According to preliminary government data, February saw record levels of deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon forest. A scientific study showed that the rainforest is at a tipping mark, meaning it can no longer sustain itself.
According to INPE data, forest clearing in the region amounted to 199 kilometres (77 miles) in February. This is 62% more than the same month a decade ago. This is the highest February level since 2015/2016, when the data series began. It follows a January record.
The destruction rate in the first two months was three times that of 2021. A total of 629 square kilometers (243 miles) was deforested. This is roughly the area of Chicago. Brazil is home of 60% of Amazon, the world’s biggest rainforest. Its preservation is crucial to stop catastrophic climate change due to the large amount of greenhouse gases it absorbs.
Brazil’s deforestation has increased since the right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro assumed office in 2019. He has weakened environmental conservation and advocated for more commercial farming and mining to lift the Amazon region from poverty. Bolsonaro’s office, as well as the Environment Ministry, did not immediately respond when asked about Friday’s data.
Scientists fear that the destruction is pushing Amazon towards a tipping level. If this happens, the Amazon will become a savanna and release huge amounts of greenhouse gas. A study published in the journal Nature Climate Change https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01287-8 earlier this week found that in the last two decades, more than three-quarters of the Amazon has already lost some of its ability to bounce back from disruptions like drought and fire.
“Deforestation, climate change, via increasing dry season length and drought frequency may have already pushed Amazon close to a crucial threshold of rainforest denizenship,” the University of Exeter authors wrote. The amount of carbon lost by tropical forests each year – which ultimately returns to the atmosphere as climate-warming carbon dioxide – has doubled since the early 2000s, a separate study in the journal Nature Sustainability https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-00854-3 found last month.
Some scientists believe that Brazil’s October election will see more deforestation than in previous years. Carlos Souza Jr, an environmental researcher at Imazon, stated that authorities will likely relax their enforcement of environmental laws to avoid upsetting voters.
(This story was not edited by Devdiscourse staff. It is generated automatically from a syndicated feed.