Historic forest fires in Brazil: A record year for destruction

HISTORIC forest fires in Brazil last year scorched through an area larger than the size of Italy, recording a burned area some 60% higher than average of the last four decades, said a report released yesterday.

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Brazil experienced historic fires last year, particularly in the Amazon, the largest tropical rainforest on the planet that is key to absorbing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

According to the monitoring platform MapBiomas, the fires razed 30 million hectares last year, a 62% jump compared to the 18.5 million ha burned annually on average.

MapBiomas, which began satellite recording in 1985, said that the Amazon accounted for more than half of the fires suffered in Brazil, with 15.6m ha affected - more than double its historical average.