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A record number of fires devastated the Amazon and the Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland area, in October. Tens of thousands of hectares of valuable ecosystems have been devoured by flames, according to official figures from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (Inpe).
Large parts of the Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland area, have been engulfed by flames. The image shows a forest on fire near Poconé in Mato Grosso state in September.
In October, 17,326 fires devastated the Amazon rainforest, often referred to as the “lungs of the earth” because of its ability to form oxygen, absorb carbon dioxide and reduce the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. That is more than double compared to the same month last year. In total, satellite cameras have registered nearly 100,000 fires in the Amazon during the first ten months of the year, more than throughout 2019.
Even in the Pantanal wetland area, which covers up to 200,000 square kilometers with great biodiversity, there are more and more fires. The nearly 3,000 individual fires in October set a new monthly record since data collection began in 1998. By 2020, an estimated 23 percent of the area will have been devastated by fires.
Environmental experts and organizations accuse Brazil’s president, climate skeptic Jair Bolsonaro, of the fires. Bolsonaro advocates for more logging and agriculture in the two fire-affected regions, and has blamed indigenous peoples and activists for the fires.
– With the increase in deforestation in recent years, the government has ignored the researchers’ warnings. Deforestation and fires go hand in hand, says Mariana Napolitana, who leads a research program at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Brazil.
– What happened during the dry season in the Amazon and the Pantanal should not be repeated, he says.
