The media has gone insane, seeking yet another new angle on a story.
Studies have found a positive association between conflict in the Congo and traditional, small-scale deforestation, which is mostly caused by local people clearing forest for subsistence farms, and by the extraction of charcoal, timber, and minerals by militia groups. But peace can bring larger-scale deforestation, explained Elizabeth Goldman, a researcher at Global Forest Watch. During the past 15 years, the rate has doubled in the DRC. The Congolese government has passed forest-conservation legislation, but brazenly flouts its own laws. New networks of red-soiled roads are spreading out through the jungle. Deforestation in the region still isn’t as bad as it has been in the Amazon or some parts of Indonesia, Goldman told me, but that could change if peace at last comes to the region.
War in the Congo Has Kept the Planet Cooler (msn.com)
The author has no detailed bio online so his background, besides being a senior editor for science and technology at The Atlantic, is unknown. There is perhaps an 80% likelihood that he has a non-STEM background, such as a BA in English, Creative Writing, History, Art, Journalism or related subjects.
