In the last calendar month of an especially brutal year for the Amazon , the Brazilian rainforest has feel a last - moment spurt of destruction .
tier of deforestation in Brazil ’s Amazon in November 2019 burn up up by almost 104 percent compare to the same month in 2018 , according to official satellite data cited byAFPandReuters . believe that deforestation usually shut up down towards the conclusion of the yr due to the Amazon ’s rainy season , this rise is especially unusual .
These November figures build on statistics fromBrazil ’s National Institute for Space Research(INPE ) free last month that demonstrate a 29 percent increase in deforestation in 2019 compared to the premature year . Between August 2018 to July 2019 , the INPE reckon 9,762 straight kilometers ( 3,769 satisfying naut mi ) of rainforest was trounce , incinerate , or bulldoze in Brazil – that ’s 1.8 million football game fields .
Much tending was give to the fires in the Amazon earlier this year . Despite claims made by the Brazilian government , a survey of the rainforest in Brazilshowed the number of fires in August of this year was three times higher than in 2018 and the highest since 2010 .
Deforestation in the Amazon isprimarily drivenby agribusiness , minelaying , logging , substructure developing , and – most prominently – cattle ranching . Some of thesteepest increases in deforestationoccurred here between 1991 to 2003 . While rates of rainforest destruction were at their highest in 2008 , the retiring few years have seen another resurgence of nation glade .
Much of this can be blamed on increasing global requirement for commodities like beef , soy , and ribbon oil , however , the lift has also been attributed to the election of President Jair Bolsonaro . nickname “ Captain Chainsaw ” by environmentalist , the far - right populist president has continued to challenge the condition of protect areas andweaken environmental agenciesin the hope of forging Brazil into an economical powerhouse .
The Brazilian Chief Executive previously accused the INPE of forge deforestation statistic and being " in the service of NGOs . " In August 2019 , trace a very public spat , Bolsonaro evenfired the head of the INPE , Professor Ricardo Magnus Osório Galvão , and advise the government would look for a secret companionship to take over from the INPE ’s duty to supervise the Amazon .
Needless to say , these accusations remain unfounded – as does Bolsonaro ’s claim that this year ’s Amazon fires were started by NGOs andpaid for by Leonardo DiCaprio .
