Environmentalists warn that this is the first time in official measurements that alerts exceed 1,000 km² in April, the last month of the Amazon “winter” when the pace of chainsaws is historically lower.
Deforestation alerts in the Amazon exceeded 1,000 km² in April and set a record for the period, according to data from the alert system of the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), Deter, released this Friday (6) .
Deforestation alerts in April, historical series:
2016: 440 km²
2017: 127 km²
2018: 490 km²
2019: 247 km²
2020: 407 km²
2021: 580 km²
2022: 1,012 km²
“This is the first time in the history of Inpe’s Deter-B system that monthly deforestation alerts exceed 1,000 km² in April. This is serious because April is still a rainy month in the Amazon — the last of the so-called Amazonian “winter”, when the rhythm of chainsaws naturally cools down. Before the Bolsonaro government, it was rare for a monthly number of alerts to exceed 1,000 km2 even in the dry season”, warns the Climate Observatory, a network of organizations and entities specialized in monitoring climate change. environmental issues in Brazil.
The five states with the largest area under deforestation alerts were:
Amazonas – 346.89 km²
Pará – 241.92 km²
Mato Grosso – 286.68 km²
Rondônia – 107.86 km²
The municipalities with the largest area under deforestation alert were:
Lábrea/AM: 107.05 km²
Altamira/PA: 94.02 km²
Apuí/AM: 86.62 km²
Colniza/MT: 74.58 km²
Novo Progresso/PA: 67.07 km²
Itaituba/PA: 42.02 km²
Porto Velho/RO: 41.55 km²
Manicore/AM: 39.47 km²
Humaitá/AM: 32.53 km²
São Felix do Xingu/PA: 30.71 km²
Most intense deforestation season
The Climate Observatory analyzes the data from Deter/Inpe and points out that, in the accumulated of the year/period, the alerts already reach 5,070 km2, 5% more than last season and the second-highest number in the historical series — second only to the record of 5,680 km2 set by the Bolsonaro government itself in 2020.
Since last August, alerts have been breaking records: in October, January, February, and now in April, according to the Climate Observatory.
“The causes of this record have a name and surname: Jair Messias Bolsonaro. Brazil’s ecocide-in-chief has triumphed in turning the Amazon into a lawless territory, and deforestation will be whatever the squatters want it to be. The next president will have extreme difficulty in reversing this situation because crime has never been more comfortable in the region than it is now”, said Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory.
Source: With agencies