Deforestation continues to be a scourge in Brazil. In the Amazon, the phenomenon certainly decreased by 1.5% last month compared to July 2021, but remains close to record levels. This is prompting new warnings about the rampant destruction of the world’s largest rainforest.
Satellite monitoring has accounted for 1,476 square kilometers of forest cover destroyed, according to figures released Friday by the national space agency’s DETER monitoring program. This is the fifth worst month since the start of the program in 2015. The months of January, February and April 2022 broke all records for deforestation in the Amazon.
They question Jair Bolsonaro’s support for polluting industries
Critics accuse the president and his re-election candidate, Jair Bolsonaro, of fueling deforestation by failing to provide the means to enforce environmental laws and by supporting the agri-food and mining industries. He also defends projects that risk aggravating deforestation, such as the renovation of the BR-319 highway.
Since Jair Bolsonaro took office in January 2019, the average annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has increased by 75% compared to the previous decade, despite growing warnings about the health of the rainforest, a “sink”. of carbon” seen as a vital resource in the race to contain climate change.
“It is alarming to see such high rates of deforestation at a time when we are already experiencing the effects of climate change: droughts, extreme temperatures, floods,” said Edegar de Oliveira of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Brazil. “The Bolsonaro administration is entering its final months with record environmental destruction,” he added in a statement.
July usually marks the start of the most intense deforestation season in the Amazon, when dry weather allows for more clearing.
Source: BFM TV
