Deforestation in the Amazon in June returns to pre-Bolsonaro levels while fires are a concern

[Judi Lynn]

Cerrado has a new record accumulated in the semester, but starts to show a decrease in the month

Jéssica Maes
João Gabriel

SÃO PAULO and BRASÍLIA
Deforestation in the Amazon in June was the lowest in the last five years, at 663 km². This number is the lowest since 2018 (488.1 km²) before Jair Bolsonaro (PL) took over the presidency. In comparison with data from the same month in 2022, there was a 41% reduction in the deforested area in the biome. In the Cerrado, the drop was 14.6% compared to June last year, with 876 km² deforested.

The positive number comes after an increase of 83% recorded in May. Data from Deter, the Inpe (National Institute for Space Research) system that gathers information to combat deforestation in almost real-time, were released this Thursday (6th) by the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change.



Aerial image captured during an inspection operation shows deforested area in the region of Uruara, in Pará - Ueslei Marcelino - 21.jan.2023/Reuters

The total accumulated in the first half of the year in both biomes reached over 7,000 km², equivalent to about 4.5 times the area of the city of São Paulo (1,521 km²). While in the Amazon, 2,649 km² of forest were destroyed, the lowest rate since 2020 (3,081 km²), the Cerrado lost 4,408 km² of vegetation – the highest rate ever recorded by Deter.

The number was about 20% above the previous record, set in 2018 when deforestation in the biome surpassed 3,774 km². The historical series for the Cerrado begins in 2018; that of the Amazon, in 2016.

https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/brazil/2023/07/deforestation-in-the-amazon-in-june-returns-to-pre-bolsonaro-levels-while-fires-are-a-concern.shtml

[Richard D]

1. Most of the rain in the Amazon . . .

. . . is from a transpiration cycle. Trees and vegetation take in moisture and then "exhale" it into the air. The air is moving from east to west, so it travels a little ways and then condenses into rain again. Rinse and repeat up to the Andean foothills. If enough forest is cut down, this cycle will not longer happen, to disastrous results.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Thank you.