New Delhi, June 25 -- An unprecedented drought fuelled by climate change contributed to the record forest fires in Brazil in 2024, a new analysis has revealed.

From January through December in 2024, more than 30.87 million hectares of wilderness was lost in forest fires, equivalent to the size of Italy, according to Fire Annual Report released by MapBiomass.

MapBiomas is a consortium of non-governmental organisations, universities and technology firms monitoring Brazil's biomes since 2019.

The area affected - 62 per cent - is significantly above the historical annual average of 18.5 million hectares, the report showed.

The analysis also indicated that 43 per cent of all burnt areas in the country since 1985 occurred in the past 10 ye...