October 2, 2020
Brazil’s Amazon rainforest suffers worst fires in a decade
- Satellites record 61% rise in hotspots over September 2019
- Scientist warns: ‘It could get worse if the drought continues’
Fires in Brazil’s Amazon increased 13% in the first nine months of the year compared with a year ago, as the rainforest region experiences its worst rash of blazes in a decade, data from space research agency Inpe has shown.
Satellites in September recorded 32,017 hotspots in the world’s largest rainforest, a 61% rise from the same month in 2019.
In August last year, surging fires in the Amazon captured global headlines and prompted criticism from world leaders such as France’s Emmanuel Macron that Brazil was not doing enough to protect the rainforest.
