Overview

• MapBiomas data reveal a 62% rise in burned area compared with the 1985-2023 average, totaling 30 million hectares in 2024
• More than half of the damage occurred in the Amazon, where 15.6 million hectares burned representing a 117% increase over the past four decades
• The 2024 season ranks as Brazil’s second-worst wildfire year since 2007 based on total area affected
• Researchers link the fires chiefly to illegal agricultural clearing compounded by a historic drought tied to climate change
• Nearly 24% of Brazil’s land has been scorched by vegetation fires at least once since 1985 as the country readies to host COP30 in November