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Fires increase in Amazon rainforest due to drought

Xinhua, October 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

The number of fires in Brazil's Amazon rainforest increased due to severe drought that has been blighting the region, local authority said on Sunday.

According to the daily report by the Brazilian Institute for Space Research (INPE), satellites have detected 906 separate fires currently active in the rainforest, accounting for 59.1 percent of all active fires in Brazil.

Another 26.5 percent of active fires were found in the agricultural region of Cerrado, which extends across the states of Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goias, Tocantins and Minas Gerais.

The state of Amazonas, the heart of the largest rainforest in the world, saw 11,114 forest fires between January and Oct. 3 this year, which represents a 47-percent rise in the number of fires over the same period last year, according to the INPE.

Manaus, the capital city of Amazonas, has been reportedly wreathed in smoke, making people who suffered from respiratory diseases to seek medical attention.

According to the INPE, weak winds and a lack of rain have prevented the smoke from dispersing.

In the state of Para, the second largest Brazilian state after Amazonas, fires have risen by 25 percent year-on-year while they dropped by 6 percent in the small northern state of Roraima.

However, the rainy season is set to start in October, hopefully bringing these fires to an end. Endi