Amazon Rainforest: Half of Remaining Rainforest Could Soon Disappear

Dear EarthTalk: It seems like the Amazon rainforest is not in the news nearly as much as it used to be. Have the environmental problems there been resolved? – Justin Tucker, Oakland, CA
Just because the Amazon is not in the headlines today as much as when the media first covered its widespread destruction in the 1980s does not mean that environmental problems there have been solved. In fact, the non-profit Rainforest Action Network (RAN) estimates that more than 20 percent of the original rainforest is already gone and that, without stricter environmental laws and more sustainable development practices, as much as half of what remains could disappear within a few decades.