Wildfires in Brazil have ravaged an area the size of Switzerland, a devastation that may take decades to heal, based on a recent satellite analysis.

The extent of forest lost became clear as smoke lifted, aided by rains ending Brazil’s worst recorded drought.

“The data is alarming; it’s a sharp increase,” said Ane Alencar, science director at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute.

The area burned between January and mid-October 2024 marks an 846% rise from 2023, five times greater than the notorious 2019 fires during President Jair Bolsonaro’s term.

Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research estimates the burned area, raising suspicions that criminals exploit climate change.

This fire surge comes as Belém prepares to host the COP30 U.N. climate conference. With forests drying due to drought, some bypass cutting trees, opting instead to set fires directly, said Alencar.

“The forest’s resilience is very low,” noted André Lima, deforestation control secretary at the Ministry of the Environment. “Only a few can cause massive damage. We recorded 500 large blazes starting from a single match.”

Climate change and El Niño have led to severe drought, impacting the Amazon basin. Rivers hit record lows in 2023 and 2024, affecting aquatic life and communities.

In September, fires doubled the year’s burned acreage, marking the largest area since the current tracking methods began.

Jamanxim National Forest, near Novo Progresso, a deforestation hotspot, has been severely hit with a 700% increase in fires over 2023, according to MapBiomas.

Brazil’s government considers mandatory reforestation of burned areas to deter illegal land conversion. Local and state actions are urged as most fires start on rural private lands, Lima emphasized.

Recent research shows carbon emissions from forest fires rose 60% from 2001 to 2023. Amazon fires spread mainly through ground leaves, but still inflict major damage.

This year’s deforestation rate is slowing under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, projected to achieve a 60% reduction from Bolsonaro’s years.

“Even where fires weren’t intense, areas are severely degraded,” said Claudio Almeida of INPE, warning of potential forest collapse.