00:51 Researchers Warn Amazon Could Be Nearing Environmental Tipping Point New satellite data shows the rate of deforestation is increasing in the Amazon, prompting fears the rainforest could reach a tipping point beyond which it could not recover.

At a Glance The latest government data shows that 519 square miles of forest were cleared this month.

That's about a third higher than the previous monthly record.

The rate of deforestation has accelerated to about three football fields per minute.

The deforestation of Brazil's Amazon rainforest is happening so rapidly that a point of no return is fast approaching, recent studies have revealed.

The latest government data shows that 519 square miles of forest were cleared this month, already about a third higher than the previous monthly record in 2018, according to a report by the Guardian. That's the equivalent of more than three football fields per minute.

The Detecção de Desmatamento em Tempo Real (Real-Time Deforestation Detection) satellite system began monitoring deforestation in 2015. According to the data, deforestation this month is on course to raze a swath of forest the size of Greater London – about 605 square miles.

According to a 2016 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the tipping point that signifies the conversion of rainforest to savanna is estimated to be realized when deforestation reaches 20 to 25 percent of total tree cover. Currently, deforestation is at 17 percent , Mongabay reports. The study accounted for factors such as deforestation, climate change and increased forest fires.

(MORE: Tiny Particles Found in Ancient Clams Could be Evidence of Meteor Strike in Florida Millions of Years Ago)

The rainforest plays a vital role in stabilizing the global climate by acting as a "carbon sink," meaning it absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Without the forest, the land could be transformed into a savanna, which would greatly diminish the check on carbon dioxide.

"It’s very important to keep repeating these concerns. There are a number of tipping points which are not far away," Philip Fearnside, a professor at Brazil’s National Institute of Amazonian Research, told the Guardian. "We can’t see exactly where they are, but we know they are very close. It means we have to do things right away. Unfortunately that is not what is happening. There are people denying we even have a problem."

Some of the blame for the accelerated deforestation lies with Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, who was voted into office seven months ago and has called for the development of the Amazon region, a policy that encourages illegal logging practices and burning.

"Unfortunately, it is absurd, but it should not catch anyone by surprise," Carlos Rittl, executive secretary of Brazilian non-profit The Climate Observatory, told the Guardian. "President Jair Bolsonaro and minister Ricardo Salles (Minister of the Environment) are dismantling our socio-environmental policies."

Bolsonaro has been criticized for putting the government's environmental agency under the umbrella of the agricultural ministry, which is headed by Tereza Cristina Dias, the leader of the farming lobby. Dias has said that climate science is part of an international Marxist plot , the Guardian reported last year.

Earlier this year, Dias said indigenous land should be opened up to commercial farming , Reuters reported. Roughly 12 percent of Brazil’s territory is currently closed to commercial farming.

The Bolsonaro administration has also taken heat for criticizing IBAMA, a government ministry that advocates for the preservation of the rainforest, for handing out fines to illegal loggers and others who clear the forest.