[1/3] An aerial view shows trees as the sun rises at the Amazon rainforest in Manaus, Amazonas State, Brazil October 26, 2022. REUTERS/Bruno Kelly/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsAug 23 (Reuters) - 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. The study relied on carbon dioxide samples collected by hundreds of research flights over the region between 2010 and 2020.

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Persons: Bruno Kelly, INPE, Luciana Gatti, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Jair Bolsonaro, Fernando Cardoso, Carolina Pulice, Chris Reese Organizations: REUTERS, Nature, Thomson Locations: Manaus, Amazonas State, Brazil