(ORDO NEWS) — Deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest (Brazil) increased by nearly 22% from August 2020 to July 2021 compared to the same period last year, reaching its highest level in 15 years, authorities said Thursday.
The 13,000 square kilometers of forest lost between 2020-21 is the largest since 14,286 square kilometers were deforested in 2005-2006, according to estimates by Brazilian space experts.
Environment Minister Joaquim Leite acknowledged the numbers as a “challenge” and pledged to be “more determined in the fight against environmental crime.” He also insisted that the data “does not quite reflect the situation over the past few months.”
However, local media reported last week that October saw its worst-ever deforestation rate, with more than half of the city of Rio de Janeiro.
The government says it has stepped up its efforts to combat illegal logging by increasing the presence of troops on the ground.
Brazil was among the countries that signed the international pledge made at COP26 in Glasgow to end deforestation by 2030. I wonder if economic interests can take a back seat to fulfill a commitment?
Previously, experts said that in the next decade, Amazonian rainforests will begin to emit more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than it absorbs. Participants in a large-scale study, posted on the pages of the online journal Nature, stated that when forests die, they begin to emit large quantities of carbon dioxide. It turns out that the rapid deforestation of the Amazonian forests only exacerbates the situation with an increased content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
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