An Area Of The Planet's Forests Equal In Size To Italy Was Destroyed In 2024; Fire Leading Cause In Tropical Forests
The destruction of the world’s forests reached the highest level ever recorded in 2024, driven by a surge in fires caused by global heating, according to “frightening” new data. From the Brazilian Amazon to the Siberian taiga, Earth’s forests disappeared at a record rate last year, losing an area the size of Italy to agriculture, fires, logging and mining, according to analysis from the University of Maryland hosted on Global Forest Watch.
In tropical regions, home to the most biodiverse and carbon-dense forests on the planet, fire became the leading driver of loss for the first time since global records began. However, fire is not a natural part of tropical ecosystems. Boreal forests in Canada and Siberia continued to burn last year. Prof Matt Hansen, co-director at the University of Maryland’s Glad Lab, who led the analysis, described the new figures as “frightening”, while Elizabeth Goldman, co-director of Global Forest Watch, said the update was “unlike anything we’ve seen in over 20 years of data”.
In 2024, forest loss in Brazil reached rates far above any level recorded under the far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, fuelled by fire and the worst drought on record in the Amazon. The country accounted for 42% of all primary rainforest loss in the tropics, losing more than 25,000 sq km (10,000 sq miles). The data differs from Brazil’s official statistics, which uses a different definition of deforestation that does not include fire. In Bolivia, the loss of previously untouched forest continued to rise, ranking second behind Brazil in overall loss for the first time, driven by drought, fire and government policies promoting agricultural expansion for soya, cattle and sugar cane. The loss of Bolivia’s primary forest has increased nearly fivefold since 2020, reaching more than 14,000 sq km (1.4m hectares).
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Prof Peter Potapov, co-director of Maryland’s Glad Lab, said the world risked entering a dangerous new cycle. “2024 was the worst year on record for fire-driven forest loss, breaking the record set just last year. If this trend continues, it could permanently transform critical natural areas and unleash large amounts of carbon – intensifying climate change and fuelling even more extreme fires. “This is a dangerous feedback loop we cannot afford to trigger further,” he said.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/may/21/fires-record-loss-forests-global-heating-agriculture-logging-brazil-bolivia-aoe