An extent corresponding to that 18 football stadiums a minute: The destruction of virgin tropical forests reached record level last year due to the fires powered by climate change and the worsening situation in Brazil.

Last year, the tropical zones lost 67 million acres of forestan extent corresponding to that of Panama. This is the largest area since 2002 when data from the Global Forest Watch, which is subject to the World Resources Institute (WRI) at the University of Maryland began gathering.

World red alarm

2024 rose 80% in the loss of tropical forests compared to 2023with the lost area of ​​”equivalent to 18 football stadiums per minute,” Elizabeth Goldman’s co -director of the observatory underlined.

For the first time, the fires were responsible for almost half the losses in front of Georgia.

Due to the destruction of tropical forests they were released in the atmosphere 3.1 billion tons of carbon dioxidequantity slightly larger than emissions associated with energy production in India.

“This percentage of forest destruction has been quite unprecedented for more than 20 years when data have been gathered,” Goldman added.

“This is a global red alarm.”

The exhibition focuses on the most threatened rainforests that are particularly important for their biodiversity and their ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The authors of the report point out that The fires, which destroyed almost half the extent of the tropical forests lost last yearreinforced by “extreme conditions”, which made them “more intense and more difficult to control”.

Incalculable disaster in the Amazon forest in Brazil

In 2024 it was the warmest year ever recorded because of climate change.

Although many fires break out of natural causes, most of the time they are due to human activity, as farmers burn tropical forests to expand their crops.

To Brazil were destroyed last year 28 million acres of primary foresttwo -thirds of which due to fires, many of which were caused by farmers who wanted to more soy cultivation or farming.

The destruction of the Amazon forest in Brazil rose to the highest level in 2024 since 2016.

WRI data contradicts those of the Brazilian Mapbiomas monitoring network, published on May 16 and showed that deforestation of the Amazon was significantly reduced last year. However, these data did not include the impact of fires.

OR Bolivia is in second place as last year tripled the extent of tropical forests destroyed. And in this case, the main reason was the huge fires, most of which “were caused to clean areas to create industrial farms,” ​​the authors of the report said.

On the contrary, the situation improved in Indonesia and Malaysia, but has deteriorated rapidly in the Congo Brazavil and the Congo People’s Republic.

Historically four activities are primarily responsible for the destruction of tropical forests: the crops for the production of palm and soybean, the logging and breeding of cattle. But the improvement in some of them coincides with new challenges, such as avocado cultivation in Mexico or cocoa and cafes.

Consequently, The causes of deforestation of the forests do not always remain the samecommented on Rod Taylor’s director of the WRI Forestry Program, calling for a comprehensive approach to tackling the phenomenon. “We are already observing the impact on forests from the mining industry and critical metals,” he warned.