PARIS — Tropical rainforests were destroyed at a record pace in the past year, with the world losing the equivalent of 18 football fields every minute — totaling 67,000 sq km, double the size of Belgium. Fires, intensified by climate change and El Niño, drove nearly half the loss, overtaking agriculture as the top cause. The destruction released over 3 billion tonnes of CO2, more than India’s annual fossil fuel emissions. Brazil’s Amazon was hit hardest, while Bolivia saw a 200% surge in forest loss. Despite progress in parts of Asia, forest destruction linked to farming, mining, and climate extremes is rapidly escalating.
