Government data released on Sunday showed that the frequency of Amazon wildfires Surge to highest August levels setting a 14-year record since 2010 following the biome’s record drought. Last year’s rains arrived later and were weaker than usual due to El Nino. Climate change exacerbated this phenomenon, making the rainforest particularly vulnerable to this year’s flames.

According to Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE), satellites spotted 38,266 fire hotspots in the Amazon in August, more than doubling the previous year’s total and the highest number for that month since 2010.

Amazon WildFires Surge to Highest August Levels set a 14-year record, following a two-decade peak in the region’s fire hotspots the previous month. While the information gives the most recent picture of the state of fires in the region, which typically spike between August and September, it fails to capture their intensity.

Fires in the naturally damp and humid biome frequently begin on cattle ranches, where residents transform the jungle into pasture for cow ranching.

Warmer air and drier foliage have created circumstances that allow flames to spread faster, burn furiously, and last longer. Deforestation has also affected the rainforest’s ability to generate rainfall and humidity.

While the data provides the most recent indicator of the state of fires in the region, which frequently peak between August and September, it does not indicate their intensity.

In contrast to wildfires in Europe or the United States, flames in the wet, tropical Amazon jungle do not occur spontaneously. Instead, farmers clear the land by felling trees and lighting them ablaze, sometimes resulting in uncontrollable fires. The peak of the Amazon’s dry season occurs in August and September, making managing these fires more difficult. Relief usually comes with the gradual arrival of the rainy season in October.

Helga Correa, a conservation specialist at WWF-Brasil, stated in an initial evaluation of the August data last week that the Amazon wildfires’ Surge to the highest August levels was caused by a combination of weather, climate change, and human actions.

“The region where we detected concentrated smoke in August coincides with the so-called Arch of Deforestation, which includes the north of Rondonia, the south of Amazonas and the southwest of Para,” according to her.

“This indicates that, in addition to climate change and El Nino, changes in land use produced by humans play a central role in the increase in fires,” according to her.

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