Fires in the Amazon: A Wake-Up Call for Humanity

• Between January and November 2024, fires scorched 41.7 million acres of the Brazilian Amazon—an area almost the size of the state of Georgia.
• 2024 marks a worrying trend, with human activity and the intensifying impacts of climate change driving fires in the Amazon to record levels.
• The surge in fires is a deepening threat to the Indigenous peoples residing in the rainforest and their ancestral lands.

An overwhelming wave of fires devastated the Amazon rainforest in 2024. Between January and November, fires scorched 41.7 million acres of the Brazilian Amazon—an area nearly the size of the state of Georgia¹. Alarmingly, over 57% of all fires in Brazil occurred within the Amazon—significantly higher than the historical norm, where this figure has never surpassed 15%². In September alone, 13.78 million acres burned, more than doubling the amount lost during the same month the year prior³. The state of Pará, where COP30 will take place in its capital, Belém, recorded 17.2 million acres burned, an area roughly equivalent to the size of West Virginia⁴. Other countries in the region also faced severe fire activity, with Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Guyana, Peru, and Ecuador all reporting a significant rise in fire hotspots compared to previous years. Smoke from the infernos blanketed major cities across the region, darkening skies in São Paulo and Buenos Aires, while “black rain” laden with soot fell across multiple Brazilian states. It could take the Amazon rainforest decades to recover from the level of destruction caused by these fires⁵.

Climate Crisis: Fuel for Flames

The fires remind us of a troubling truth: The Amazon’s resilience is severely impacted by climate change. In 2024, vast areas of the rainforest endured the harshest drought conditions in recent history. While natural climate patterns like El Niño—known for reducing rainfall—played a role, the drought was drastically worsened by climate change. This left the rainforest parched, its once-vital waterways reduced to barren, desert-like landscapes, and its surrounding vegetation dangerously dry—creating ideal conditions for fires to spread.

The fires that swept through the Amazon were largely driven by human activities such as land clearing, commonly used by cattle ranchers, soybean producers, and illegal land grabbers. Yet, a growing concern is the rising number of fires occurring independently of deforestation. Research shows that during droughts, fires can worsen even when deforestation slows down⁶. This occurs because the dry vegetation left standing provides abundant fuel for flames. Brazil is a clear example of this. Despite a 31% drop in deforestation between August 2023 and July 2024—the largest decrease in 15 years⁷—in the first 11 months of the year, the number of fire outbreaks in the Brazilian Amazon increased by 43.7% compared to 2023⁸. Even more concerning is that while over half of fires began in areas used for cattle farming, the majority of land burned was native vegetation. And for the first time in six years, forests suffered greater destruction than pastures⁹. This shows that while many fires start in agricultural areas, they rapidly spread into the vulnerable dry forest that is left standing—devastating Earth’s most biodiverse ecosystem and leaving the future of our planet hanging in the balance.

Indigenous Communities on the Frontlines

Collective Action to Prevent Fires

The fires of 2024 highlight the escalating vulnerability of the Amazon, not just from direct human actions like deforestation, but also from the impacts of climate change. Once a vital carbon sink, the Amazon is rapidly becoming a carbon emitter, with the increasing frequency of fires only intensifying this shift. The potential consequences are catastrophic: If the Amazon collapses, it could release the equivalent of 20 years’ worth of global carbon emissions¹².

Sources:

1. MAPBIOMAS burned area https://plataforma.brasil.mapbiomas.org/monitor-do-fogo  ↩︎
2. MAPBIOMAS, “Area burned in Brazil until November almost doubles compared to 2023 and is a record in the last six years.”, November 16, 2024. ↩︎
3. MAPBIOMAS burned area https://plataforma.brasil.mapbiomas.org/monitor-do-fogo  ↩︎
4. MAPBIOMAS, “Area burned in Brazil until November almost doubles compared to 2023 and is a record in the last six years.”, November 16, 2024. ↩︎
5. PBS News, “As record acreage burns in Brazil’s Amazon, criminals are exploiting rainforest to clear land.” October 25, 2024. ↩︎
6. Nature Communications, “21st Century drought-related fires counteract the decline of Amazon deforestation carbon emissions.” 13 February, 2018.  ↩︎
7. ESG Today, “Brazil Cuts Amazon Deforestation by 31%, Sets New 2035 Climate Goals.” November 11, 2024. ↩︎
8. INPE fires outbreaks – Programa Queimadas: Situação atual ↩︎
9. MAPBIOMAS, “Area burned in Brazil until November almost doubles compared to 2023 and is a record in the last six years.”, November 16, 2024. ↩︎
10. Diagnóstico de Vulneraciones de Derechos Territoriales, Económicos, Sociales y Culturales de Los Pueblos Indígenas por Impacto Del Cambio Climático, Elaborado por la Organización Regional AIDESEP Ucayali – Atreves de su Centro de Informacion Satelital Imenko Tsiroti. ↩︎
11. New York Times, “A Collapse of the Amazon Could Be Coming ‘Faster Than We Thought”, February 14, 2024. ↩︎