro open air tin mine, one of the largest tin mines in the world, in a deforested section of the Amazon rainforest on June 27, 2017 in Bom Futuro, Brazil. Around 5,000 workers make their living at the mine. Mining is one of many causes of deforestation in the Amazon. Deforestation is increasing in the Brazilian Amazon and rose 29 percent between August 2015 and July 2016. According to the National Institute for Space Research, close to two million acres of forest were destroyed during this timeframe amidst a hard hitting recession in the country. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, 'Deforestation causes climate change on a global scale, and is responsible for about 15 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions." (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)