MANAUS, Brazil — 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.

João Paulo Capobianco, executive secretary of Brazil’s ministry of the environment, said the Amazon is entering “a new era,” in which most of the deforestation is increasingly linked to a surge in wildfires rather than tree cutting.

During a news conference Friday, Capobianco said that the forest fires that swept the Amazon last year, during the region’s wo

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