Carbon Emissions from Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon

This paper provides an estimate of the amount of carbon emissions that resulted from large scale deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon during the aggressive development period 1970 - 1985. The estimate is derived by combining a dynamic carbon model with a municipality level data set describing natural vegetation cover and land uses in 316 municipalities in Legal Amazonia.The results show average carbon emissions from Legal Amazonia of 168 million tons per year during the period 1970-1985, or about 95 tC per hectare cleared. This is lower than other estimates found in the literature because we take into account the uneven spatial distribution of clearing. The agressive development policies implied rapid economic growth in the region. On average, there was generated GDP of approximately $44 per ton carbon emítted.