Forest destruction has greatly increased in 2020, with 42,000 square kilometers of trees lost in main tropical areas. According to the data collected by the University of Maryland and Global Forest Watch, 2020 is the third-worst year for forest destruction since the monitoring started in 2002. The effect was above average for the last 20 years. The losses were very serious in the tropical rainforests of the Amazon, Congo, and Southeast Asia. In total, 12.2 million hectares of trees were lost in these areas last year, which is 12% higher than in 2019.