{"id":32294,"date":"2024-06-26T16:39:08","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T20:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/brazils-pantanal-wetlands-hit-by-record-fires\/26\/06\/2024\/"},"modified":"2024-06-26T16:39:08","modified_gmt":"2024-06-26T20:39:08","slug":"brazils-pantanal-wetlands-hit-by-record-fires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/brazils-pantanal-wetlands-hit-by-record-fires\/26\/06\/2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands hit by record fires"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Erica Cristina has been “breathing in smoke every day” since a large fire broke out across the river from the city of Corumba, the gateway to Brazil’s Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetlands.<\/p>\n

The blaze, which filled the bar she owns with soot, is one of hundreds burning in the\u00a0vast, wildlife-rich Pantanal which is experiencing record fires for this time of year.<\/p>\n

“It’s chaotic,” the 44-year-old told AFP in central-western Corumba, where the fire last week turned the sky bright red.<\/p>\n

Originally from Rio de Janeiro, this long-time resident of the Pantanal region said increasing fires were making the situation for residents “worse with the passing of the years.”<\/p>\n

“Many people lost their homes” in fires since 2020 — the worst year on record for blazes in the region — and “the main problems are due to health, respiratory problems,” said Cristina.<\/p>\n

In the first half of this year, satellites recorded more than 3,300 fires in the region slightly bigger than England, 33 percent more than in 2020.<\/p>\n

Experts say that the blazes result from harsh drought linked to climate change and deliberate fires set to expand agricultural land into the forest burning out of control.<\/p>\n

The Pantanal, which extends into Bolivia and Paraguay, is home to millions of caimans, parrots, giant otters and the world’s highest density of jaguars.<\/p>\n

Seasonal flooding across plains, marshes, savannahs and forest areas during the rainy season is crucial to the biodiverse ecosystem.<\/p>\n

Environment Minister Marina Silva<\/a><\/span><\/span> warned on Monday that the Pantanal was facing “one of the worst situations ever seen.”<\/p>\n

“We did not have the usual floods or the gap between El Nino and La Nina,” two weather phenomena that affect rainfall, she said.<\/p>\n

A study published on Wednesday by the MapBiomas network said the wet surface of the Pantanal was 61 percent drier than the historical average last year.<\/p>\n

The drought “caused a large amount of organic matter at the combustion point to cause these fires,” said Silva, who will visit the region on Friday.<\/p>\n

– ‘Lost in the flames’ –<\/p>\n

The fires are hitting new records even before the peak of the dry season.<\/p>\n

“Strong winds, the fire and the heat usually start in August,” but “it hasn’t rained in the region for 50 days,” Bruno Bellan, a 25-year-old rancher, told AFP.<\/p>\n

Bellan has 900 head of cattle on his family farm in Mato Grosso do Sul State, home to much of the wetlands, which declared a state of emergency over the fires on Monday.<\/p>\n

His property is two kilometers (1.2 miles) from one large blaze which firefighters have struggled to access.<\/p>\n

“We are worried that the fire will enter the farm and cause destruction. The cattle are afraid and could get lost in the flames,” said Bellan.<\/p>\n

Retired soldier Naldinei Ivan Ojeda, 53, said he was considering leaving his hometown due to the breathing problems he and his 15-year-old son have experienced.<\/p>\n

He points the blame squarely at the people who start the fires, rather than the dry conditions that spur them along.<\/p>\n

“There are no accidental fires in the Pantanal. I have never seen a fire come out of nowhere here. Every year, it is the same.”<\/p>\n

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Erica Cristina has been “breathing in smoke every day” since a large fire broke out across the river from the city of