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\n Published on
\n 10\/10\/2025 – 7:00 GMT+2\n <\/p>\n
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The Amazon rainforest has undergone its \u201cmost devastating\u201d forest fire season in over two decades, despite a slowing trend in deforestation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A new study from the European Commission\u2019s Joint Research Centre, published in Biogeosciences, found blazes impacted 3.3 million hectares of the Amazon last year alone.<\/p>\n
Researchers say this triggered record-breaking carbon emissions and ecosystem degradation, exposing the region\u2019s \u201cgrowing ecological fragility\u201d.<\/p>\n
How much damage did last year\u2019s Amazon fires cause?<\/p>\n
Using data from the Tropical Moist Forest monitoring system and filtering out false signals caused by agricultural <\/a>fires or cloud covers, scientists say they were able to detect and verify fire-driven forest degradation<\/a> with a \u201cnovel level of precision\u201d.<\/p>\n They found that the 2024 fires released around 791 million tons of carbon dioxide<\/a> into the atmosphere, which is roughly the amount of emissions that Germany produces in an entire year.<\/p>\n This is a sevenfold increase from the average of the previous two years, and marks the first time fire-induced degradation has overtaken deforestation as the primary driver of carbon emissions in the Amazon<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe escalating fire occurrence, driven by climate change and unsustainable land use, threatens to push the Amazon towards a catastrophic tipping point,\u201d the study warns<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cUrgent, coordinated efforts are crucial to mitigate these drivers and to prevent irreversible ecosystem damage.\u201d<\/p>\n The geographical spread of the fires was also a concern among researchers, with Brazil experiencing the highest level of emissions from forest degradation on record.<\/p>\n In Bolivia, fires affected almost a tenth (nine per cent) of the country\u2019s remaining intact forest cover, which was described as a \u201cdramatic blow\u201d to a region that has long served as a vital biodiversity reservoir and carbon sink.<\/p>\n Amazon rainforest fires: What causes them?<\/p>\n Due to its high humidity and regular rainfall, the Amazon\u2019s forests have historically been fire-resistant.<\/p>\n