Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon surges to 12-year high

[Judi Lynn]

Destruction of the world’s largest rainforest in 2020 rose 9.5 percent from a year earlier according to government data.

30 Nov 2020
Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest surged to a 12-year high in 2020, official government data showed on Monday, with destruction soaring since President Jair Bolsonaro took office and weakened environmental enforcemen

In 2020, destruction of the world’s largest rainforest rose 9.5 percent from a year earlier to 11,088sq km (2.7 million acres), according to data from Brazil’s national space research agency Inpe, seven times the size of London.

That means Brazil will miss its own target, established under a 2009 climate change law, for reducing deforestation to roughly 3,900sq km. The consequences for missing the target are not laid out in the law but could leave the government open to lawsuits.

The official annual measure, known as PRODES, is taken by comparing satellite images from the end of July 2020 with those from the beginning of August 2019. These dates are chosen to coincide with the Amazon’s dry season, when there is less cloud cover to interfere with the calculations.

The Amazon is the world’s largest rainforest and its protection is crucial to stopping catastrophic climate change because of the vast amount of carbon dioxide it absorbs.

More:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/30/deforestation-in-brazils-amazon-to-12-year-high-under-bolsonaro