<
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/on-world-rainforest-day-the-world-confronts-an-unprecedented-wave-of-tropical-forest-loss/>
"If tropical rainforests are the lungs of the Earth, then 2024 was a year of
respiratory failure. Fires, fueled by climate extremes and human recklessness,
tore through vast stretches of forest at an unprecedented pace. According to
satellite data from the University of Maryland and the World Resources
Institute, 6.7 million hectares of tropical primary rainforest were lost last
year—nearly double the previous year’s total, and equivalent to 18 football
fields every minute.
The cause? For the first time on record, fire—not chainsaws or bulldozers—was
the leading driver of tropical forest loss. This shift reflects a combustible
convergence of deliberate land-clearing, soaring temperatures during a strong
El Niño, and deepening drought. Nearly half of all tropical primary forest loss
in 2024 was fire-related, a sharp increase from the 20% average of recent
years.
Nowhere was the devastation more apparent than in Latin America. Brazil, which
holds over 60% of the Amazon rainforest, accounted for 42% of global tropical
forest loss. Bolivia, with a fraction of Brazil’s forest cover, experienced a
200% surge in primary forest destruction, making it the second-largest
contributor globally. Colombia, less affected by fires, saw forest clearing
accelerate due to land grabs and illicit coca cultivation.
The damage extended far beyond the Amazon. The Congo Basin—once relatively
spared—saw record deforestation, driven by agricultural expansion, charcoal
production, and weak governance. Mesoamerica experienced the highest
proportional loss of any tropical region.
Globally, tree cover loss reached 30 million hectares in 2024, the highest ever
recorded. Fires in boreal forests, particularly in Canada and Russia, pushed
fire-related global emissions to 4.1 gigatons—more than four times the
emissions from all commercial air travel the previous year.
This ecological hemorrhage comes just five years before the 2030 deadline set
by the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration to halt deforestation. That goal now
appears increasingly out of reach. Achieving it would require a 20% reduction
in forest loss every year—starting yesterday."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
