He began studying the Amazon in the 1970s; 50 years later, Philip Fearnside’s research has calculated the costs of losing the Amazon on account of deforestation, dams and highways

• Philip Fearnside’s research has calculated the costs of losing the Amazon on account of deforestation, dams and highwaysThe Amazon rainforest has been described in terms of its enormous size, biodiversity and importance to the global climate.
• But for Philip Fearnside, understanding the forest has also meant asking a more practical question: what does it cost when the forest is cleared or altered?
• Fearnside began working in the Amazon in the 1970s, studying agricultural settlements along Brazil’s Trans-Amazonian Highway.