Brazil issues survey of environmental ills

A new study conducted by the Brazilian government identifies the burning of forests and the lack of sewage-collection systems as Brazil’s two biggest environmental problems. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the government’s official statistics agency, based its study on answers compiled from questionnaires it sent to the country’s 5,560 municipalities in 2002. Released last month, the first-ever IBGE environmental survey cited the country’s lack of adequate sewage-collection systems as the environmental problem that most adversely affects the population. It pointed to government research in 2002 that showed just 52% of Brazil’s municipalities had pipeline sewage collection. The study also reported that in the 1,159 municipalities where infant mortality rates exceeded 40 deaths per 1,000 newborns, the most common environmental... [Log in to read more]

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