Fire susceptibility and transitional climate regime in Amazon tropics

Amazon wildfire surge in 2019 once again raised the alarm about the fate of the Earth’s most biodiverse forest. Climate change and deforestation lead to greater vegetation water stress and susceptibility to fires. We use multiple satellite and climate reanalysis data to explore fire susceptibility in response to shifted climate regime due to global climate change and forest loss in Amazon regions. We found that climate in Amazon has been shifting to increased frequency of extreme conditions with increased drought extent and severity. The tropical vegetation that has adapted to its surrounding climate are less resilient under stress of climate change and highly susceptible to fire.  The fire susceptibility has been expanding through the transition season and northward to the tropical rain and seasonal forests. These results highlighted the links between fire risk, climate change and human activities in Amazon regions.