A sad record in the Brazilian Amazon: 140,328 fires detected in 2024, the highest level in 17 years. The fumes enveloped large cities in suffocating pollution for weeks. The causes: prolonged drought and deforestation by humans. What consequences for the climate and biodiversity?
In 2024, the Brazilian Amazon was hit by a wave of fires unprecedented in almost two decades. According to satellite data from Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE), 140,328 outbreaks were detected in the world's largest tropical forest over the past year. A sad record since 2007, when the number of fires reached 186,463.
This spectacular increase in fires, up 42% compared to 2023, occurs in a context of prolonged drought which has plagued the Amazon region since mid-2023. A phenomenon worsened by human-caused global warming and the current El Niño episode. But according to experts, the majority of these fires are of criminal origin, deliberately lit to clear land for agricultural purposes, despite the ban in force.
A smoky sky for weeks
The consequences of these fires were spectacular and devastating. For several weeks, thick plumes of smoke enveloped large Brazilian metropolises such as Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in an unbreathable fog. Suffocating atmospheric pollution which has seriously degraded air quality and the health of populations.
In the heart of the Amazon forest, an entire ecosystem unique in the world is going up in smoke. The green lung of the planet, an inestimable reservoir of biodiversity, the Amazon plays a crucial role in climate regulation. Each hectare gone up in smoke, each charred tree, is a piece of this fragile natural balance that disappears.
Lula places the preservation of the Amazon at the heart of his action
Faced with this disaster, Brazilian President Lula da Silva, back in power since January 2023, has made the protection of the Amazon a top priority of his government. Next November in Belém, in the heart of the forest, it will host the UN climate conference, COP30. The opportunity to shine the spotlight on this endangered gem and make strong commitments.
Because time is running out. According to scientists, the unbridled pursuit of deforestation could transform the Amazon into a net source of carbon within a few decades, dangerously accelerating global warming. There is an urgent need to act to preserve what can still be of the largest tropical forest on the planet. A vital fight for humanity and the entire biosphere.
NGOs mobilize to save the forest
For their part, environmental defenders are stepping up actions to try to stop the destruction of the Amazon. Satellite surveillance, reforestation, raising awareness among local populations, pressure on the authorities and companies responsible for deforestation… NGOs are mobilizing on all fronts to try to save what can be saved from the largest tropical forest in the world.
Every hectare of Amazon destroyed is a piece of our future that goes up in smoke. We must act now, before it is too late.
Raoni Metuktire, indigenous leader and iconic defender of the Amazon rainforest
The fires ravaging the Amazon are the symptom of a much deeper evil: our disturbed relationship with nature, this obsession with transforming it, exploiting it, even if it means destroying it. The flames that set the forest ablaze give us the reflection of a humanity that saws off the branch on which it sits. It is high time to realize this and act accordingly. So that the Amazon, its biodiversity treasures, and the people who protect it, can continue to play their vital role. So that his ashes fertilize the seeds of a future more respectful of life.
