Climate Changed
Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon Forest Surges Most in a Decade
- Amazon region lost close to 10,000 square kilometers
- Bolsonaro administration wants to develop rainforest region
Photographer: Dado Galdieri/Bloomberg
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Annual deforestation of the Amazon rainforest jumped the most in over a decade, rekindling criticism of President Jair Bolsonaro’s environmental policies.
Just under 10,000 square kilometers (6,200 square miles) of the so-called Amazonia legal was cut down between August 2018 and July 2019 according to the Prodes measure, which provides an official annual estimate of deforestation. The number, released by Brazil’s National Institute of Space Research (INPE), represents an increase of almost 30% from the previous year and marks the third-highest advance of deforestation since the series began.