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Forest fire area in Brazil
Photo: Bruno Kelly / REUTERS
In several South American countries, carbon emissions in February were higher than they have been in at least 21 years.
The forest fires in the Amazon region are to blame.
Brazil, Venezuela and Bolivia recorded the highest emissions levels since records began in 2003, according to the European Union's Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS).
It has been exceptionally dry in the Amazon region since the middle of last year.
Low rainfall and high temperatures create ideal conditions for forest fires.
According to the Brazilian Institute for Space Research (Inpe), more than 3,200 fires were recorded in the Amazon region in February - the highest number for this month since the data set began in 1999. In the same month last year there were just over 1,000 fires.
The peak season for wildfires in the Amazon is usually September and October.
4.1 megatons of carbon emitted in Brazil
A significant increase in forest fires and associated emissions has been detected in the tropical regions of South America, said CAMS chief scientist Mark Parrington.
Accordingly, the emission values in Brazil for the month of February were an estimated 4.1 megatons of carbon, compared to around 1.1 megatons in the same month last year.
More than half of that - about 2.3 megatons - is in the northern Brazilian state of Roraima, which is largely covered by rainforest and borders Venezuela and Guyana.
During the same period, the fires in Venezuela emitted almost 5.2 megatons of carbon (3.3 in the same month last year) and in Bolivia 0.3 megatons (0.15 in the same month last year), according to CAMS.
The European Union's Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service monitors forest fires and their emissions using satellite observations of active fires.
Carbon emissions are estimated based on fire intensity.
The data set goes back more than 20 years.
kha/dpa