Last year, fires in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest reached their highest level in 17 years.
On Wednesday, the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE) reported that satellite data had detected 140,328 fires in the Amazon rainforest throughout 2024. This is a 42% increase from the previous year and the highest number recorded since 2007 when 186,463 fires were recorded.
However, despite the sharp rise in the number of fires, the total affected area is believed to have decreased compared to previous years. In November, INPE reported that deforestation in the Amazon from August 2023 to August 2024 had fallen by over 30% compared to the last year, reaching its lowest point in nine years.
A prolonged drought has strongly influenced the surge in wildfires. Last month, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), the European Union’s climate monitoring agency, reported that the severe drought exacerbated wildfire-related problems across South America in 2024.
At one point last year, wildfire smoke blanketed 80% of Brazil. Thick smoke poured into major cities like Brasília, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo, creating a thick haze that caused severe air pollution for weeks.
The Amazon region, in particular, has been experiencing extreme drought conditions since mid-2023, worsened by the El Niño weather phenomenon. While these conditions have caused large-scale wildfires, experts emphasize that most fires were intentionally started by farmers clearing land for agricultural purposes.
Scientists warn that continued deforestation could push the Amazon to a tipping point where it releases more carbon than it absorbs, accelerating the pace of climate change even further.