"Brazilian space research center INPE said on Wednesday that carbon emissions in the Amazon forest soared in 2019 and 2020 compared to the previous decade due to poor enforcement of environmental protection policies.

The forest's carbon emissions amounted to 0.44 billion metric tons in 2019 and 0.52 billion metric tons in 2020, compared to an annual average of 0.24 billion metric tons from 2010-2018, according to the INPE study published in Nature magazine.

The study attributed the rise in a large part to an increase in deforestation, researcher and leader of the study Luciana Gatti said.

Deforestation in the world's largest rainforest hit a 12-year annual high in 2020, with 11,088 square kilometers (2.7 million acres) destroyed."

Fernando Cardoso and Carolina Pulice report for Reuters August 23, 2023. [2]