A Fire Hell enveloped the island of Amsterdamearthly paradise in the southern Indian Ocean. This remote French territory, part of the French and antarctic lands and the UNESCO World Heritage Site, is known for its biodiversity and to host a Climate research station of global importance. But from January 15, 2025, a wooded fire of vast proportions is devastating the island.
The flames, fueled by drought conditions and strong winds, have propagated quickly, devouring hectares of vegetation and threatening the unique wildlife of the island. THE’Amesterdam albatroan endemic species at risk of extinction, and theIndian yellow nose albatrowhich has 84% of its world population on the island, are just some of animals at risk. Also the colonies of marine elephants And ottorieswhich in this period of the year reproduce on the coasts of the island, are in danger.
The fire forced toEvacuation The 31 residents of the Martin-de-Viviès search stationinterrupting for the first time since 1981 the essential scientific measurements for the global greenhouse gases monitoring. This station, managed by the French laboratory for climate and environment sciences (LSCE), is one of the few sites in the world capable of directly measure the basic air pollution on a global scale. Its isolated position and the low level of human activity make it an ideal place to obtain data on carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen protoxide and ozone.
“This interruption of measurements is a truly unpleasant loss of data,” he told France24 Marc Delmottehead of the LSCE Center. “The Amsterdam Observatory is our oldest station and the one for which we have the longest series of measurements of the entire southern hemisphere”.
The satellite images of the satellite Copernicus Sentinel-2acquired on January 21, 2024 and 9 February 2025, show the impressive extension of the burnt area. The Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS) has been activated to provide an initial estimate and an emergency mapping.
The island of Amsterdam, with its 58 square kilometers of surface, is a place of extraordinary ecological and scientific importance. Its unique vegetationcharacterized by the presence of the arbust Phylica Arboreathe only structure similar to a tree present in the French and Antarctic lands, French, it is now threatened by the flames.
The prefecture of the French and antarctic lands (TAAF) said that The fire broke out due to the “dry climate and strong and changing winds”. Due to the remote position of the island, “the fire has been let it burned, since at the moment there is no way to turn it off”. There are no rivers on the island e The only fresh water available is the rainfall one collected and stored.
The French naval surveillance frigate Floreal It was sent on the island with firefighters on board and experts to evaluate the situation. Delmotte asks the French state to mobilize so that scientists can resume their work “as soon as possible”.
