It's worth reading this article at the URL given below as revealing charts are included showing the rapid increase in Brazilian Amazon deforestation, mostly for the expansion of GM soy cultivation.
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Brazil’s new deforestation numbers confirm the “Bolsonaro Effect” despite denials (commentary)
by Philip M. Fearnside
Mongabay, 20 November 2019
https://news.mongabay.com/2019/11/brazils-new-deforestation-numbers-confirm-the-bolsonaro-effect-despite-denials-commentary/
* Just released preliminary figures for “2019” Brazilian Amazon deforestation (covering the August 2018-July 2019 period) show a 29.5 percent increase over the previous year, with 9,762 square kilometers (3,769 square miles) cleared, more than double the rate when Brazil’s famous deforestation decline ended in 2012.
* Despite this deforestation surge, Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro government claims the increase is not unusual and equivalent to high deforestation rates seen several times since 2012. However, critics point to the administration’s rhetoric and environmental deregulation as part of the “Bolsonaro Effect,” leading to rampant deforestation.
* The government’s assertion of innocence fails to note that the new data only covers through July. In August 2019 the deforestation rate was 222 percent above the 2018 value; in September it ran 96 percent higher. The full “Bolsonaro effect” on deforestation won’t be on view until the complete “2020” numbers are released next November.
* To date, the administration has done nothing to change its inflammatory rhetoric or its anti-environmental polices, so there is every reason to expect that Brazilian deforestation levels will continue to soar. This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
On November 18th the Brazilian government released a preliminary figure for “2019” Amazon deforestation — the August 2018-July 2019 period — showing a 29.5 percent increase over the previous year. A total of 9,762 square kilometers (3,769 square miles) was cleared in this period, more than double the rate when Brazil’s famous deforestation decline ended in 2012.
The announcement was made jointly by the Brazilian ministers of science and technology and of environment, with the latter claiming that the numbers indicate that the Jair Bolsonaro presidential administration that came into office in January 2019 has not resulted in an increase in clearing rates. His argument was that this year’s increase is just part of the upward trend that has held since the low point in 2012.
Unfortunately, the 2019 deforestation surge can definitely be blamed on the Bolsonaro administration, despite the changes in deforestation rate since 2012 having approached the percentage increase seen this year twice (in 2013 and 2016).
Although this year’s percentage increase is only slightly higher than those in the two years with similar percentages, it should be remembered that the PRODES data released on November 18, 2019 only cover the year through July 31st. However, the deforestation rate in the succeeding months has exploded to levels far above those for the same months in the previous year: in August 2019 the deforestation rate was 222 percent above the 2018 value, and the September value was 96 percent higher. As a result, this part of the “Bolsonaro effect” will only be reflected in the data from the PRODES program of the National Institute of Space Research (INPE) when the “2020” numbers are released a year from now. ...
Read on and view charts here:
https://news.mongabay.com/2019/11/brazils-new-deforestation-numbers-confirm-the-bolsonaro-effect-despite-denials-commentary/
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