The area burnt in the Brazilian Amazon nearly doubled in the first seven months of 2024 from the same period of last year to the largest since 2004, according to satellite data from government space research agency INPE. The fires consumed an area of 26,246km2 in the period — larger than the U.S. state of Maryland, or about the size of Rwanda.
Conditions are only expected to worsen, as fires in the Amazon typically peak in August and September before seasonal rains arrive.
Last year’s rains came late and were weaker than normal due to an El Nino weather pattern supercharged by climate change, scientists say, leaving the rainforest especially vulnerable to this year’s fires.
The same factors drove fires in Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands to a record high in June, INPE data showed, leading Lula to convene an emergency government task force limiting damage to that biome.
Although Lula has made a high-profile promise to end illegal deforestation in the Amazon, a study released this week indicated that fire can release more carbon dioxide from the region, contributing to global warming.
Following early victories in the fight against illegal logging of the rainforest, Lula now faces a tougher task to end deforestation.
In July, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon rose from a year earlier for the first time in 15 months, according to preliminary INPE data released this week. The government stressed that deforestation is still down 27% in the year to date, compared with the first seven months of 2023.