Deforestation in the delicate Cerrado savanna and the Brazilian Amazon reached record highs in February.
According to the most recent statistics made public by the Brazilian government on Friday, 322 square kilometres (or 124 square miles) of forest cover were lost in Brazil’s portion of the largest rainforest in the world last month.
This surpasses the prior record, which was set in February 2022, by 62%. The data from the national space agency’s DETER surveillance programme illustrates the breadth of the difficulties President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva must overcome in order to stop the damage of the environment from escalating.
Satellite images of Cerrado revealed 558 square kilometres of devastation. This is nearly twice the February 2020 record of 283 square kilometres and is up 98% from February 2022.
The numbers are no surprise. As per an AFP report, deforestation in the Amazon had already broken the record for February just 17 days into the month. However, these were not the figures President Lula was hoping for after two months in office.
Amazon forest, which is often referred to as the ‘lungs of the planet,’ is a critical buffer against global warming.
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