With 4,055 cases since January, the State is on track to have the worst year in the historical series; 14 of 15 municipalities have already declared a state of emergency
Roraima is the State with the highest number of fire outbreaks in Brazil in 2024. According to data from Inpe (National Institute for Space Research), there have been 4,055 fires detected by satellites in the region, which is facing a historic drought, as of 6:30 pm this Saturday (30 March 2024).
The increase in fires in the 1st quarter of this year is on track for 2024 to become the worst in the historical series in the State, potentially surpassing the record of 4,784 fires in 2019.
This year alone, Roraima concentrated 40% of all outbreaks in Brazil. To the Power360the director of Ipam (Amazon Environmental Research Institute), Ane Alencar, said that Roraima is facing a historic drought this year, extending since 2023 and affecting the entire Northern region of Brazil.
One of the biggest contributing factors to the drought is the force with which the climate phenomenon El Niño hit the continent. Forecasts indicate that it should remain active until at least May 2024. Afterwards, it should lose strength.
In March, only 1 of the 15 municipalities in Roraima did not declare an emergency situation due to the drought and fires. The governor's last decree Antonio Denarium (Progressistas-RR) is from March 25th and establishes the hiring of personnel and works to mitigate the effects of the drought.
Ane Alencar stated that the allocation of resources to mitigate climate effects is crucial, but that they must be mainly preventive. Especially in locations where resources are limited.
“Prevfogo/Ibama, ICMBio [Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade]firefighters, civil defense cannot be sufficient in a scenario where everyone and everything is burning in a country the size of Brazil”, declared the specialist in fire in the Amazon and the Cerrado.
The 2nd State with the highest number of fire outbreaks in 2024, Mato Grosso, comes out with around 900 fewer cases than Roraima – 3,147 points. The State covers the Amazon, Cerrado and Pantanal biomes.
In November 2023, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul declared an emergency situation due to the fires. It is estimated that the fire has devastated more than 50 thousand hectares of the Pantanal, which had the worst November in the historical series – 4,134 fires according to data from Inpe.
Pará is the 3rd state with the most cases, with 991 outbreaks. Despite being 4 times lower than the cases in Roraima, the state average in Pará is more than double that of the neighboring state. According to Ane Alencar, many areas of Pará are still experiencing a dry period. “I would say the drier and less rainfall continues, the opportunity for fire to occur”, he declared.
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