Government data from last month revealed on Friday that deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest harmed the largest area for a September since records have been kept, while fires in the area reached their highest level in more than a decade.
In the Amazon, 1,455 square kilometres (562 square miles) were cleared this month, breaking the previous record set in September 2019 in a data series that started in 2015. This is according to satellite data from the Brazilian space research organisation INPE.
According to INPE, Friday’s preliminary data increased deforestation in the area to a record high for the first nine months of the year. From January to September, 8,590 square kilometres of forest were cleared, an area 11 times the size of New York City and an increase of 22.6% from the previous year.Under President Jair Bolsonaro, annual figures revealed that deforestation had already risen to a 15-year high.
