Brazil has detected massive deforestation in the Amazon in Jan. & Feb.

Demonstrators gather in an "Act for the Earth" movement demonstration in front of the National Congress in Brasilia, Brazil, on March 9, 2022. Hundreds of civil society organizations joined some of Brazil's most well-known singers in an attempt to stop the so-called "poison bill" from becoming law, which would remove pesticide controls and require effective action to stop deforestation in the Amazon and mining on indigenous areas. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres).

Deforestation was detected at an all-time high in the Brazilian Amazon in February, following a similar high the month before.

According to preliminary data from the Brazilian space agency's Deter monitoring system released on Friday, satellite alerts of deforestation in February covered 199 square kilometers (77 square miles), the highest indicator for that month in seven years of record-keeping and 62 percent more than in the same month in 2021.

According to data released last month by Deter, deforestation in January totaled 430 square kilometers, more than doubling or tripling from the same month the previous year.

The months of January and February have the least amount of deforestation, compared to the summer months in the Southern Hemisphere. Nonetheless, some have noted that the increase might be a concerning indicator for months to come, with loggers and politicians keen to make progress before a possible presidential changeover in January.

Under President Jair Bolsonaro, who has been a vocal proponent of Amazon development and whose administration has defanged environmental regulators, deforestation has increased dramatically. In the October presidential elections, early polls show him lagging his opponent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

"Imagine what will happen when months of higher deforestation occur, especially in an election year," Márcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory, a network of environmental groups, told The Associated Press. "We know that many deforesters, including MPs who support deforestation laws, are relying on all or nothing, now or never, for forest destruction and forest protection through law."

Earlier this week, tens of thousands of Brazilians rallied outside Congress to oppose laws that they claim imperil the Amazon rainforest by encouraging deforestation and industrial activities on protected Indigenous areas.

Complete estimates from the more accurate technology, Prodes, which is based on sharper photos, will be revealed towards yearend, and Deter data will be used as a leading indicator.

Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon reached a 15-year high in the 12-month reference period from August 2020 to July 2021, according to Prodes statistics.

Source: AP