Brazil’s INPE space research center said deforestation in the world’s largest tropical rainforest reached its 12-year annual peak in 2020, with 11,088 square kilometers destroyed.
The Brazilian space research center INPE said on Wednesday that carbon emissions in the Amazon rainforest soared in 2019 and 2020, compared to the previous decade due to the poor implementation of environmental protection policies under the government of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Forest carbon emissions amounts to 440 million tons in 2019 and 520 million tons in 2020 against an annual average of 240 million tonnes between 2010 and 2018, according to the INPE study published in the journal Nature.
The study attributes the increase largely due to increased deforestation, said researcher and study leader Luciana Gatti.
Deforestation in the largest rainforest in the world It reached its annual maximum in 12 years in 2020, with 11,088 square kilometers destroyed.
Since taking office in January, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva He has pledged to end deforestation by 2030 and erase the policies of his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro. who ruled Brazil from 2019 to 2022 and scaled back environmental protection efforts.
The study also showed that the number of fines imposed by law enforcement for illegal deforestation in the Amazon halved in 2020 compared to the levels recorded between 2010 and 2018.
The study was based on carbon dioxide samples collected during hundreds of research flights over the region between 2010 and 2020.
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell in July to its lowest monthly level since 2017. INPE data showed that 500 square kilometers of rainforest were cleared during the month, a decrease of 66% compared to the same period of the previous year.
Source: Latercera