Brazil: There have been more fires in the Amazon since January than in all of 2021

The end of President Jair Bolsonaro's mandate is dramatic for the "green lung" of the planet.

Brazil has recorded more forest fires in the Amazon in less than nine months than in all of 2021, according to official figures released on Monday.

Satellites from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) have identified 75,592 fires in the largest rainforest since January 2022, compared to a total of 75,090 last year.

This month of September is particularly devastating: in just one week, the number of outbreaks detected in the Amazon was already higher than the total for the same month in 2021. In September of last year, the institute had counted 16,742 fires, a number, however, much lower than in the same month of 2020 (32,017) or than the monthly average recorded between 1998 and 2021 (32,110).

Ontem, domingo (18), o número de queimadas na Amazônia, de 1 de janeiro ate agora, já superou os focos de calor registrados em TODO o ano anterior😱.

É corrida pela destruction, que chama?

🔥#AmazôniaDaDestruição pic.twitter.com/RngLHHJGpx

— Greenpeace Brasil (@GreenpeaceBR) September 19, 2022

But in just three weeks this year, almost 30,000 outbreaks have already been identified since the start of the month, which could be one of the worst on record.

“These forest fires are an announced tragedy.

During the four years of mandate (of the far-right president Jair Bolsonaro), we lived through one of the darkest periods for our environment”, reacted André Freitas, spokesperson for the Brazilian branch of Greenpeace in the Amazon.

"All those who practice illegal activities have taken advantage of this context to advance in the forest", he regretted.

The candidate Lula wants to be more rigorous in the preservation of the Amazon

President Bolsonaro, who will seek re-election on October 2, is notably accused of favoring mining and agricultural exploitation in the Amazon, to the detriment of the forest.

Deforestation and wildfires are on the rise this year, some experts say, as the far-right leader is trailed in the polls by leftist ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who promises to be tougher on preservation of the Amazon.

VIDEO.

Amazon rainforest suffers worst fires in August since 2010

Since the far-right president came to power in January 2019, average annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has increased by 75% compared to the previous decade.

In August, deforestation covered 1,661 km², nearly double the area deforested over the same period last year (918 km²).

Already, 26% of the Amazon rainforest has been irreversibly destroyed, indigenous leaders warned on September 6.

Warning: All remaining surfaces need immediate protection.