Last year's Amazon fire in Brazil was the highest in 17 years..."Accelerating Climate Change"

Last year, Brazil's Amazon rainforest had the highest number of fires in 17 years.

According to AFP, Brazil's National Space Research Institute (INPE) announced that satellite observations detected a total of 143,328 fires in the Amazon rainforest in 2024.

This is up 42% from the previous year and the highest since 2007 (186,463) cases.

However, compared to the surge in the number of cases, the area of damage is estimated to have decreased from before.

In November last year, Brazil's National Space Research Institute (INPE) said forest destruction in the Amazon region from August 2023 to August 2024 was down more than 30% year-on-year, the lowest level in nine years.

Long droughts have had a significant impact on the increase in wildfires.

Last month, the European Union's climate change watchdog, the Copernicus Climate Change Institute (C3S), said severe drought worsened wildfire-related problems across South America last year.

In fact, in Brazil, 80% of the country was covered by wildfire smoke at one point last year, and severe air pollution continued for weeks as thick layers of smoke flooded major cities such as Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro, and Sao Paulo.

The Amazon region has suffered a severe drought since mid-2023 due to El Nino weather events.

This created conditions for large wildfires, but most of them were deliberately caused by farmers seeking to clear land for agricultural use, experts noted.

The scientists warned that continued deforestation could reach the point where the Amazon would release more carbon than it absorbs, which would accelerate climate change.