São Paulo

There were 91,891 fire points between January 1, and September 1 and more than 50% of these are in the Amazon. In the last decade, only 2010 was worse. The month of August, following the overall number, is also the worst of the decade, with 30,901 outbreaks - again, only surpassed by 2010.

In the ranking of periods with the most burns, according to data from the Inpe (National Institute for Space Research) In Queimadas Program, ahead of 2019 are only years of the last decade, when deforestation levels in the Amazon were high.

2005 tops the ranking, with just over 151,000 fire outbreaks. That year, deforestation reached 19,000 km². Just ahead of 2019 is 2006, with 98,000 fires and over 14,000 km² of deforested area in the year.

Mato Grosso fires. Credito:Juliana Arini/Folhapress - Juliana Arini/Folhapress

Compared to the same period last year, 2019 had (until September 1) a 67% increase in outbreaks of fires. If considered alone, the Amazon fires increased by about 107% compared to 2018 in the same period.

Meanwhile, the number of fires in August increased by about 196% over the same month of 2018.

Last Thursday (26), Defense Minister Fernando Azevedo e Silva said that the burning in the Amazon is under control. "The situation is not simple, but it is under control and already cooling well," he said, after meeting with President Jair Bolsonaro and Onyx Lorenzoni (Civil House), Ernesto Araújo (Foreign Relations), Sergio Moro (Justice), General Heleno (Institutional Security) and Luiz Eduardo Ramos (Government Secretariat).

On September 1, Inpe's data already show 980 active fire outbreaks. In 2018, the first day of the month had 880 outbreaks.

Translated by Kiratiana Freelon

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