In Brazil, deforestation in the Amazon rainforest last month rose to the highest level ever recorded for the month of January. New government data show Brazil’s Amazon lost 166 square miles of rainforest — an area seven times the size of Manhattan. Environmentalists say the deforestation is accelerating as far-right President Jair Bolsonaro faces an uphill battle for reelection in October.

Britaldo Silveira Soares-Filho: “Under the current government, the dismantling of Brazil’s environmental protection, environmental laws and environmental enforcement as command and control is being promoted. So this is a race. There is a race to deforest especially the Amazon.”