Extensive fire-driven degradation in 2024 marks worst Amazon forest disturbance in over 2 decades

Abstract

The Amazon rainforest, historically fire-resistant, is experiencing an alarming increase in wildfires due to climate extremes and human activity. The 2023-2024 drought, surpassing previous records, combined with forest fragmentation, has dramatically heightened fire vulnerability. Analysing the Tropical Moist Forest (TMF) and Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS) datasets, we found a 152 % surge in forest disturbances from deforestation and degradation in 2024, reaching a 2-decade peak of 6.64 Mha (million hectares). Forest degradation, particularly large-scale degradation linked to fires, increased by over 400 %, largely exceeding deforestation. Brazil and Bolivia experienced the most severe impacts, with Bolivia seeing 9 % of its intact forest burned in 2024. Fire-driven forest degradation in the Pan-Amazon released 791 ± 86 Mt CO2 (million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, ±1 standard deviation) in 2024, a 7-fold increase compared to the previous 2 years, surpassing emissions from deforestation. The escalating fire occurrence, driven by climate change and unsustainable land use, threatens to push the Amazon towards a catastrophic tipping point. Urgent, coordinated efforts are crucial to mitigate these drivers and to prevent irreversible ecosystem damage.