Fires drove record loss of world’s forests last year, ‘frightening’ data shows

Rainforest burning in Brazil’s Amazonas state last August. The country lost 25,000 sq km of rainforest last year, with Bolivia losing 14,000 sq km. Photograph: Adriano Machado/Reuters

The destruction of the world’s forests reached the highest level ever recorded in 2024, driven by a surge in fires caused by global heating, according to “frightening” new data.

From the Brazilian Amazon to the Siberian taiga, Earth’s forests disappeared at a record rate last year, losing an area the size of Italy to agriculture, fires, logging and mining, according to analysis from the University of Maryland hosted on Global Forest Watch.