"The equally horrifying dimension to these imperialist ventures is their potential for catastrophic ecological consequences; the Amazon – which ranges over 2 million square miles – is by far the world’s largest rainforest, and thus plays a pivotal role in regulating the planet’s weather systems and carbon dioxide levels. Deforestation by logging and mining operations is hence responsible for a tangle of dire consequences, ranging from its own hefty carbon emissions to large-s…cale freak weather, droughts, and famines. The magnitude of these effects cannot be overestimated, and in conjunction with similar international developments poses a serious existential threat to the human race. The only way to stem this bleak progression is to sever the profit motive that drives it, and to abolish the long-expired system of world capitalism."