The disappearance of Amazonian forests continues to rise

This article was first published by Mongabay.org. Support their work by visiting the original article here. By Rhett Butler

Summary: The trend of deforestation is evident in data released by both Imazon, a Brazilian NGO, and the Brazilian government. The data is from both sources’ month-to-month deforestation tracking systems. Official data for the deforestation year, which runs from August to July, is expected to be released next month. Data released separately by civil society and the Brazilian government shows that deforestation is continuing to climb in Earth’s largest rainforest.

On Monday, Imazon, a Brazilian NGO, published its monthly report on deforestation in the Amazon from its satellite-based Sistema de Alerta de Desmatamento (SAD) forest monitoring platform. Imazon reported 444 square kilometers of clearing in September 2018, an increase of 84 percent over September 2017. More importantly given the variability of month-to-month deforestation figures, the twelve month total according to the system amounts to 4,859 square kilometers, the highest level since July 2008.

Comparison between two deforestation alert systems: INPE’s DETER and IMAZON’s SAD. Last update: Oct 30, 2018. Via Mongabay.

Comparison between two deforestation alert systems: INPE’s DETER and IMAZON’s SAD. Last update: Oct 30, 2018. Via Mongabay.

The Brazilian government’s own Amazon rainforest monitoring system, which is run by the national space research agency INPE, also shows an upward trend, though one that is less pronounced than Imazon’s. Brazil is expected to release official data on the 2017-2018 “deforestation year” in November. That data will be based on analysis of higher resolution satellite data than is used for the month-to-month monitoring system.

Earlier reporting with additional context: Ahead of election, deforestation continues to climb in the Brazilian Amazon (Sep 29, 2018).

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