Amazon rainforest expected to continue burning for weeks to come
Little rain makes it unlikely that massive fires in Brazil's Amazon rainforest will be extinguished soon.
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| Fire in the Amazon rainforest in Mato Grosso state, Brazil on August 26. Photo:Reuters. |
Experts say only rain can extinguish the massive fires in the Amazon and that the Brazilian government's efforts, which include deploying troops and aircraft, will only deal with small blazes and prevent new ones from breaking out.
The Amazon’s rainy season typically begins in late September and it takes weeks for widespread rain to fall. Maria Silva Dias, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Sao Paulo, said that rainfall over the next 15 days is expected to be concentrated in areas that do not need it urgently, while the areas most affected by the fires in the Amazon are expected to receive little rain.
Refinitiv data shows that the far west and northwestern Amazon will see more rain in the coming weeks, but eastern regions are likely to remain very dry. Even where there is rain, it will be scattered showers.
“Surely the rain will put out some of the fires, but they will be small spots, not the whole area. We need more frequent rain over a large area and that will only happen around October,” Dias said, adding that heavy rains must be concentrated in a short enough period of time to put out the fires, otherwise the water will evaporate.
Acre, a western Brazilian state bordering Peru, is expected to see the most rain in the Amazon region. The number of fires in the state is now more than double compared to the same period last year, with 90 recorded between August 21 and 25, according to data from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE).
The Amazon, the world’s largest tropical rainforest, is being ravaged by record fires, up 79% from last year as of August 25. Brazilian authorities have deployed 44,000 troops to the states of Roraima, Rondonia, Tocantins, Para, Acre and Mato Grosso to fight the fires. A C-130 Hercules transport aircraft also dumped thousands of liters of water on the Rondonia fire on August 24 in an effort to control the flames.
The Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations agreed to provide 20 million euros ($22 million) to address the disaster, but Brazil on August 26 rejected the aid.and accused France, the host of the G7 summit, of "having colonialist intentions".
