'Out of Control': Brazilian Amazon Deforestation Hits Highest Level in a Decade
Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Pará state, Brazil on August 17, 2020. Indigenous protesters blocked the major transamazonian highway to protest the lack of governmental support during the Covid-19 pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories. (Photo: Carl De Souza/AFP via Getty Images)
"At this rate, we will not be able to keep global warming below 1.5ºC, a target defined in the Paris agreement," said the conservation institute Imazon.
BRETT WILKINS
August 20, 2021
Encouraged by President Jair Bolsonaro, deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest surged to its highest annual level in a decade over the past year, with researchers warning that the accelerated destruction of the critical carbon sink is imperiling the ability to keep planetary heating below the Paris climate agreement's 1.5ºC target.
Imazon, a Brazilian research institute whose mission is to promote conservation and sustainable development, reported Thursday that from August 2020 to July 2021, 10,476 square kilometers of Amazon rainforest were destroyed, a 57% increase over the previous 12-month period.
"In July alone, 2,095 km² were deforested, 80% more than in the same month in 2020," said Imazon. "This area is larger than the city of São Paulo."
According to the institute, the northeastern state of Pará suffered the most severe deforestation in July, losing 771 square kilometers, an area about the size of Austin, Texas. Additionally, seven out of the 10 Indigenous territories most affected by forest destruction during the 12-month period were located in the state.
"Deforestation is still out of control," Imazon researcher Carlos Souza told
The Guardian. "Brazil is going against the global climate agenda that is seeking to urgently reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
More:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/08/20/out-control-brazilian-amazon-deforestation-hits-highest-level-decade