The Brazilian Amazon forest will experience a record number of fires in 17 years in 2024, authorities said on Wednesday, after several months of prolonged drought. According to the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE), satellite images detected 140,328 fires there in 2024, or 42% more than in 2023 (98,634 recorded), and a record since 2007 (186,463).
But the total area affected by deforestation could be the lowest in years. At the beginning of November, the INPE indicated that deforestation in the region between the end of August 2023 and the end of August 2024 had fallen by more than 30%, and was at its lowest level in nine years.
Brazilian President Lula has made preserving the Amazon a priority for his government, which will host the UN climate conference COP30 in the Amazon city of Belem in November.
The Amazon region affected by drought since mid-2023
Thick plumes of smoke sometimes enveloped large cities like Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro or Sao Paulo in suffocating pollution for several weeks.
-According to the European climate monitoring observatory Copernicus, forest fires in South America have been fueled in particular by severe droughts.
The Amazon region has been affected by drought since mid-2023, due to climate change caused by human activity and the El Niño warming phenomenon. While drought helped fuel the wave of fires, most of the fires were started deliberately to clear land for agricultural purposes, experts say.
Scientists warn that continued deforestation will put the Amazon on a path to emitting more carbon than it absorbs, accelerating climate change.
