Tropical Forest Losses Soared in 2024 Amidst Surge in Wildfires

In 2024, the loss of tropical forests reached unprecedented levels, doubling the rate seen in the last two decades, primarily due to climate change making rainforests more vulnerable to uncontrollable fires.

A comprehensive annual analysis of satellite imagery conducted by Global Forest Watch and the University of Maryland revealed a staggering loss of 67,000 square kilometers of crucial tropical rainforests in 2024. Primeval forests, defined as mature woodlands that have not been subjected to logging, were particularly affected.

The report’s author indicated that the dramatic increase in forest loss can be largely attributed to the El Niño weather phenomenon alongside global warming, which has exacerbated conditions leading to catastrophic fires in rainforests.

“We don’t just have agricultural activities as the main cause of deforestation,” stated Rod Taylor from Global Forest Watch, an initiative of the World Resources Institute. “This new amplification effect constitutes a genuine climate change feedback loop, with fires becoming increasingly intense and destructive.”

Tropical forests play a vital role in regulating weather patterns, sequestering carbon, and cooling the planet. However, recent trends in deforestation have led to them releasing more carbon than they absorb, pushing them toward a critical tipping point.

The report also reveals that the area affected by wildfires in native forests during 2023 was five times greater than the losses registered in 2023, constituting 48% of all primary rainforest losses.

Globally, wildfires emitted greenhouse gases equivalent to 4.1 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide last year, significantly more than the total emissions from air travel in 2023.

Associated with warm and dry weather conditions in the tropics, the El Niño phenomenon officially ended in April 2024 but left lasting effects as rainforest soil and vegetation remained parched from earlier wildfires.

The context of global warming also played a significant role, making 2024 the driest year in Brazil in 70 years, as noted by Ane Alencar from the Amazon Environmental Research Institute in Belem, Brazil.

Brazil witnessed a loss of 28,000 square kilometers of its primary forest, the highest figure since 2016, accounting for 42% of all tropical native forest losses.

Fires in the Brazilian Amazon were responsible for 60% of the overall forest loss, as individuals exploited the dry conditions to clear land for agricultural purposes.

Elsewhere, countries such as Canada and Russia also reported significant wildfires beyond the tropical regions, contributing to a global forest loss of 300,000 square kilometers, a new record.

“Some experts argue that we are currently in a pyrocene, or age of fire, as opposed to the Anthropocene,” noted Erika Berenguer from Oxford University.

While bushfires pose a serious threat, Berenguer cautioned that the statistics might include degradation, where some trees were lost without complete deforestation, the latter being the total clearance of forests.

“Degradation diminishes carbon storage, undermines biodiversity, and increases susceptibility to future fires, but it’s not equivalent to transforming land into soy fields or pastures,” she explained.

The report highlights how ongoing degradation and a warming climate have rendered rainforests increasingly vulnerable, according to Alencar.

“Typically, if a fire breaks out in the Amazon, you can witness some degradation, but the forest has the potential to recover,” she stated. “However, this report indicates that during extreme droughts, forests can burn intensely, fostering conditions that may lead to complete loss of the forest.”