Severe drought and fires… a harsh year for the Amazon rainforest

2024 is a tough year for the Amazon rainforest, with rampant wildfires and severe drought destroying large parts of the ecosystem that is a crucial counterweight to climate change.
The warming climate has contributed to worsening drought, leading to the worst year of fires since 2005, while those fires in turn have contributed to deforestation.

Amazon rainforest

Authorities suspect that some of the fires were deliberately set to facilitate the process of clearing land for use in raising livestock.
The Amazon forest is twice the size of India and extends across eight countries and one territory, storing huge amounts of carbon dioxide that would raise the temperature of the planet.
It has about 20% of the world’s fresh water and amazing biodiversity, including 16,000 known tree species.

Alarming rates

But governments have historically viewed it as an area to be exploited, with little regard for sustainability or the rights of its indigenous peoples.
Experts say exploitation by individuals and organized crime is increasing at alarming rates.
Tens of thousands of fires swept through the Brazilian Amazon during the forest fire season that finally ended, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature, an environmental protection organisation.

Fires destroy large areas

The fires destroyed an area approximately the size of Italy, and from the beginning of the year until the end of November, about 135,000 fires were recorded, according to data recently issued by the Space Research Institute, which is responsible for satellite monitoring.
The institute explained that this number represents an increase of approximately 44% over the same period last year, and in the Amazon region, an area of ​​130,000 square kilometers was affected by fires.
About 80,000 fires were also recorded in the grassy plains of the Cerrado – an increase of about 64% compared to the previous year.
In the Pantanal, wetlands saw 14,500 forest fires, an increase of almost 140%, while the WWF said a total of 300,000 square kilometers were damaged in the three regions.