Another difficult turning point for the largest rainforest in the world has been reached with the passing of September. The Amazon is experiencing its worst fire month in almost a decade.
According to Brazil’s national space institute, nearly 42,000 fires were discovered by satellite sensors in just 30 days. For the first time since 2010, there were more than 40,000 fires in the Amazon in a single month.
September this year was 2.5 times worse than September last year.
It’s typically the worst month for fires as well as deforestation because it falls at the height of the dry season.
Despite just including data until September 23, the official data on forest loss is already 14% more damaging than in September 2021. The Amazon destroyed 1120 square kilometres of rainforest in just those three weeks—an amount larger than New York City.
The increase in forest fires takes place during a divisive presidential race.
Leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who ruled Brazil from 2003 to 2010, is running against far-right President Jair Bolsonaro for a second four-year term. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is currently leading in the polls. Sunday is election day’s first round (local time).
State elections have mainly disregarded environmental issues despite the smoke that chokes the air of entire Amazon communities. Brazilians will elect governors, state and national parliaments, in addition to the president.
The topic of deforestation was barely mentioned during a TV debate between candidates for governor sponsored by the Globo network in Para state, which is the worst for both deforestation and fire.
Only one candidate brought up the dramatic increase in deforestation in the course of an hour and a half. The main television network in Brazil, Globo, did not even choose it as one of the eight debate subjects.
After years of pestilence and a failing economy, Paulo Barreto, a researcher with the nonprofit Amazon Institute of People and the Environment, told the Associated Press that protecting the jungle is not a top priority for the populace.
“But an even bigger issue is that journalists don’t ask.
He claimed that deforestation can increase poverty. “Conservation-related business opportunities, however, are expanding.
To improve cattle pasture or burn recently cut trees once they are dry, fire is almost always intentionally started in the Amazon. The fires frequently spread out of control until they reach virgin forest areas.
Analysts claim that 2022 has seen an unusually high level of deforestation due to Bolsonaro’s anti-environmental statements. Studies have shown that deforestation rates increase in election years.
“It seems like the deforesters are taking advantage of the potential that the party’s over,” Barreto said. “With a chance of changing the administration to one that promises greater rigour.”
Deforestation has increased since Bolsonaro took office in 2019, as a result of his administration’s defunding of environmental authorities and support for steps to reduce land safeguards, which have given environmental offenders more power.
Despite official data from his government agency, the head of the far-right has consistently denied that fires are even rising. He claimed that forest fires occasionally occur in the Amazon at the final presidential debate before the election on Thursday night (local time), rejected the criticism as a “war of narratives,” and claimed that Brazil “is an example to the world” in terms of conservation.
It was a response to Senator Simone Tebet, a centrist candidate who enjoys the support of agriculture figures.
In a segment about climate change, she criticised Bolsonaro’s environmental record in one of the few times without personal jabs.
“Your administration is to blame for igniting my Pantanal wetlands, forests, and other biomes. She said that your administration protected and favoured loggers and miners. “In this aspect, you were Brazil’s worst president in memory.
During his campaign, Marina Silva, a former environment minister, and other Indigenous and environmental leaders backed da Silva because he vowed to reinstate law enforcement. She had openly severed ties with the former president over his drive to develop the Amazon region through the construction of hydroelectric dams and other projects.
She declared her support for Bolsonaro during a meeting with da Silva a few weeks ago and compared him to a danger to Brazilian democracy.
According to her, the nation is at a turning point regarding matters ranging from the economy to the environment.
Brazil’s elections are taking place despite the worst Amazon forest fires in a decade.
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