Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon fell 30% in February

According to preliminary satellite data from Brazil’s space research agency INPE, 226 square kilometers of rainforest were cleared in the Amazon last month. That represents a significant drop from the record 322 square kilometers of deforestation in the same period last year in the world’s largest rainforest.

In February this year, only 226 square kilometers of Amazon rainforest were recorded to have been cleared, 30% lower than the same period last year - Photo: Guardian

While the figure is still higher than the nine-year average of 173 square kilometers for the month, it can still be seen as a notable initial success for the efforts of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government to prevent and aim to end illegal deforestation by 2030.

However, the fight to protect the Amazon rainforest still has many challenges ahead, because the threat to the planet's largest "lungs" comes not only from illegal loggers, but also from climate change.

A study by the University of Santa Catarina, Brazil in February this year found that up to half of the Amazon rainforest could reach a critical point by 2050 due to water stress, land clearing and climate change.

For 65 million years, the Amazon has weathered climate change, but the region is now facing unprecedented stress from drought, heat, fires and land clearing, which are penetrating even the deep heartlands of the biome, according to study author Dr Bernardo Flores.

This is changing the function of forests, causing them in many areas to produce less rain than before, turning carbon sinks into carbon emitters. The result will have profound impacts on local people and the region.

The Amazon is home to more than 10% of Earth's terrestrial biodiversity, stores 15-20 years of global CO2 emissions, contributes up to 50% of the region's rainfall, and is vital in providing moisture across South America, helping to cool and stabilize the world's climate.

Quang Anh (according to Reuters, Guardian)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/nan-pha-rung-o-amazon-cua-brazil-giam-30-trong-thang-2-post287319.html