Jake Spring

SAO PAULO, (Reuters) – The global loss of forests was greater than the US state of Wyoming in 2013. Russian wildfires set new records, while Brazilian deforestation (NASDAQ:) continues to be high. This is according to a report by the Global Forest Monitoring Project.

Global Forest Watch is supported by WRI, a non-profit organization. It draws from data from the University of Maryland on forest data and estimates that approximately 253,000 km (97.683 sq miles) of forest have been lost by 2021.

WRI analysts stated that forests provide an important buffer against climate change due to the large amounts of carbon dioxide they absorb. However, their rapid destruction puts global climate targets in danger.

According to analysts, the 2021 high-level forest loss was not at par with that of 2020.

Rod Taylor, WRI’s global forest program director and WRI’s 2030 commitment, stated that “we aren’t seeing the downward decrease (in forest destruction) we would like to see.”

Natural and human causes as well as wildfires, are some of the causes of a decrease in forest coverage.

WRI analysts noted that the destruction of 37.5Km of old-growth tropical rainforest was particularly alarming due to high carbon levels in dense vegetation.

The destruction of this fossil fuel was somewhat lower than that in 2020 but it still caused the equivalent carbon dioxide emissions to India’s entire annual fossil fuel consumption, according to the report.

This destruction resulted overwhelmingly from humans permanently clearing land. Brazil accounted for more than 40%.

The area lost by cold boreal forests in Canada, Russia, and Alaska was more than 80.000 km2. This is the largest loss since 2001, when records started.

Record fires in Russia caused the majority of this loss, according to the report. This was likely due to hotter, drier climates that could be linked to climate changes.

Taylor stated, “It is hugely concerning.”

“We are seeing fires burn more often, more intensely, and wider than ever before under normal circumstances.”