The INPE satellites show that 3,750 square kilometers 1,448 square miles of the world's largest rainforest were lost in Brazil between January 1 and June 24, the largest area since 2016, when the institute began this type of monitoring.
Since the beginning of the year, the INPE satellites have been registering new monthly deforestation records, and it has also registered a record 2,562 fire in the country s Amazon last month.
Due to the dry season, the May and June generally mark the beginning of significant annual burning and deforestation in the Amazon.
In May, INPE detected 2,287 fires in the rainforest, the highest number for that month since 2004.
Since President Jair Bolsonaro took office in 2019 and weakened environmental protections, the destruction of the world's largest rainforest has surged, arguing that they hinder economic development that could reduce poverty in the Amazon region. While the President has passed several executive orders and laws to protect the rainforest, he has also slashed funding for government-run environmental protection and monitoring programs and pushed to open indigenous lands for commercial farming and mining. A group of climate lawyers called for the International Criminal Court to investigate Bolsonaro's attacks on the Amazon in October 2021, which they said amount to crimes against humanity. How Brazil's fear of losing the Amazon guides Bolsonaro's policies towards the forest But the Brazilian president has pushed back against international critics who want better protection of the rainforest. Bolsonaro lashed out at Leonardo DiCaprio at the beginning of May, saying it would be better for him to keep his mouth shut after he spoke out about the environmental importance of the Amazon. According to Carlos Souza Jr, a researcher at Imazon, environmental enforcement usually weakens in election years and criminals may rush to deforest ahead of a new government taking office.