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During the first week of September, 8,373 fires were recorded around the Amazon. That’s double the number in the same period last year, according to figures from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research INPE.
27 percent of the main fires occur in the virgin forest, Reuters reports. That’s 13 percent more than in August.
And fires in primary forests are more difficult to control.
– It’s a much more out-of-control fire scenario, says Matt Finer, who leads INPE’s fire tracking work and continues:
– We do not know where these fires will go and when they will stop. Now that we are further into the drought, it will only get worse.
It may be the worst in 10 years
During September, there were about 53 major wildfires per day, which is 18 more per day than in August, Reuters reports with reference to Amazon conservation.
In August, there were 29,307 fires, roughly five percent less than last year, according to the latest figures from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research.
But according to INPE, the final data will likely show that the fires in August will be the highest in 10 years, and worse than last year that attracted worldwide attention.
At that time, around 80,000 forest fires were recorded, 84 percent more than in 2018. Drought, fires and deforestation were noted as causes.
President Bolsonaro deployed the army in the rainforest to try to stop illegal deforestation.
“The statistics confirm the failure of the costly and poorly planned operation of the Brazilian armed forces in the Amazon, which the Bolsonar government has put in place in lieu of an adequate plan against deforestation.” writes the Observatório do Clima organization in a statement, reports TT.
