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The world lost 12 million hectares (30 million acres) of tropical tree cover last year, researchers said, warning the planet’s health was at stake. It was the fourth highest annual decline since records began in 2001, according to new data from Global Forest Watch, which uses satellite imagery and remote sensing to monitor tree cover losses from Brazil to Ghana. “The world’s forests are now in the emergency room,” said Frances Seymour, senior fellow at the U.S.-based World Resources Institute (WRI), which led the research. “It’s death by a thousand cuts the health of the planet is at stake and band aid responses are not enough.”