Forest fires in Brazilian Amazon They rose 52.3% last month, from 17,373 in August to 26,452 in September, as a result of the severe drought that the largest tropical forest in the world is experiencing, which threatens to be historic, official sources reported this Sunday.
The number of heat sources measured in September by the satellites of the National Space Research Institute (INPE) was the highest for a month so far this year, as well as in the last twelve months.
According to data released by the agency, fires in September alone represent almost half (45.6%) of those registered in the first nine months of the year (57,941).
The increase occurred at a time when the Amazon, the largest freshwater reserve in the world, is experiencing a severe drought that has the water level of its rivers at a minimum, huge areas isolated due to difficulties in navigability and dozens of municipalities in state alert.
According to the Center for Monitoring of Alerts and Natural Disasters (Cemaden), an organization linked to the Ministry of Science and Technology, the current drought may be historic and extend until January due to the effects of the El Niño phenomenon on the climate in The region this year will be more severe than in 2015 and 2016, when the region experienced its worst crisis.
Although the drought season in the region begins now, the drop in the level of the Amazon rivers to minimum levels is already harming navigation, fishing, agriculture, environmental balance and the supply of water, food and fuel in numerous municipalities. .
The serious situation in the largest plant lung in the world has also been aggravated by the warming of the tropical Atlantic and by the record temperatures of recent days in the region.
Despite this situation, the number of fires in September in the Amazon was one 35.9% lower than that registered in the same month of 2022 (41,282) due to the efforts made by the Government of the progressive Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to stop the devastation of the biome.
In the same way, the number of heat sources fell by 33.6% since Lula assumed his third term as head of state of Brazil, from 87,304 in the first nine months of 2022 to 57,941 between January and September of this year.
On September 5, when Amazon Day was commemorated, the progressive leader announced new measures to guarantee the preservation of the biome, including the creation of two new indigenous territories and two enormous environmental reserves.
According to INPE data, their measures allowed deforestation in the Amazon to be reduced by 42% in the first seven months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, when, during the administration of far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro, the destruction of the biome was a record.
The devastation of the biome reached historic figures during the Bolsonaro Government (2019-2022) because he defended the economic exploitation of the jungle, even in indigenous reserves.
Source: Gestion
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