3 Min Read BRASILIA (Reuters) -Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest rose 43% in April from the same month a year ago, preliminary government data showed on Friday, the second consecutive monthly rise as destruction picked up ahead of the annual burning season. Slideshow ( 2 images ) In the first four months of 2021, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon totaled 1,157 square kilometers, an area nearly the size of Los Angeles and down 4% from a year earlier, according to national space research agency Inpe. Brazil is under intense international pressure led by the United States to rein in destruction of the world’s largest tropical rainforest, critical in curbing catastrophic climate change because of the vast amount of greenhouse gas absorbed.