NewsSouth America's Pantanal Wetlands face devastating fires due to severe drought

South America's Pantanal Wetlands face devastating fires due to severe drought

Due to another large fire that has engulfed the wetlands, thick smoke is rising over the Pantanal plain in South America. According to the Reuters agency, the cause of the fires is significantly lower rainfall.

Hell in South America. "Fire Everywhere"
Hell in South America. "Fire Everywhere"
Images source: © DW News

7:43 PM EDT, June 14, 2024

The Pantanal Plain stretches across the northeastern area of Paraguay, eastern Bolivia, and central-western Brazil, making it the largest wetland in the world. It has an extraordinary diversity of plants and animals, including up to five thousand species, many of which are endangered.

This situation raises serious concerns about further losses for this unique ecosystem.

Pantanal is known as the largest wetland area in the world, and now it is a desert with fire everywhere.

It's hard to breathe. It's hard for newborn children. The heat gets stronger and stronger," declared Amilton Brandao, a resident and guide, to the Reuters agency. "The Pantanal is already hot and it gets hotter, drier, with smoke, the weather gets very bad."

The number of fires is increasing

The Brazilian National Institute for Space Research warns that the number of fires in the Pantanal has increased dramatically—almost tenfold by the beginning of June this year compared to last year. According to the Reuters agency, the largest fires in this region mainly occurred in August and September.

Now, their earlier occurrence may have catastrophic consequences for this exceptional ecosystem. Increased fires threaten the unique biodiversity of the Pantanal, and the ecosystem's ability to regenerate may be severely weakened. The Pantanal wetlands are home to many animals, including jaguars, anacondas, and giant anteaters.

Wetlands are burning in America

The main cause of the fires is a deficit in total rainfall during the last rainy season, which was as much as 60% lower than the historical average. This shortage significantly affects soil and vegetation moisture, making areas more prone to catching fire and spreading quickly.

The shortage of rain this year has caused the fire season to start earlier and become more intense. Fires in 2020 affected one-third of the wetlands and killed 17 million vertebrates.

© essanews.com
·

Downloading, reproduction, storage, or any other use of content available on this website—regardless of its nature and form of expression (in particular, but not limited to verbal, verbal-musical, musical, audiovisual, audio, textual, graphic, and the data and information contained therein, databases and the data contained therein) and its form (e.g., literary, journalistic, scientific, cartographic, computer programs, visual arts, photographic)—requires prior and explicit consent from Wirtualna Polska Media Spółka Akcyjna, headquartered in Warsaw, the owner of this website, regardless of the method of exploration and the technique used (manual or automated, including the use of machine learning or artificial intelligence programs). The above restriction does not apply solely to facilitate their search by internet search engines and uses within contractual relations or permitted use as specified by applicable law.Detailed information regarding this notice can be found  here.