Data on fires in the Amazon

- In this commentary, Robert Muggah and Ilona Szabo of the Igarapé Institute examine Brazil’s escalating forest fire crisis, highlighting a record 237,000 fires in 2024 that devastated over 30 million hectares of vegetation—most of it in the Amazon—and triggered a national environmental emergency.- Muggah and Szabo underscore the alarming interplay between human-driven deforestation, climate change, and increasingly severe El Niño and La Niña events, warning that parts of the Amazon may tip into savanna if trends continue.- While Brazil is pursuing a range of responses—including new technologies, indigenous fire brigades, and international cooperation—Muggah and Szabo stress the need for systemic solutions backed by smart policy, inclusive governance, and innovative financing to truly curb the crisis.- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

- 2024 was the hottest year on record, producing intense, long-lasting heat waves. Climate change-intensified extreme events last year included the formation of vast heat domes — areas of high pressure that stalled and persisted above continental land masses in Asia, Africa, South and North America, and Europe.- Heat domes intensify unhealthy air pollution from vehicles, industry, wildfires and dust storms. When a heat wave gripped New Delhi, India, last summer, temperatures soared, resulting in unhealthy concentrations of ground-level ozone — pollutants especially unhealthy for outdoor workers.- When climate change-driven heat, drought and record wildfires occurred in the Brazilian Amazon last year, the fires produced massive amounts of wood smoke containing dangerous levels of toxic particulates that cause respiratory disease. Indigenous people living in remote areas had little defense against the smoke.- Intense heat also impacted Nigeria in 2024, where major dust storms and rising temperatures created conditions that helped increased cases of meningitis — a sometimes deadly disease, especially in poor areas. Escalating climate change is expected to exacerbate pollution and worsen public health in the future.

- South America recorded the highest number of fire outbreaks in 14 years in 2024, with Brazil at the epicenter of the crisis.- In the Amazon, fire outbreaks grew out of control even amid a sharp reduction in deforestation rates, indicating deforesters are relying on fire as a new technique to clear land.- Experts are urging more investment in fire prevention since the rainforest may face another intense fire season in 2025.

- The year 2024 saw significant developments in tropical rainforest conservation, deforestation, and degradation. While progress in some regions provided glimmers of hope, systemic challenges and emerging threats highlighted the fragility of these ecosystems.- Although a complete comparison of tropical forest loss in 2024 with previous years is not yet available, there are currently no indications that this year’s loss will be markedly higher. A sharp decline in deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon—partially offset by widespread forest fires—suggests the overall rate of loss may be lower.- This analysis explores key storylines, examining the political, environmental, and economic dynamics shaping tropical rainforests in 2024.

- Xingu Indigenous Park and Capoto/Jarina Indigenous Territory in Brazil cover an area larger than Belgium.- The Indigenous territories are still largely covered in primary forest, and a haven for wildlife in a region considered an agricultural powerhouse.- Satellite data show Xingu Indigenous Park lost 15% of its primary forest cover, and Capoto/Jarina Indigenous Territory lost 8.3% of its forest cover, between 2002 and 2023.- Indigenous groups fear proposed transportation projects will bring a fresh wave of deforestation and open up their territories to invaders.

- Triunfo Do Xingu Environmental Protected Area was created to protect rich Amazonian forest and shield adjacent reserves.- But deforestation has been rampant within the reserve and is spreading to nearby areas- From 2006 to 2023, the reserve lost 41% of its primary forest cover.- Preliminary satellite data for 2024 from show deforestation picking up even further, and spreading into nearby areas including Terra do Meio Ecological Station and Serra do Pardo National Park

- Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon remains near a six-year low, with 561 square kilometers cleared in September, a 30% decline from the previous year.- Fires in the Amazon have surged dramatically, with an 18-fold increase in the area affected by fires, from 4,700 to 39,983 square kilometers, driven by a historic drought.- Fire hotspots detected by satellite in the Amazon increased by 70%, rising to 145,357 compared to 85,670 the previous year.- Scientists warn that deforestation, forest degradation, and climate change could destabilize the Amazon, affecting rainfall patterns and biodiversity across South America.

Wildfires have scorched millions of hectares of forest across South America so far this year. From Bolivia to Brazil, Peru to Argentina, the continent has been gripped by one of its worst fire seasons in decades, with deforestation and drought fueling the flames. “The Amazon is not burning because it wants to burn, it is

- The Amazon rainforest, devastated by over 70,000 wildfires in 2019, is once again ablaze, threatening even greater destruction of wildlife, human health, and ecosystems.- Climate change is now a tangible global threat, with rising sea levels and extreme heat affecting entire regions, while indigenous communities, like the Kogi in Colombia, have long warned of these environmental dangers, argues Mark J. Plotkin, an ethnobotanist who co-founded the Amazon Conservation Team.- The Amazon, which stores one-fifth of the world’s terrestrial carbon, plays a crucial role in regulating global climate, but continued deforestation risks releasing this carbon and disrupting weather patterns far beyond the region.- This text is a commentary and does not necessarily represent the views of Mongabay.

- Fire outbreaks are setting records all over Brazil, with flames burning the Amazon, the Cerrado, the Pantanal and the São Paulo state.- Federal authorities say most fires are criminal and they are launching investigations.- Smoke from fires spread through 10 Brazilian states, impacting air quality and air traffic.