Brasilia, July 5 (Bureau) Brazil’s Amazon rainforest has been deforested by a record amount in the first half of 2022, the Space Research Institute (INPE) said.According to CNN, data from INPE satellites shows 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.The INPE satellites has registered new monthly deforestation records since the beginning of this year. Last month, 2,562 fires were registered in the Amazon.In May, INPE detected 2,287 fires in the rainforest.
It was the highest number for May since 2004. CNN reported that the destruction of the world’s largest rainforest has surged since President Jair Bolsonaro took office in 2019 and weakened environmental protections, arguing that they hinder economic development that could reduce poverty in the Amazon region. Despite passing several executive orders and laws to protect the rainforest, the President reduced funding to the government-run environmental protection and monitoring programs and even pushed to open the indigenous lands to commercial farming and mining. He has also pushed against international critics who stood for better protection of the rainforest.