(Manaus) Manaus is suffocating: the capital of the Brazilian Amazon has for several days been invaded by the smoke of fires caused by deforestation and those responsible, “criminals” targeted Friday by the Minister of the Environment.
Since Wednesday, fires in the Manaus region have shrouded the city of some two million inhabitants in gray smoke. In the streets, some people wear masks to protect themselves.
As a result of these fumes, the air breathed this week in the capital of the state of Amazonas was among the least healthy in the world, according to the specialized site World Air Quality Index.
This is one of the worst Octobers in terms of the number of fire outbreaks observed in the Amazonas in the last 25 years, according to the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe).
PHOTO BRUNO KELLY, REUTERS
This Brazilian institute had recorded 2,770 active households on Thursday since the beginning of October, an increase of 154% compared to the 1,089 listed over the same period last year.
Faced with the emergency, the government announced on Friday the dispatch of two helicopters and 149 additional personnel, which will be added to the 140 people already deployed to fight the fires.
In addition to these fires, the region is experiencing an exceptionally severe drought which has brought the level of waterways to a critical threshold. Half a million people are affected by this, for transport or supplies.
Environment Minister Marina Silva protested against the fires during a press conference in Brasilia.
“There is no natural fire in the Amazon,” she said, targeting “criminals” who use fires to deforest and graze livestock or plant crops.
PHOTO EDMAR BARROS, ASSOCIATED PRESS
While, since the start of the year and the return to power of left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, deforestation has fallen by almost 50% compared to the same period in 2022, the explosion of fires is also worsened by drought in the region.
“It is an extremely serious situation because three factors intersect: the great drought caused by El Niño, organic matter drying out in large quantities, and arson fires in private properties and on public land “, she stressed.
Marcio Garcia, a Health Ministry official, warned that the fumes overwhelming Manaus pose “significant risks, mainly for respiratory diseases” and called on the local population to avoid exposure to it as much as possible.