Brazil records 62% jump in areas burned; Greece declares emergency on Chios

Brazil records 62% jump in areas burned; Greece declares emergency on Chios
by AFP Staff Writers
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil (AFP) June 24, 2025

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

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 (115,830 square miles) last year, a 62 percent jump compared to the 18.5 million hectares 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 15.6 million hectares affected -- more than double its historical average.

The record is discouraging for the government of leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who will host the UN's COP30 climate conference in November in the Amazonian city of Belem.

The unprecedented drought that hit Brazil in 2024, aggravated by climate change, contributed to the record number of fires.

Authorities and experts attribute the fires to human activity and link them to the often illegal clearing of land for grazing and agriculture.

"The combination of highly flammable vegetation, low humidity, and the use of fire has created the perfect conditions for it (fires) to spread on a large scale," said Felipe Martenexen, MapBiomas's Amazon coordinator.

"Once the forest burns, it ends up losing moisture and forest cover," he said.

"It ends up altering that entire microclimate, making it more vulnerable next time to new fires," he warned at a press conference.

The Pantanal, a natural region encompassing the world's largest wetland which is mostly in Brazil, also suffered devastating fires last year. Sixty-two percent of this area has been affected by fire at least once in the last 40 years.

Also setting a new record in 2024 was the Atlantic Forest, one of the most threatened biomes on the planet which stretches along Brazil's ocean coast and extends into neighbouring Paraguay and Argentina.

The 1.2 million hectares burned was the largest area affected by fire since 1985 and represented a 261 percent increase compared to the historical average in this region.

MapBiomas's report also revealed that 2024 was Brazil's second-worst year for fires since 2007, with nearly a third of the area burned last year suffering from mega-fires of more than 100,000 hectares.

These large fires represent a worrying change in the country's historical fire patterns, noted MapBiomas experts.

Greece declares emergency on Chios over wildfires
Athens (AFP) June 23, 2025 - Greece put the Mediterranean island of Chios under a state of emergency on Monday because of major fires that have raged since the weekend.

Civil Protection Minister Ioannis Kefalogiannis said the decision was made so the authorities could "immediately take the necessary measures".

Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis called on island residents to exercise "the greatest caution" and follow official instructions.

Chios, in the northern Aegean Sea, is Greece's fifth-largest island and is currently facing five separate fire outbreaks.

Some 190 firefighters, 38 vehicles, 12 helicopters and four water-bombers have been deployed, the fire service said.

Kefalogiannis, who travelled to the island, said strong winds, estimated at force six on the Beaufort Scale were making the situation "very difficult".

Reinforcements were being deployed, he told Greek news site iEidiseis.

"If the wind dies down a bit we might be able to get this fire under control," he said.

"But the wind really hasn't dropped."

On Sunday, hundreds of asylum seekers were forced to move from a reception centre while seven villages were evacuated on Monday.

Island authorities feared the fire was dangerously close to fields of valuable mastic trees, whose aromatic sap is used in making chewing gum, alcoholic drinks and pharmaceuticals.

Mastic is the island's most famous product, designated part of its intangible cultural heritage by world heritage body UNESCO.

Greece is particularly vulnerable to fires in summer, fuelled by strong winds, drought and high temperatures linked to climate change.

Forecasts are predicting a heatwave in the coming days with temperatures of more than 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) expected, including in the capital Athens.