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An unprecedented drought fuelled by climate change contributed to the record forest fires in Brazil in 2024, a new analysis has revealed.
From January through December in 2024, more than 30.87 million hectares of wilderness was lost in forest fires, equivalent to the size of Italy, according to Fire Annual Report released by MapBiomass.
MapBiomas is a consortium of non-governmental organisations, universities and technology firms monitoring Brazil’s biomes since 2019.
The area affected — 62 per cent — is significantly above the historical annual average of 18.5 million hectares, the report showed.
The analysis also indicated that 43 per cent of all burnt areas in the country since 1985 occurred in the past 10 years alone.
Nationally, 64 per cent of the area was burnt more than once to fires between 1985 and 2024. A quarter of the national territory, equivalent to the combined areas of Pará and Mato Grosso states, burnt at least once in 40 years between 1985 and 2024, totalling 206 million hectares affected, the researchers wrote.
Out of the six biomes in the country, Pantanal saw the worst damage with 62 per cent of its area burning at least once since 2019, while Cerrado biome recorded the highest fire recurrence, out of which 3.7 million hectares burnt more than 16 times in 40 years.
“On average, from 1985 to 2024, the largest proportion (27 per cent) corresponded to burnt areas between 10 and 250 hectares. In 2024, however, nearly a third (29 per cent) of the total burnt area occurred in mega fire events that affected more than 100,000 hectares,” the report stated.
The scientists observed that August to October accounted for 72 per cent of the burnt areas in the country, with a third reported in September.
In a media statement, Ane Alencar, science director at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) and coordinator of MapBiomas Fire, said, “This first edition of the report is a crucial tool to support public policies and territorial fire management. By identifying the most critical locations and periods for fire occurrence, the report helps guide preventive planning and more effectively direct firefighting efforts.”
The vegetation area consumed by flames in Brazil also increased to 72.7 per cent accounting to 21.8 million hectares against the 69.5 per cent area that is 514 million hectares reported between 1985 and 2024.
Traditionally savanna formations were reportedly the most burnt areas, but in 2024 that changed to forest formations burning with 7.7 million hectares increased 287 per cent of its historical known average.
In Pantanal, almost 93 per cent of the reported fires occurred in native vegetation, including grassland and wetland, out of which 72 per cent of the total area burnt more than once.
In 2024, burnt area in the Pantanal increased by 157 per cent compared to its historical average.
“Historical data shows that fire dynamics in the Pantanal are linked to native vegetation and drought periods. In 2024, fires occurred around the Paraguay River, which has experienced prolonged drought since the last major flood in 2018,” said Eduardo Rosa, Pantanal biome mapping coordinator at MapBiomas, in a press statement.
For the Atlantic biome, 2024 was a record year with 1.2 million hectares burnt, amounting to 261 per cent above the historical average of 338,400 hectares annually. The forest fire event made it the largest annual burnt area in the forest since 1985.
Natalia Crusco from the MapBiomas Atlantic Forest team said that natural areas in the biome are particularly vulnerable to fire and does not comprise of the biome’s natural ecological processes.
Fires cause significant damage to the scarce forest remnants, degrade ecosystem services related to climate, water and soil, and severely impact health and quality of life, she noted.
Apart from the Atlantic, the Amazon ecosystem also registered its highest burnt area in the past 40 years. With 15.6 million hectares of burnt, it was 117 per cent above the historical average, accounting to 52 per cent of all land impacted by fire in the country in 2024.
For the first time, forest vegetation was the most affected land cover in the Amazon: 6.7 million hectares (43 per cent of burnt area), surpassing pastures at 5.2 million hectares (33.7 per cent). Historically, pastures had been the most affected, the report observed.
“Fire is not a natural part of the Amazon’s forest ecology. The 2024 fires were human-induced, worsened by two consecutive years of severe drought. The combination of flammable vegetation, low humidity and fire use created perfect conditions for widespread fire, leading to a historic record,” said Felipe Martenexen, Amazon biome mapping coordinator at MapBiomas, in the press statement.
Together, the Amazon and Cerrado accounted for 86 per cent of all burnt area in Brazil from 1985 to 2024. They consist of the three Brazilian states with the most burnt area were Mato Grosso, Pará and Maranhão. Together, they accounted for 47 per cent of all the country's burnt area in during this period, the report said.
In 2024, some 10.6 million hectares were burnt in the Cerrado, a 10 per cent increase from its average of 9.6 million hectares.
Vera Arruda, IPAM researcher and technical coordinator of MapBiomas Fire, said that Cerrado, known for natural fires, has seen a sharp rise in dry-season fires, a shift in the trend owing to human activity and worsened by climate change.