Brazil's Amazon sees worst August fires in over a decade

Reuters Videos
Updated

STORY: Fires are surging in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest

with the numbers in August

not seen in more than a decade

August and September are known

as burning season in the region

Source: INPE data series

But this year, there have been 20% more fires

than previous years’ monthly averages

(Vinicius Silgueiro, Territorial Intelligence Coordinator, Life Center Institute)

"With only one day left to the end of August, the month already beats the record as August was the most affected month by the fires in the Amazon since 2010. More than 31 thousand fires have been recorded in the Amazon. It shows a strong relationship between the use of fire in recently deforested areas."

Experts blame President Jair Bolsonaro

for rolling back environmental protections

since he took office in 2019