'Crisis Cabinet' to Counter Surge in Brazilian Deforestation

Brazil has formed a 'crisis cabinet' in response to an unexpected surge in deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest, the world's largest tropical rainforest, according to The Guardian. The crackdown is in response to a 27 percent increase in deforestation between August 2010 and April. What's more, in March and April 2011, deforestation was up 470 percent compared with the same period in 2010. Illegal timber, cattle and soy operations are to blame, according to Brazil's environmental protection agency. The latest increase comes on the heels of successive years in which deforestation in the Amazon fell dramatically; in December a government official publicly declared the country had reached "the lowest level of deforestation in the history of Amazonia."