Ongoing fires in the Amazon and the Brazilian Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland, have destroyed more than 7,000 square miles in 2024, an area the size of New Jersey. This year, South American continent has registered over 346,000 fires burning across South America, 76% of which are in Brazil.
Unusually hot and dry weather conditions have contributed to a 40% increase in the intensity of wildfires. Shifting rainfall patterns from El Niño, warmer than average temperatures from climate change and reduced humidity from deforestation have all contributed to Brazil’s “exceptional drought,” the highest drought ranking possible and the worst drought the country has seen in 70 years.
(Photo: Firefighters battling forest fires in the Pantanal, August 2024. Credit: Governo de Mato Grosso do Sul via X)
