Climate Politics
Amazon Deforestation Hits Record High in New Blow to Bolsonaro
- Build-up of organic material in soil may fuel dry-season fires
- May further damage Bolsonaro’s reputation in election year
An environmentally protected area near Sao Felix do Xingu, Para state, on Oct. 5, 2021.
Photographer: Jonne Roriz/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon reached a record high in the first half, boosting concern that fires in the rainforest may jump as the dry season begins.
An area almost three times the size of Brazil’s biggest city, Sao Paulo, was cleared in the jungle in June, according to the alert system of the National Institute for Space Research. The rate of destruction rose 11% from the prior record a year earlier to almost 4,000 square kilometers (1,540 square miles), the data show, and alerts hit monthly records four times in 2022, including June.