Brazilian authorities recorded 13,489 fires in the Amazon in the first half of the year, the highest number in 20 years, according to satellite data released today.
According to the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), since the data began to be compiled in 1998, only in 2003 and 2004 were more fires recorded in the first half of the year.
The 13,489 fires in the Amazon identified in the first six months of the year are significantly higher than those recorded in the same period of 2023 (8,344).
In addition to the Amazon, Brazil has been suffering from serious fires in the Pantanal, the largest flooded plain in the world, which Brazil shares with Bolivia and Paraguay, which worsened in June, to the point of surpassing historical records for that month.
A study released by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) points out that, between May and June, no electrical discharges were recorded in the areas where the fires started, confirming the thesis that the cause of the flames is human.
According to the study, so far this year, fire has already consumed around 661 thousand hectares of the biome, considered one of the richest ecosystems in the world in terms of flora and fauna biodiversity.
