Rainforests | At the beginning of the year, the Amazon had the most wildfires in 20 years

in Brazil In the first half of the year, a total of almost 13,500 wildfires have been recorded in the Amazon rainforest, according to satellite data. The number of wildfires has increased by 61 percent compared to the same period a year ago.

During the statistical history of the Brazilian National Space Research Institute (Inpe), there have been more wildfires in January–June only in 2003 and 2004, when the corresponding number was more than 17,000. Statistics began to be collected in 1998.

Fresh information about this year’s wildfires is bad news for the president Luiz Inácio to Lula da Silva, who emphasized Amazon’s well-being already in his election campaign. During Lula’s season, deforestation in the Amazon has decreased, but the number of fires seems to be increasing instead.

According to Inpe data, the forest was destroyed between January 1 and June 21. in the period between, a total of 42 percent less than in the same period a year earlier.

Lula has promised to end the illegal deforestation of the Amazon by 2030. The situation had worsened dramatically under his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro during the season.

The experts behind the increase in the number of fires is last year’s historic drought in the Amazon, which is the world’s largest tropical rainforest.

Spokesperson for the Brazilian branch of the environmental organization Greenpeace Rômulo Batista according to climate change contributes to the increase of wildfires.

Batistan told the news agency AFP that the lack of rain is affecting most of Brazil’s various natural areas.

“The environment is drier, and thus the vegetation dries out and is more susceptible to fires,” he said.

However, he added that many of the wildfires were probably caused by human activity, especially burning operations in agriculture.

In January–June, a record number of wildfires were registered in two other biologically diverse ecosystems south of the Amazon.

A total of around 3,500 wildfires were registered in the Pantanal region at the beginning of the year, while the number of wildfires in the Cerrado savanna region, which mainly spreads to the Brazilian side, rose to more than 13,000.

Pantanal is one of the largest tropical wetlands in the world. There are millions of caimans, parrots and giant otters in the area, and the Pantanal is also home to more jaguars than anywhere else in the world.

At the beginning of the year, there were more than twenty times the number of wildfires in the Pantanal compared to the same period last year. The total number was also 40 percent higher compared to 2020, which was a record year for the region.

In June alone, 2,600 wildfires were detected in the region. The amount in June is six times the previous record. In recent days, the Pantanal has had a red sky and clouds of smoke due to the fires.

The situation is worrying, as the wildfire season normally peaks in the second half of the year. In September, the weather is at its driest.

Much of the Pantanal is located in the state of Mato Grosso, which declared a state of emergency last week. Officials announced that fire personnel will also be sent from other areas to help fight wildfires.

The Cerrado is one of the three great savannas on Earth, along with the African and Australian savannas. The Cerrado covers an area equivalent to the total area of ​​France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Great Britain combined.