With the intensification of the fire season in the Amazon and Pantanal, as a result of climate change, cities in ten states have recorded episodes of smoke and a decrease in air quality.
Images obtained by the Center for Weather Forecasting and Climate Studies show the concentration of carbon monoxide over a strip that extends from the North of Brazil to the South and Southeast regions, passing over Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay. Last week, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) issued a warning about the necessary health precautions in these cases.
According to a note released by the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MMA), the fire in the Amazon was concentrated mainly in the south of Amazonas and around the Trans-Amazonian Highway (BR-230).
“Amazonas and Pará together account for more than half (51.6%) of the fire outbreaks recorded in the biome from January 1 to August 18, 2024, according to data from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). Since July 1, 67.2% of the recorded outbreaks have been in the two states,” the ministry reported.
Affected area
According to the Environmental Satellite Applications Laboratory of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Lasa-UFRJ), this year fires consumed 3.2 million hectares of the Amazon, which represents 0.77% of the biome. In the Pantanal, almost 1.9 million hectares were consumed by fire, affecting 12.5% of the territory.
An extreme fire danger alert from the Lasa-UFRJ Alarm System was released with forecasts for the Paraguay Basin, in the Pantanal. According to the information, until next Thursday (22), the entire region will face weather conditions that make it difficult to fight fires even by air, with high fire propagation speed.
The Ministry of the Environment (MMA), 1,489 firefighters from the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) and the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) are working to combat forest fires in the Amazon. Since July 24, 98 fires have been extinguished, but 75 remain active and could involve thousands of hotspots.
Fire response
In the Pantanal of Mato Grosso, 348 firefighters from Ibama and ICMBio are working, in addition to 454 military personnel from the Armed Forces, 95 from the National Force and ten more from the Federal Police. Of the 98 fire areas, 50 have been extinguished and 46 remain active, of which 27 are under control.
A situation room created by the federal government has been the focus of the federal response to the fires in the country since June. In the Legal Amazon, R$405 million from the Amazon Fund was made available to support the fire brigades of the states. In the Pantanal, an extraordinary credit of R$137.6 million was also released, in addition to the transfer of another R$13.4 million to the Ministry of Integration and Regional Development for humanitarian assistance and fighting forest fires.
