Global forest loss hit a record last year as fires raged

Forests disappeared at a rate of 18 soccer fields every minute

- HIROKO TABUCHI & HARRY STEVENS

THE PLANET LOST a record amount of forests last year, driven by fires that raged around the world, data shows.

Loss of pristine rainforests alone reached 6.7 million hectares in 2024, nearly twice as much as in 2023, researchers at the University of Maryland and the World Resources Institute said.

The world lost the equivalent of 18 soccer fields of forested land every minute.

For the first time since record-keeping began, fires, not agriculture, were the leading cause of rainforest loss, accounting for nearly half of all destruction.

Those fires emitted 4.1 gigatons of planet-warming greenhouse gases, which is more than four times the emissions from air travel in 2023. Still, land clearing for agriculture, cattle farming and other causes rose by 14%, the sharpest increase in almost a decade.