Gigantic smoke clouds erupt from a charred forest, whose fauna, including jaguars, is in danger: a new wave of fires has been wreaking havoc on the Pantanal, a biome considered the largest wetland area in the world. The region has been hit by fires for several weeks. INPE (National Institute for Space Research) satellites detected 2,256 fires in this area from November 1 to 12, 11 times more than during the same month in 2022.
Along the Transpantaneira, a dirt road that crosses the Pantanal, an area that should be completely flooded at this time of year has been reduced to a small lake. Some alligators try to swim, while another is lifeless out of the water. Dozens of flies hover over the decomposing corpse.
According to experts, the fires are mainly caused by human action, especially due to burning to expand agricultural lands, but the situation worsened this year due to an exceptional drought.