Three reasons climate change is making fires worse in the Amazon rainforest and beyond – Rainforest Trust

Some ecosystems are well adapted to wildfires. Others depend on them, relying on occasional natural fires to clear dense undergrowth, add nutrients to the soil and disperse seeds so the next generation can take root.

But there is nothing natural about wildfires in the Amazon rainforest or in Brazil’s Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland. Most often, these fires occur when people set fire to cleared areas to prepare the land for growing crops and livestock. This practice is terribly destructive. But the real devastation occurs when flames burst into the surrounding forest, burning healthy trees and undergrowth, destroying habitat and harming both wildlife and people.

Under normal circumstances, these places would not have caught fire. The Amazon and Pantanal rainforests are too wet for this, as are most of the world’s rainforests and wetlands. But climate change has dramatically changed the “norm,” allowing the fire to spread far beyond what it once was. The report, “The State of Wildfires 2023-2024,” published in the August 2024 issue of Earth System Science Data, said climate change has made these destructive fires in the Amazon 20 to nearly 30 times more likely than before.

Here are three reasons why climate change is making wildfires more frequent and destructive in the Amazon rainforest, Pantanal and other places around the world:

1. Increase in temperature

The science is clear: the world is warming. The summer of 2024 was the hottest on record in the northern hemisphere, and all signs point to the entire year also being the hottest on record, breaking the previous record set just last year. Rising temperatures affect more than just our comfort. They also draw moisture from plant material and soil, creating drier conditions that make fire possible even in tropical forests or wetlands.

2. More frequent droughts

Climate change affects more than just temperature. It also increases the risk and intensity of drought and is the main cause of the exceptional drought that has affected the Amazon basin since 2023. Deforestation, including from past wildfires, and El Niño have also contributed to the drought. but research shows that the main cause of drought is climate change and the associated rise in temperature.

We have already seen these effects in our project at Lake Tefe in Brazil. Here, the ongoing drought has reduced the lake’s water level so much that river dolphins, fish and other creatures are dying.

3. And the cycle repeats

Most concerning is the possibility of a positive feedback loop from wildfires in the Amazon and beyond. Simply put, a positive feedback loop is when the results of something increase the likelihood of it happening again or with greater intensity.

The cycle in the Amazon is as follows: First, climate change increases the risk of fires in the Amazon due to rising temperatures and more frequent droughts. Then, when wildfires burn, they convert massive amounts of stored carbon into climate-altering greenhouse gases: as of mid-September, wildfires in Brazil alone released 183 million metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere, the equivalent of more than 43.5 million cars in use alone year. All this contributes to climate change on a global scale and also increases the risk of forest fires on a local scale. Many scientists believe that without intervention, this feedback loop will eventually transform the Amazon rainforest into a savanna-like habitat. Scientists warn us that this change could lead to species extinctions throughout the Amazon’s current range, as well as weather and climate impacts around the world.

Climate change is a global problem, and the solution requires the cooperation and contributions of people around the world. This is both a challenge and an opportunity. Even those of us who live far from these fires and other climate impacts can contribute to finding solutions. In this case, slowing down deforestation by protecting acres is one of the most important things we can do to help ensure the conservation of the Amazon rainforest and other habitats around the world for future generations.

Your donation to our Rainforest Climate Action Fund (RCAF) helps protect the areas most critical to slowing climate change in South America and around the world. These funds also provide our partners on the ground with the firefighting equipment and training they need to fight fires in the years to come. With this fund, the Rainforest Trust intends to protect 3.3 million acres of valuable tropical forests worldwide, generating an estimated 465.3 million tons of climate change carbon dioxide equivalents.

By slowing down deforestation that contributes to climate change and helping equip volunteers to fight fires that have already started, your donation will make a real and lasting difference to these wonderful places and the world at large..

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