Brazil's wildfires cause highest carbon emissions in two decades

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Berlin, Sep 23 (EFE).- Devastating wildfires in the Pantanal and Amazon regions of Brazil have caused the highest cumulative total of carbon emissions in the 22 years of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS) dataset, which has closely tracked emissions from fires in South America in recent months.

Forest fires in the Amazon region, and in particular in the states of Amazonas and Mato Grosso do Sul -where most of the Pantanal wetlands are located – have led to carbon emission levels that have consistently exceeded the average and even broken national and regional records, severely affecting air quality throughout the region, according to CAMS’ data.

In Brazil, the total cumulative carbon emissions estimated so far in 2024 “have been above average, around 183 megatons of carbon until September 19, and follow a trajectory similar to that of 2007, when they set a record,” the institution said in a statement.

Meanwhile, carbon emissions from Bolivia’s fires over the same period are already the highest annual total in the GFAS dataset, at nearly 76 megatonnes of carbon, surpassing the previous highest annual total of 73 megatonnes of carbon, set in 2010.

According to CAMS, it is likely that the high temperatures that South America has experienced in recent months, prolonged drought, low soil moisture and other climatological factors have contributed to increasing the scale of emissions from fires, smoke and the impact on air quality.

Mark Parrington, a senior scientist at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) at CAMS, said that the displacement of smoke has had repercussions far beyond the areas where the fires have been active in Brazil, even reaching the other side of the Atlantic.

The scale of smoke displacement and the impact on air quality are an indicator of the scale and intensity of the fires, he added.

Wildfires and the emissions they cause have degraded air quality across much of the continent, as the column of smoke stretches from Ecuador to São Paulo, according to CAMS. EFE

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