As UN climate talks loom, Brazil's Amazon forest loses in May an area larger than NYC
Brazil's environmental goals suffered a major setback in May as deforestation in the Amazon surged 92% compared to the same month last year, according to official monitoring data released Friday.
Forest loss reached 960 square kilometers (371 square miles) during the period, an area slightly larger than New York City. It was the second-highest total for May since the current monitoring system was implemented in 2016.
The increase risks reversing the year-over-year decline in forest clearance since 2023, when Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva began his third term. During his campaign, the leftist leader had pledged to end deforestation by 2030.
Brazil's monitoring system tracks deforestation from Aug. 1 to July 30. Over the past 10 months, deforestation has risen 9.7% compared to the same period a year earlier.
The 2025 deforestation rate, tracked by the National Institute for Space Research, is expected to be announced just before the U.N. climate talks, scheduled for November in the Amazonian city of Belém.
Brazil is one of the world's top 10 emitters of greenhouse gases, contributing about 3% of global emissions, according to the nonprofit Climate Watch. Almost half of those emissions come from deforestation, making efforts to halt it critical to meeting Brazil's commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement.
The Amazon, an area almost twice the size of India, contains the world's largest rainforest, about two-thirds of it within Brazil. It stores vast amounts of carbon dioxide, holds about 20% of the world's freshwater and is home to hundreds of Indigenous tribes, some living in isolation, and 16,000 known tree species.
____
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
12 hours ago
- Daily Mail
'Stasi-like' Labour council fines stunned resident £1,000 for putting his bins out a few hours early
A Labour council who fined a resident £1,000 for putting his bins out a few hours early has been accused of acting like the 'Stasi'. Clyde Strachan, 37, decided to help refuse collectors by placing his rubbish outside his West Kensington home shortly before midday in May. He then went away for a week and when he returned was faced with an 'environmental enforcement notice', which demanded he make contact with Hammersmith and Fulham Council. The engineer then received an £1,000 fixed penalty notice, stating: 'There was one large box, six bags of waste, and one food bin deposited on the pavement and left. 'It isn't collection day so it shouldn't be there. 'There is no formal right to appeal, however the council will accept representations from you within seven days.' Mr Strachan told The Telegraph: 'I spoke on the phone to one of the council officers and said I was willing to receive a warning but felt a £1,000 fine was excessive. 'I said I had put the bins out early as I was not available the next day. It was an honest mistake. I didn't feel as though I needed to grovel, but it felt like that was what he was after.' The fine has sparked criticism towards the council's 'law enforcement team'. Likening it to the 'Stasi' - the secret police who helped maintain communist power in East Germany through spying and violence. Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary said: 'Instead of cracking down on genuine anti-social behaviour, the state tries to reassert itself by punishing well-meaning people for tiny infringements. 'This huge fine for putting the bins out a few hours early veers into Stasi-like control of people's lives. This man was clearly doing the right thing in the circumstances.' The fine has since been retracted. A council spokesman said: 'Mr Strachan asked for a review of the FPN on May 28 when he let us know that the reason he put the rubbish out early was that he had been going on holiday the following day. 'The following day, the council froze the fine pending a review. 'We have since cancelled the FPN as we agree that Mr Strachan made an honest mistake and is not a persistent fly-tipper.'
Reuters
14 hours ago
- Reuters
Milei meets Pope Leo, confirms visit to Argentina
BUENOS AIRES, June 7 (Reuters) - Argentina's President Javier Milei held his first official audience with Pope Leo at the Vatican on Saturday where he confirmed that the pontiff will visit the South American country, according to the presidential spokesman. No further details of the planned visit were disclosed on Saturday. Milei had a tense relationship with Pope Francis, the late Argentine pope who never returned to his native country during his 12-year papacy, potentially signaling the start of a new diplomatic chapter. "The Pope confirmed to the President during our recent meeting that he will visit Argentina," Manuel Adorni, the presidential spokesperson wrote via social media. The papal visit could take place as soon as next year, according to Argentina's daily newspaper La Nación, as part of a tour that would include stops in Uruguay and Peru, where Leo, the first U.S. pope, resided for nearly 20 years. Milei, a libertarian and ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, was not present at the inauguration ceremony of the new head of the Catholic Church due to local legislative elections he was required to attend. Discussions between the two parties on Saturday were described as "cordial" and addressed issues of "common interest such as socioeconomic progress, the fight against poverty, and the commitment to social cohesion, in addition to addressing ongoing conflicts," the Vatican later said in a statement. Milei met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday in Rome as part of his visit, where an agreement between Italian energy group Eni ( opens new tab and Argentina's state-owned energy firm YPF was signed.
Telegraph
14 hours ago
- Telegraph
Schwarzenegger: Stop whining about Trump and act on climate change
Arnold Schwarzenegger has urged environmentalists to 'stop whining' about Donald Trump's approach to climate change and instead 'get to work'. The veteran actor, 77, said Mr Trump was not a barrier to change and activists should stop using him as an excuse not to act. 'I've noticed people always said to me: 'Well, what is the point of fighting the environmental issue here and to reduce pollution, with Trump in the White House?'' the activist told the BBC after appearing on stage at a climate conference in Vienna. Mr Trump and his administration have repeatedly called climate change a hoax, despite the scientific evidence. 'I tell them: 'Hey, stop whining,'' he continued. 'We all have a responsibility. What – do you think that action comes only for the whole world out of Washington, the White House? No. You have to be aware of your obstacles, but you should not go and use them as an excuse.' The former Republican governor of California, who focused on environmental issues during his time in office, has continued campaigning globally on climate change since leaving politics. 'Be the mayor that makes buses electric; be the CEO who ends fossil fuel dependence; be the school that puts [up] solar roofs,' he said at the Austrian World Summit, a climate event in Vienna he helped to organise. 'You can't just sit around and make excuses because one guy in a very nice White House on Pennsylvania Avenue doesn't agree with you,' said Schwarzenegger. 'I know that the people are sick and tired of the whining and the complaining and the doom and gloom,' he said. 'The only way we win the people's hearts and minds is by showing them action that makes their lives better.' On his first day in office, Mr Trump fulfilled his energy campaign promises by ending the Democrats' war on fossil fuels. He issued executive orders promoting oil and gas production and withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. The president also withdrew from other commitments in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Mr Trump has pledged to open hundreds more coal-fired power plants and to halt closures driven by environmental regulations in an effort to compete with China, the world's largest source of carbon emissions. However, Beijing has embarked on its own ambitious clean energy plans, including rolling out affordable electric vehicles domestically and internationally that compete fiercely with Tesla. Much of that has been driven by an interest in boosting the Chinese economy, and to clear the blanket of thick black smoke and smog that has covered China for decades and upset the country's residents. Coal is the most polluting form of energy, and has contributed to significant health risks and even fatalities in China. As the world's most populous nation with more than 1.4 billion people – more than four times that of the US – China has extremely high energy demands to keep the country running. While the US also has energy demands to meet, the country was previously seen as a leader in climate change, particularly under Barack Obama, and in bringing the world together to lower global emissions. However, Mr Trump has reversed his predecessors' energy agenda on net zero and incentives for wind and solar, going against what many other countries are doing. The UK, for instance, became the first G7 country to end the use of coal power when it shut down its last coal-fired power station last September. The government has also banned all new fossil fuel extraction in a bid to accelerate the move toward renewable energy sources.
