The already threatened Amazon rainforest in Brazil suffered its highest number of fires in 17 years throughout 2024, according to data published by the government-run National Institute for Space Research (INPE) on Wednesday.
There were 140,328 fires detected by satellite imaging over the year as the vast biome suffered months of a lengthy drought, according to the NPE.
That was 42% more than the 98,634 fires recorded in 2023 – and the most since 2007 when 186,463 forest fires were seen.
Despite the high number of blazes, however, there were indications that the total area that suffered deforestation could be the lowest in years.
In early November, the INPE said deforestation in the region in the 12-month period up to August 2024 had fallen by more than 30%, year-on-year, and was at the lowest amount in nine years.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has made the preservation of the Amazon a priority for his government, which in November this year will host the U.N.'s COP30 climate conference in the Amazonian city of Belem.
Europe's climate monitor, the EU's Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, said last month that severe drought had stoked wildfires across South America in 2024.
Thick plumes of smoke at times clouded major cities including Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo last year, with choking pollution that lingered for several weeks.
Drought has parched the Amazon region since mid-2023, driven by human-caused climate change and the El Nino warming phenomenon.
This helped create conditions for the massive blazes, but experts say that most fires were set deliberately by farmers to clear land for agriculture.
Scientists warn that continued deforestation will put the Amazon on track to reach a point where it will emit more carbon than it absorbs, accelerating climate change.
