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Brazil's space agency, INPE, has found that in the past year, deforestation in the country has increased by 22%. Some 13,235 square kilometres of forest was destroyed in the last year, according to INPE's analysis of satellite data. That's the largest area since 2006.

Only last week at COP26 in Glasgow, Brazil was among a group of over 100 countries that pledged to end and reverse deforestation by 2030.  Brazil has the majority of the Amazon rainforest within its borders, so it's a crucial part of any agreement to end deforestation.

Trees are really important to the fight against climate change, because they can store huge amounts of carbon.  When the forest is destroyed, that carbon is released back into the atmosphere.  Scientists are now worried that if enough of the rainforest is destroyed, it will reach a tipping point, permanently altering the climate in the region and causing the rainforest to dry out and become savannah.  And if that happened, even more carbon would be released into the atmosphere.

To stop this from happening, the forests really need protection.  At the moment, it appears that Brazil is saying one thing, but doing another.

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