Satellites detected 41,463 fire hot spots in Brazil’s Amazon in September, the largest number since 2010, according to data from the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe).
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According to preliminary government data, fires in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest region skyrocketed to the highest for September in nearly 15 years almost a decade and a half followed by severe drought affecting much of South America due to climate change. At times, smoke has blanketed over half of the continent.
According to the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), satellite detections identified 41,463 fire hotspots in Brazil’s Amazon during September – the highest count since 2010.
The data for the first nine months of the year indicates that fires have reached the worst levels since 2007, underscoring the escalating severity of the situation.
The state is home to the mouth of the Amazon River and will also host the United Nations COP30 climate change summit next year.
Extremely low water levels in the Amazon basin were also clearly visible from the air, with large swathes of sandy river banks left dry.
Fires usually do not occur naturally in the lush Amazon but are set by people to clear land for farming or ranching.
In many cases, criminals have no intention of farming themselves, instead seeking to lay claim to the land to sell for a profit later, Andre Guimaraes, an executive director at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (Imazon) told Reuters.
”People are taking advantage of the fact that the forests are more flammable now, to burn them down, and then grab the land later on,” he said.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has called the fires ”criminal,” and the federal police has said it was expanding its efforts to combat environmental crimes in the Amazon and elsewhere.
From January through August, 62,268 square kilometers have burned in Brazil’s Amazon, Inpe data showed.
Fires typically peak in the Amazon in August and September when the region is driest, with blazes likely improving in the coming weeks as the rainy season arrives.
With inputs from agencies.
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Publish date : 2024-10-01 04:52:00
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