“The tropical forest, which is naturally immune to large fires due to its humidity, is suffering a huge impact from climate change, reducing its resistance to fires and becoming more vulnerable,” he added.
The Amazon forest which should be immune to forest fires and large deforestation rates naturally, is suffering due to climate change and human activities. This affects the tropical forest by reducing resistance at the same time it is becoming more vulnerable.
However, most blazes in 2024 would have likely been started by humans engaging in arson. Ane Alencar, director of science at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute, previously told Mongabay contributor Lucas Berti that in 2024, the dry, flammable forest became an opportunity for those wanting to deforest illegally.
The forest became a hotspot for those who chose to participate in an illegal act of deforestation. This was because of how dry the forests became, making them very vulnerable and flammable. Most blazes during this time were predicted to have been the result of acts of arson.
fueled by the El Niño phenomenon, which causes lower rainfall in the region. Water levels in the Amazon’s main rivers, including the Solimões, Negro and Madeira, dropped to their lowest in more than 120 years.
The El Nino phenomenon helped set forth the amazon drought to be one of the most severe in recent history. This phenomenon caused lower rainfall and the water levels in the Amazon's main rivers dropped to their lowest in more than 120 years. This had a huge impact on the amount of water present in the Amazon Rainforest.
threatens to push the Amazon towards a catastrophic tipping point,
This is why it is important to catch these issues sooner
The carbon emissions from fires in 2024 surpassed those from deforestation for the first time on record. Brazil was the largest contributor, accounting for 61% of these emissions, followed by Bolivia with 32%, the study found.
Brazil had the percentage of carbon emissions, weighing in at 61 %, with the second largest being Bolivia at 32 %, almost half of Brazil.
the fire-driven forest degradation released an estimated 791 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2024, a sevenfold increase compared with the previous two years.
In two years, 2022-2024, the carbon dioxide released from forest fire season showed a sevenfold increase. Which indicates the rates have rose to be 7 times what they were two years ago.