Fires drive tropical forest loss to record high

‘Global red alert’: Wildfires drive record forest loss in 2024, alarming data reveals

Fires emitted 4.1 gigatonnes of greenhouse gases, more than four times the emissions from all commercial air travel in 2023

Brazil accounted for most of the world's forest fires last year

Brazil topped the world last year in forest fires, accounting for 42% of the global loss of primary tropical forests. The extreme heat of the year, exacerbated by climate change and El Niño, intensified fires, which destroyed more forest than agribusiness activities for the first time. The worst drought ever recorded contributed to a sixfold increase in fire-related deforestation compared to 2023.

EU delays forest protection rules as wildfire-driven deforestation hits 20-year high

Tropical forest destruction surged in 2024 due to record-breaking wildfires, just as the European Union moved to postpone a key anti-deforestation regulation.Louise Guillot reports for POLITICO.In short:Nearly seven million hectares of primary tropical forest were lost in 2024, with almost half due to wildfires, according to data from the World Resources Institute and the University of Maryland.Fires also devastated boreal forests in Russia and …

During the past year, the rate of loss of primary tropical forests was twice as high as in 2023 due mainly to the forest fires that ravaged these natural spaces. It is the first time that these flames advance agriculture as the first cause of the destruction of these tropical vergels. About 7 million hectares of virgin mass were destroyed during the past year with fires that, on most occasions, were caused by human action and activities related …

The destruction of tropical forests in 2024 has reached a record level for the last at least 20 years, "the equivalent of 18 football fields per minute", due to the fires caused by forest fires, often by people spreading surfaces for different purposes, transmit AFP and Reuters.

Global red alert issued over record forest loss

Global forest loss surged to record levels in 2024, with wildfires destroying 6.7 million hectares of tropical primary forest – nearly double the previous year’s – according to new satellite data.