Brazil’s presidential race could help decide whether the Amazon continues to function as a rainforest. In the New York TimesSergio Peçanha and Ana Ionova lay out the scale of the stakes as right-wing senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, leads ahead of Sunday’s runoff. Brazil controls about 60% of the Amazon and about 17% of the forest has already been cleared. Under Jair Bolsonaro, deforestation reached around 4.6 million hectares in four years – equivalent to the destruction of four central parks for every day he was in power – before falling to a record low after current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva restored enforcement of environmental laws.
Lula da Silva’s government aims for zero deforestation by 2030. Flávio Bolsonaro says he will end illegal deforestation by 2029, but also wants to “unblock” the region for roads, mining, livestock and oil, and has questioned human-caused climate change. Experts warn that legal logging and major infrastructure could push the forest toward a tipping point where it dries out to savannah by 2050, reshaping rainfall and agriculture in South America. For maps, visual data, and voices on the ground explaining this intersection, read the full analysis on New York Times.
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