Effort is to tie the game, says Marina about fires

Environment Minister Marina Silva said this Wednesday (September 4, 2024) that the department works to “tie the game” against the fires registered in the country. He also said that Brazil “live a new normal” and that it is not possible to make environmental policy “any way”.

“These are not natural fires. If we had not prepared since January 2023, we would have had an uncontrollable situation. The effort made now is to tie the game”he said during a session of the Senate’s CMA (Environmental Committee).

Marina said that the fires are a “inadequate view of how to use fire” and that the number of firefighters increased during his administration.

He cited data showing that the Pantanal is experiencing the worst drought in the last 74 years. For the Amazon, it is the worst in the last 40 years.

“Today, it is not possible to make public policy in any way […] There is a dynamic that has changed. We are living in a new normal and this will require the Government to be able to respond to events that we do not know how they will unfold. We could lose the Pantanal by the end of the century”, he stated.

Marina denied that the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) is not prioritizing the environmental agenda and said that there is a “huge budgetary effort” of the PT administration. She mentioned that the Environment was the only ministry not affected by the last cut, despite also having had resources reduced for fighting fires in the 2024 budget.

“There was a reduction in what was requested in the Budget. There was a total cut of R$18 million. The government, under criticism, is punished for cutting and then is punished for cutting. But in the last cut, the only ministry that was not cut was the Ministry of the Environment.”he said.

The minister said that the environmental issue “it is not a battle of the right or the left”. Without naming names, he criticized the actions of the previous government, Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

“I caught deforestation on an upward curve of 60%. The weather situation is considerably worse, but the performance is incomparably better”he spoke.

The presidents of Ibama (Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources), Rodrigo Agostinho, and from ICMBio (Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation), Mauro Pires.

FIRES IN BRAZIL

Brazil recorded 68,635 fires in August 2024, according to monitoring by Inpe (National Institute for Space Research). This was the highest number for the month since 2010 – when 91,085 fires were recorded – and the 5th worst in the historical series, which began in 1998.

Compared to last year, which recorded 28,056 fires in August, there was an increase of 144%. Traditionally, this is the first month of the burning season in Brazil, which continues until October. The peak is usually recorded in September.

Overall for the year, the number of fires is also the highest in 14 years, with 127,051 outbreaks – 54% of the total in August alone.

Mato Grosso, Pará and Amazonas lead the ranking. Together, these three states account for 56% of the country’s fires. All of them are located in the Legal Amazon, which accounts for 49.7% of the fires, and partly in the Pantanal (southwestern Mato Grosso) – with 30.9% of the fires.

Ibama (Brazilian Institute of the Environment) predicts that both biomes will remain in a critical situation for the next 2 months.

Hotspots until August 31, by biome:

• Amazon: 63,189;
• Closed: 39,312;
• Atlantic Forest: 11,699;
• Pantanal: 9,167;
• Caatinga: 3,381;
• Pampa: 303.

The most affected municipality was Corumbá (MS), with 4,395 fires. It is followed by Apuí (AM), with 3,769 records and by São Félix do Xingu (PA), with 3,088 fires.

DROUGHT IN BRAZIL

Last week, the Cemaden (National Center for Monitoring and Alerts for Natural Disasters) reported that 16 states and the Federal District recorded, in 2024, the driest period in the last 44 years, a situation that has made it difficult to control fires.

The Government of Mato Grosso declared a state of emergency in the State last Friday (30th August) for a period of 180 days, due to the severe drought and forest fires affecting the region.

With the decree, authorities coordinated by the state government can adopt all necessary measures to prevent and combat forest fires. In addition to purchasing goods and materials, for example, without the need for bidding.

See map with fire outbreaks in August 2024:

Understand the causes:

The drought and dry spells that affect most municipalities are common in the Brazilian winter. The season began in June and continues until the end of September. However, the intensity of the droughts this year is atypical. There are two factors that have the greatest impact on the scenario:

• strong heat waves – there have been 6 since the start of the season, according to the Cemaden (National Center for Monitoring and Alerts for Natural Disasters). On the other hand, there were only 4 cold waves;
• anticipation of drought – In some regions of Brazil, the dry season began before winter. In the Amazon, for example, the drought intensified almost 1 month earlier than expected, at the beginning of June.

DROUGHT IN THE AMAZON

In the Amazon region, drought is taking on worrying forms. Amazonian municipalities are facing about a year of drought. This is the longest drought ever recorded. There are 3 main causes:

• El Niño intensity – the rainfall regime was impacted by the phenomenon that warmed the waters of the Pacific Ocean. It peaked at the beginning of this year and influenced the beginning of the drought;
• abnormal warming of the waters of the North Tropical Atlantic – the temperature in the maritime region, which is above South America, increased by 1.2 °C to 1.4 °C in 2023 and 2024;
• record global temperatures – In July, the world broke the record for the highest temperature ever recorded in history. The scenario creates conditions for stronger heat waves.