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

BOM FUTURO, BRAZIL - JUNE 27: Lalau, a tin miner, poses on a break in 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. Maria Jose said she earns around $230 USD per month. Work not related to extractive and exploitative industries is limited in the region. 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)