{"id":79909,"date":"2024-10-22T12:16:28","date_gmt":"2024-10-22T15:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=79909"},"modified":"2024-12-29T14:30:43","modified_gmt":"2024-12-29T17:30:43","slug":"brazil-on-fire-from-forests-to-cities-including-rio-de-janeiro-a-104-dry-season-surge-in-fires-since-2023-marks-a-clear-climate-crisis-tipping-point-say-voicesfromsocialmedia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=79909","title":{"rendered":"Brazil on Fire\u2014From Forests to Cities, Including Rio de Janeiro: A 104% Dry Season Surge in Fires Since 2023 Marks a Clear Climate Crisis Tipping Point Say #VoicesFromSocialMedia"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Agri<\/a>
Agri is a fiery business. Photo: Frederico Pereira Eco\/APIB<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This article is part of a\u00a0series<\/a>\u00a0created in partnership with the\u00a0Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies<\/a>\u00a0at San Diego State University, to produce articles for the\u00a0Digital Brazil Project<\/a> on environmental justice in the favelas for\u00a0RioOnWatch.\u00a0It is also part of RioOnWatch\u2019s ongoing #VoicesFromSocialMedia<\/a> series, which compiles perspectives posted on social media by favela residents and activists about events and societal themes that arise.<\/em><\/p>\n

2024 has seen a surge in devastating wildfires across Brazil, breaking alarming records and threatening nearly all of the country\u2019s diverse biomes. September 2024 recorded the highest average number of fires for the month<\/a> in the historical series, also marking the driest month in Rio de Janeiro in the last 27 years<\/a>. In the Amazon<\/a>, the dry season\u2014which typically runs from May to September\u2014has felt the cumulative impact of two consecutive years of extreme drought<\/a>. At the beginning of October in S\u00e3o Paulo, where the rainy season should already have started, forest fires surged by 648%<\/a>. As a whole, from January to October 2024, Brazil saw a 73% increase<\/a> in wildfires. During the driest period of the year, usually the peak of fire activity, there was a 104% increase<\/a> compared to the same period in 2023.<\/p>\n

Most of the wildfires spreading across Brazil are caused by arson, stemming from human activity. This is the conclusion of Dr. Renata Libonati<\/a>, a geoscientist and head of the Laboratory for Environmental Satellite Applications (Lasa<\/a>) at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ<\/a>). In an interview with Ag\u00eancia Brasil<\/em><\/a>, she stated that:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe occurrence of wildfires in Brazil is closely tied to land use\u2026 Our current lifestyle is incompatible with the future well-being of our society.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Satellite<\/a>
Satellite image shows smoke from wildfires covering most of South America. Photo: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)\/National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The toxic smoke from illegal fires<\/a> across different Brazilian biomes, including the Amazon, the Cerrado<\/a>, and the Pantanal<\/a> regions, not only spread over the Central-West Region<\/a>, as it usually does this time of year, but also covered the rest of the country<\/a>, forcing everyone to breathe polluted air.<\/p>\n

Similarly, parts of Bolivia<\/a>, Peru<\/a>, Ecuador<\/a>, Argentina<\/a>, Paraguay<\/a>, and Uruguay<\/a> have also been exposed to poor air quality. Smoke from wildfires is being carried by air currents, commonly known as \u201cflying rivers<\/a>,\u201d which typically establish the conditions for rain and humidity<\/a> in central South America, sustaining the floodplain forests of the Pantanal and the humid forests of the Atlantic Forest<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As it enters the \u201cflying rivers<\/a>\u201d and replaces the water vapor that would normally bring rain, smoke is first blown westward until it hits the Andes Mountains<\/a>, then shifts south-southeast, contaminating the air of South America’s largest cities, such as S\u00e3o Paulo<\/a>, Buenos Aires, Bras\u00edlia<\/a>, Montevideo<\/a>, Asunci\u00f3n<\/a>, Santa Cruz de la Sierra<\/a>, and Rio de Janeiro<\/a>. In these areas, similar environmental conditions\u2014dry weather, drought, and above-average temperatures\u2014also trigger fires and increase air toxicity across most of the subcontinent.<\/p>\n

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Uma publica\u00e7\u00e3o compartilhada por Let\u00edcia Chagas (@leticiachagassp)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n