setembro, 28 2022

Biome had 85,000 fire outbreaks recorded between January and September, an increase of 55% compared to the same period last year

By WWF-Brazil

The Amazon already accumulated 85,150 fire outbreaks in 2022, according to data from the Queimadas Program of the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) for the period between January 1 and September 27. This is the highest number since 2010 - a year of drastic drought in the biome -, when 96,837 outbreaks were recorded in the same period. Compared to last year, when 55,048 outbreaks were recorded in the period, the increase was 55%.

In the first 27 days of September this year, the Amazon had 39,128 fires, an increase of 150% compared to the 15,624 fires detected in the same period in September 2021.

“The data are alarming and point to unprecedented destruction that not only impacts the lives of local people, but also affects the economy and water security of other regions, as what happens in the Amazon impacts other biomes. There is still time to understand that the forest is more valuable when it is standing, that there is no need for fires and deforestation, as we already have many unproductive open areas”, says Edegar de Oliveira, Director of Restoration and Conservation at WWF-Brazil.

The states with the highest number of outbreaks in 2022 (until September 27) are: Pará, Mato Grosso, Amazonas, Acre and Rondônia. Pará is the champion of Amazon destruction in this period, with 27,249 fire outbreaks. It is also the state that had the largest increase in the number of fire outbreaks compared to the same period in 2021, when 14,093 outbreaks were recorded: an increase of 93%.

Between September 1st and 27th, Pará also leads the ranking of devastation in absolute numbers of focus and percentage increase compared to the same period last year. There were 11,972 outbreaks in 2022, against 3,645 in the same period in 2021: an increase of 228%. In second place comes Amazonas, with an increase of 202%, from 2,675 outbreaks in 2021 to 8,082 in 2022, in the period between 1 and 27 September.

Pará state has three municipalities among the five with the highest number of fire outbreaks in the year to September 27 in the Amazon. The municipalities most affected by the fire so far in 2022 were São Félix do Xingu (Pará), Altamira (Pará), Lábrea (Amazonas), Porto Velho (Rondônia) and Novo Progresso (Pará).

São Félix do Xingu (Pará) is the municipality with the highest number of fires in the year until September 27: there were 4,943 fire outbreaks, an increase of 154% compared to the same period last year. It is also the municipality with the worst situation in the month of September (until the 27th) in 2022, with 2,151 outbreaks, an increase of 251% compared to the same period in 2021.

In the first 27 days of September, the highest percentage increase compared to last year was registered in the municipality of Lábrea (Amazonas). There were 587 outbreaks in this period in 2021 and 2,118 outbreaks in 2022, an increase of 261%.
 

About WWF-Brazil

WWF-Brazil is a Brazilian NGO that for 26 years has been working collectively with partners from civil society, universities, governments and companies across the country to combat socio-environmental degradation and defend the lives of people and nature. We are connected in an interdependent network that seeks urgent solutions to the climate emergency. Website: wwwf.org.br/doe