Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rises for first time in 4 months

Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon increased in October for the first time in four months, government data revealed.

In October, deforestation rose 50% from the prior year to 836 square kilometres. Forest clearances were down 6% in the first ten months of 2020, compared to the same period a year ago, to 7,899 square kilometres, Brazil’s INPE found.

According to Al Jazeera, Researchers at the non-government Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) say that PRODES is predicted to show a dramatic increase to more than 14,000 square kilometres (5,405 square miles) deforested for 2020 compared with 10,129 square kilometres (3,911 square miles) for 2019.