Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest in northern Brazil surged to nearly 10,000 square kilometers from the start of this year to July 2019, the highest in more than a decade, officials said Monday.

Satellite data collected by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) show 9,762 square kilometers (3,770 square miles) were cleared of trees, INPE officials told AFP. 

That is the highest since the same period in 2008.

Para was the hardest hit of the nine states that make up the Amazon in Brazil, with nearly 4,000 square kilometers deforested. 

Previous data showed clearing in the Amazon nearly doubled in the first eight months of this year, compared with the same period in 2018, to 6,404 square kilometers.

(Cover photo via VCG)

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