Data are from Sunday (September 29, 2024); Mato Grosso has 454 fires – 67.5% of incidents of this type
Brazil recorded 673 fires on Sunday (September 29, 2024). The data is from the system BDQueimadas of Inpe (National Institute for Space Research), released this Monday (September 30). The Pantanal concentrates the largest portion of occurrences, with 296 – or 44%.
Mato Grosso is the state with the highest number of fires, with 454 outbreaks registered in 24 hours. It is followed by Mato Grosso do Sul (34) and Piauí (19).
The 6 biomes recorded the incidence of fire. The Amazon had the 2nd highest number, with 154 outbreaks – 22.9% of the total.
Brazil ended the month of August 2024 with the worst number of fires in 14 years. There were 68,635 occurrences – the 5th highest in the historical series, which began in 1998. It was an increase of 144% compared to the same period in 2023.
September has already surpassed the number of fires recorded in August and is, so far, the worst month of this year in terms of the number of fires. The month is also the September with the highest number of fires since 2010: there are 82,191 fires.
In 2024, there will be 209,242 such occurrences.
The country is experiencing, in addition to the increase in fire outbreaks, a historic drought, with the worst drought in 44 years, according to Cemaden (National Center for Monitoring and Alerts of Natural Disasters), linked to MCTI (Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation ).
Understand the causes:
Drought and drought that affect most municipalities are common in the Brazilian winter. The season started in June and continues until the end of September. However, the intensity at which they occur in the season this year is atypical. There are 2 factors that most impact the scenario:
- strong heat waves – there have been 6 since the start of the season, according to Cemaden (National Center for Natural Disaster Monitoring and Alerts). On the other hand, the cold waves were only 4;
- anticipation of drought – in some regions of Brazil, the dry period began before winter. In the Amazon, for example, the drought intensified almost 1 month ahead of schedule, at the beginning of June.
In the Amazon region, in addition to the fires, the drought is taking on worrying forms. Amazonian municipalities face around 1 year of drought. It is the longest drought on record. There are 3 main causes:
- El Niño intensity – the rainfall regime was impacted by the phenomenon that warms 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.
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