The world’s largest rainforest, Amazon is being burned and chopped down severely. Deforestation in July was almost twice recorded by the current satellite monitoring system, managed by the government’s National Institute for Space Research.
Over the single month, the Amazon has lost more than 1,800 square kilometers, of the rainforest. That’s an area more than twice the size of Tokyo.
the Amazon plays a crucial role in keeping our planet’s carbon-dioxide levels in check. It’s also the reason that Amazon’s health is so important in the face of climate change.
What’s more, at least 400 indigenous tribes live in the rainforest, and their cultures and livelihoods are intimately linked with the state of the Amazon.
Brazil controls a lion’s share of the Amazon. However, its president, Jair Bolsonaro, has indicated that protecting the rainforest is not one of his top priorities. Bolsonaro supports development projects like a highway and hydroelectric dam in the Amazon.
The environment minister, Ricardo Salles, admitted deforestation was rising, but he continued to criticize what he called “the lack of precision in the data” and the “wrong” interpretations of the journalists who reported on it. He said the government wanted to make greater use of private satellite data and strengthen the team of analysts working on it.
>Juthy Saha
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