The main purpose of this ongoing blog will be to track planetary extreme, or record temperatures related to climate change. Any reports I see of ETs will be listed below the main topic of the day. I’ll refer to record temperatures as ETs (not extraterrestrials).😜
Main Topic: Colombia Deforestation Surges 43%, Amazon Region Worst Hit
Dear Diary. Over the last decade on this website, I’ve often pointed to the Brazil as the keeper and protector of the Amazon Rainforest or ‘Lungs of the Earth.’ Brazil is like a chain smoker, though. A smoker that knows that cutting down vast tracks of trees for short term dollars is bad for the planet, yet they mostly can’t kick their addictive habit.
The Amazon Rainforest extends into other countries, though. Apparently, Columbia is also an ecological chain smoker that can’t kick its bad habit. Using this metaphor a bit further, we all soon will be suffering asthma from what these South American chain smokers are doing, and we can’t escape the room in which the smokers are having a big party. The bad news here is that deforestation across Columbia has increased to 43% during 2024 over 2023.
Here are more details from DW:
For a video on the Amazon drought that I did not repost, hit the following link:
https://www.dw.com/en/colombia-deforestation-surges-43-amazon-region-worst-hit/a-73490822
Nature and EnvironmentColombia
Colombia deforestation surges 43%, Amazon region worst hit
Srinivas Mazumdaru with AP, Reuters
August 1, 2025
Colombia recorded a sharp uptick in deforestation in the country’s Amazon rainforest for last year. The expansion of livestock farming and illegal construction were among the factors authorities blamed for the increase.
The uptick marks a sharp reversal after 2023 saw deforestation go down by 36% year-over-year (FILE: December 6, 2021)Image: Raul Arboleda/AFP/Getty Images
Colombia’s government said on Thursday that deforestation in the South American country increased as much as 43% in 2024 compared to the year before.
The Amazon rainforest region in the country was the worst hit.
Overall, some 113,608 hectares (about 280,700 acres) of forest were destroyed last year, according to data presented by the Environment Ministry and the IDEAM meteorological agency.
The uptick marks a sharp reversal after 2023 saw deforestation go down by 36% year-over-year, recording its lowest level in 23 years.
“Deforestation persists,” Environment Minister Lena Estrada said at a press conference in Bogota. “The most affected territory is the Amazon, a fragile region where vulnerable populations also live.”
The Amazon region accounted for more than 65% of the total loss, with some 75,000 hectares destroyed.
Despite the 2024 spike, deforestation in Colombia remains lower than 2021 levels, say authoritiesImage: Raul Arboleda/AFP/Getty Images
What are the reasons for the spike in deforestation?
Authorities blamed increasing land-grabbing for pastures, the expansion of livestock farming, illegal constructions, and more growing of illicit crops such as coca for the rise in deforestation.
Estrada said it was also partly driven by wildfires during a drought intensified by climate change.
Deforestation also rose inside protected national parks, including the regions of Tinigua, La Macarena and Chiribiquete, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Despite the 2024 spike, deforestation in Colombia remains lower than 2021 levels, continuing an overall downward trend since 2022. Ghisliane Echeverry, director of the IDEAM meteorological agency, said Colombia still maintains a net reduction in forest loss, compared to the baseline year of 2021.
Colombia is one of the countries with the greatest biodiversity in the world, home to thousands of plant and animal species.
It has approximately 59.1 million hectares of forest, covering more than half its territory.
Here are more “ET’s” recorded from around the planet the last couple of days, their consequences, and some extreme temperature outlooks, as well as any extreme precipitation reports:
Here is More Climate News from Sunday:
(As usual, this will be a fluid post in which more information gets added during the day as it crosses my radar, crediting all who have put it on-line. Items will be archived on this site for posterity. In most instances click on the pictures of each tweet to see each article. The most noteworthy items will be listed first.)