Wildfire burned area was 367 Mha in 2024, ranked 17th since 2001. An estimated 1,965 Tg C was released from these fires, 41% of which came from the Americas, far exceeding their usual 25% contribution.
Key points
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Exceptional drought drove catastrophic wildfires across South America, with Bolivia (10.7 Mha), Venezuela (5.2 Mha), Peru (0.30 Mha), Guyana (0.26 Mha), and Ecuador (0.09 Mha) experiencing record burned area; millions were exposed to long-duration hazardous air quality.
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Holdover ignitions from the record 2023 Canada wildfire season extended numerous fires into 2024 such that 4.86 Mha were burned, the second highest since 2001.
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Catastrophic loss of life in Chile, where 131 people died in a relatively small but extreme wildfire event, underscored the need to look beyond area burned and emissions in understanding wildfire impacts.
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Acknowledgements
C.A.K. was supported by the US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture [award number 2022-67019-36435]. JTA was supported by NSF under award number OAI-2019762. M.W.J. was supported by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NE\V01417X\1).
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Kolden, C.A., Abatzoglou, J.T., Jones, M.W. et al. Wildfires in 2024. Nat Rev Earth Environ 6, 237–239 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-025-00663-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-025-00663-0
