January 2022 had the largest area with deforestation alerts in the Legal Amazon for the month since 2016. There were 430.44 km² in the month of this year – 419.3% more than the 82.88 km2 recorded in the same period in 2021. Data are from the Terra Brasilis platform, developed by the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), and were updated this Friday (11).
Until then, the highest index in January was recorded in 2020, when the month accounted for 284.28 km². In 2016, the first year that recorded data from January, the amount recorded was 229 km², while in 2017 it was 58 km², in 2018 it was 183 km² and, in 2019, 136 km².
In 2022, the state of the Legal Amazon that recorded the highest deforestation was Mato Grosso, with 146.52 km². Next are Rondônia, with 116.23 km²; Pará, with 66.56 km²; Roraima with 46 km² and Amazonas with 44 km².
Also according to the platform, data from February with information only up to the fourth day of the month already indicate deforestation of 17.6 km².
The analyzed data encompass the areas within the Legal Amazon region affected by deforestation with exposed soil, deforestation with vegetation and mining. The tool gathers alerts and monitors deforestation in the Amazon region since 2015; however, data for the first half of the year began to be computed only in 2016.
According to Inpe, the calculated deforestation rates are based on deforestation areas larger than 6.25 hectares.
Source: CNN Brasil
