Brazil's natural areas shrink, worsening El Nino impact

RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil has lost an area of native vegetation more than twice the size of France in the past four decades, increasing vulnerability to extreme weather events from El Nino, a study showed on Wednesday (Aug 12).Different areas of the vast nation are bracing for droughts, floods and fires as the El Nino weather pattern, confirmed in June, is expected to intensify towards the end of the year.In its annual study of land use in Brazil, environmental monitoring network MapBiomas said that native vegetation that covered 79 per cent of Brazil's territory four decades ago, now covers only 65 per cent.The biggest losses were seen in the Amazon rainforest and biodiverse Cerrado savanna. Much of the affected land was converted for agriculture or livestock farming - which now covers 32 pe