Amazon fires: Humans make rainforest more flammable

Human disturbances are making the Amazon rainforest more flammable, according to researchers.

This is one of the conclusions of a two-year study of the Brazilian Amazon, which revealed that even protected forest is degraded by human activity.

This activity includes selective logging and forest fragmentation, which increase the likelihood of wildfires.

The findings are published in the journal Nature.

"Rainforests don't normally burn," said lead researcher Prof Jos Barlow, from the Lancaster Environment Centre. "But human activities are making them much more flammable."read more