Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon breaks record for October

Rio de Janeiro, Nov 11 (EFE).- Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon in October rose to 903.8 square kilometers (349 square miles), 3 percent more than a year ago and a new record for the month, according to data released by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) on Friday.

Between January and October, a total of 9,994 square kilometers of the world’s largest tropical rainforest was cleared, the highest rate of deforestation since record-keeping began in 2015.

Deforestation in the rainforest in the first ten months of the year has already exceeded that of all of 2021, when 8,219 square kilometers was cleared, according to the monthly information recorded by the real-time deforestation detection (DETER) system.

Based on the information collected by DETER through satellite images, the INPE issues alerts about the areas being deforested in the Amazon.

A total of 4,586 deforestation alerts were issued in October.

Under right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro’s leadership in the last four years, deforestation in the Amazon rainforest has skyrocketed to levels not seen since 2008.

Environmental organizations have warned that rampant deforestation of the Amazon is pushing the rainforest to a point of no return. EFE

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