Fields and part of the Amazon rainforest burn uncontrollably on October 4, 2023. – © Gustavo Basso / NurPhoto / NurPhoto via AFP
Fields and part of the Amazon rainforest burn uncontrollably on October 4, 2023. – © Gustavo Basso / NurPhoto / NurPhoto via AFP
The Brazilian Amazon is burning. 2024 marks an unfortunate record for this forest, unheard of in seventeen years: 140,328 fires were detected by satellite images from the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (COMMIT). It’s 42 % more than in 2023 (98,634 registered households), according to the institute. Such a census had not been recorded since 2007, a year which recorded 186,463 fires.
The scale of these fires is explained in particular by the exceptional drought and extreme temperatures which have affected the country since 2023, and fuel the flames. The stress to which the region is exposed, between fires, droughts and even deforestation, is such that, according to a study by Naturethe Amazon forest system could soon reach a tipping point in terms of the resilience of its ecosystems.
Brazil “ at war » against fire
Accidental, criminal or initiated fires to deforest… Most of the time, humans are at the origin of these numerous fire outbreaks. Brazil has also declared itself in « guerre » against them last August. Criminal trails are suspected in many cases, « a way to discredit the forest protection policy »worn by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, since his election at the end of 2022.
L’COMMIT declared last November a drop in deforestation levels in the Amazon and the Cerrado: a reduction of 30.6 % for the largest forest in the world compared to 2023 with the lowest rate recorded in nine years (6,288 km2) and a decrease of 25.7 % for the Cerrado.
The Amazon is not the only Brazilian biome to have exceeded record fire thresholds. This is also the case for the Cerrado and the Mata Atlântica (the Atlantic forest). The latter, which runs along the country’s coastline, experienced more than 21,000 fire outbreaks in 2024, again an unrivaled record since 2007, a year known for its significant deforestation.
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