Forest fires in the Amazon basin caused more carbon emissions and ecosystem destruction than deforestation in 2024, according to a new study published in the journal Biogeosciences.
Scientists found that the extreme drought, driven by the El Niño phenomenon, made the Amazonian forests especially vulnerable to fire. Satellite observations for 2022–2024 showed that in 2024, over 6.5 million hectares of forest were affected by clearing and fire—a record over the last 20 years.
A key feature of the research is that scientists accounted not only for the obvious destruction of trees but also for the gradual degradation of the forest, which slowly breaks down the connections within the ecosystem. Degradation caused by fires increased fivefold, and carbon dioxide emissions increased sevenfold compared to previous years.
“Natural fires are rare in this region, so most of the damage is linked to human activity,” the study authors note. The main causes were accidental fires spreading from settlements and cleared areas, as well as the deliberate burning of forest for subsequent logging.
The scientists emphasize that the consequences of these fires persist for years and are not always visible in satellite images, making them an underestimated threat to the Amazon’s ecology.
