The Amazon suffered from 18.5% more fires compared to the same period last year. There were 2,248 fires in the biome, the highest rate since 2007 when there were 3,517 outbreaks. Monitoring is carried out by INPE (National Institute for Space Research).
June is the start of the dry season in the Amazon, and the outbreaks are expected to worsen.
According to a technical note from IPAM (Institute for Environmental Research in the Amazon) published in early June, the Amazon has 4,500 km² ready to be burned.
The area is equivalent to three municipalities in São Paulo. Most of it (88%) is in four states: Pará, Mato Grosso, Rondônia, and Amazonia, according to Ipam.
Since the beginning of May, the federal government has authorized the use of the Armed Forces to combat deforestation and fires in the Amazon region. In the first month of operation, however, deforestation was still 12% higher than May 2019.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon