Drought-Stricken Brazil Sees 80% Yearly Rise in Wildfires in 2024 As Toxic Smoke Spreads Across the Country

In August alone, the Amazon recorded 38,266 fire hotspots, more than double compared to the same period in 2023, according to government data. In the same month, the Pantal region saw a 3,707% increase in wildfires.

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Wildfires in drought-stricken Brazil have surged to the highest level since 2010 in August as government figures suggested criminal actions were behind the spike.

Last week, environment minister Marina Silva said during an emergency meeting with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva that the country was “at war” with fire, adding that the historic surge in blazes was “unusual” and was being investigated by federal police.

The biome has recorded 38,266 fire hotspots last month, more than double compared to the same time last year according to data from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (Inpe). More than 80% of them were concentrated in the states of Para (36%), Amazonas (29%) and Mato Grosso (16%).

“The region where the smoke we detected in August is concentrated coincides with the so-called Deforestation Arc – which includes northern Rondonia, southern Amazonas and southwestern Para. This indicates that in addition to climate change and El Nino, human-produced land use changes play a central role in increasing fires”, explained Helga Correa, a WWF-Brazil conservation expert.

Since January, the Amazon suffered nearly 54,000 outbreak.

The 14-year high comes after a months-long droughts in the region that began last year. The drought was driven by climate change and exacerbated by the return of El Niño, a weather phenomenon associated with the warming of surface waters in the Equatorial Pacific, which last year brought “off the charts temperatures” and extreme heat across the world.

The drought dried up the Amazon river, the world’s largest river by discharge, upon which more than 2 million Indigenous people depend on for food and transportation. In October 2023, the river waters reached their lowest level since records began in 1902, leaving entire communities stranded without fuel, food, and drinking water.

Toxic smoke and dust form the fires has spread across the region, reaching at least 11 states including the cities of Brasília and São Paulo, and forcing school closures and the grounding of flights.

Pantal on Fire

Devastating wildfires have also been affecting the Pantal, a natural region mostly located in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul but extending into Mato Grosso and portions of Bolivia and Paraguay. 

Experts and environmentalists are alarmed by the magnitude of the fires, which are devastating one of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems encompassing the world’s largest tropical wetland area and the world’s largest flooded grasslands. According to the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), the Pantanal is facing one of the worst wildfire seasons in recent history, driven by adverse climatic conditions such as prolonged droughts and high temperatures.

Citing official data, WWF said 3,845 fires were recorded between August 1 and 27, 2024 in the region, a 3,707% increase compared to the 101 outbreaks recorded in the same period last year. In the past decade, the Pantal recorded a total of 1,283 outbreaks.

Authorities, including the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA), are mobilized to contain the fire outbreaks, but the vast extent of the affected areas and the difficulty of access complicate firefighting efforts.

The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) has warned that the fires are having a devastating impact on local species. The Brazilian Ministry for the Environment said that 569 animals had been rescued from the flames between June 28 and August 18, with photos showing jaguars and giant anteaters suffering from severe burns.

“The scenario is devastating,” said Fernando Tortato, a researcher at Brazil’s Institute for Ecological Research (IPÊ). “The loss of native vegetation and the death of animals threaten the ecological balance of the Pantanal, with consequences that may be irreversible.”

More on the topic: In Pictures – Brazil on Fire: A Fight for Survival

Featured image: Marcos Ramos.