The Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest, has lost a staggering area equivalent to the combined size of Germany and France due to deforestation over the past four decades, according to a study released Monday.
Spanning across nine South American countries, the Amazon plays a critical role in combating climate change by absorbing significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
RAISG, a coalition of researchers and NGOs reported that between 1985 and 2023, 12.5 percent of its plant cover—about 88 million hectares (880,000 square kilometers)—has been lost, largely due to deforestation for agriculture and mining.
"With the loss of the forest, we emit more carbon into the atmosphere and this disrupts an entire ecosystem that regulates the climate and the hydrological cycle, clearly affecting temperatures," Sandra Rio Caceres, from the Institute of the Common Good -- a Peruvian association that took part in the study noted.
She said she believes the loss of vegetation in the Amazon is directly linked to severe drought and wildfires affecting several South American countries.
The World Weather Attribution network of scientists said Sunday that climate change was increasing the risk and severity of fires in the Amazon and Pantanal wetlands which are releasing "massive amounts" of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
"Never-ending heat has combined with low rainfall to turn these precious ecosystems into highly flammable tinderboxes," said Clair Barnes, a researcher from Imperial College London.
"As long as the world burns fossil fuels, the risk of devastating wildfires will continue to increase in the Amazon and Pantanal," she added.
The drought has placed some Amazon rivers at their lowest level in decades, threatening the lifestyle of some 47 million people who live on their banks.
The dry spell has sent fires -- often lit to clear land for farming -- burning out of control in Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru.