We all know that “ignorance of the law is no excuse,” but in daily life, ignorance of the consequences of one’s actions is, indeed, an excuse that shields us from our own discomfort or from condemnation by others, even for the most serious of offenses. One is reminded of Jesus Christ on the cross asking the Lord to forgive the Roman soldiers who were in the act of killing him, “for they know not what they do.” When it comes to climate change and Amazonia, denial and claimed ignorance are commonplace. If global warming escapes from human control with the crossing of a tipping point within the global climate system, Amazonia (and Brazil as a whole) would be devastated. Not only would the Amazon Rainforest and its vital environmental services be lost, but much of the region’s human population would perish during unprecedented heat waves (see here, here, here, here and here). Tipping points in the global climate and for maintaining the Amazon Rainforest are interconnected. If the Amazon collapses, the resulting release of greenhouse gases would push the global climate past its tipping point, and if global warming escapes from control due to continued burning of fossil fuels, the Amazon would soon succumb. One would therefore expect Brazil’s leaders to be laser-focused on preventing these tipping points from being passed. But instead, with the exception of the efforts of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA) to control illegal deforestation (note: only that which is illegal), essentially all…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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