After the increase in the number of fires, Boa Vista City Hall, in Roraima, issued an alert to the population due to the smoke that covers the city.
Mayor Arthur Henrique met with the Municipal Committee to Prevent and Combat Fires. Subsequently, a series of recommendations were issued to the population exposed to smoke late Monday night (25).
Among the recommendations are:
- • Avoid outdoor sporting activities, especially those that require intense physical effort;
- • Stay, if possible, in closed places;
- • Wear a mask when exposed to intense smoke (common mask);
- • If you are in a vehicle that has air conditioning, try to keep the windows closed, air conditioning turned on at low intensity and with the recirculation button activated to prevent smoke from entering. Otherwise, try to wear a mask inside the vehicle;
- • Maintain good hydration, especially for risk groups such as children, the elderly and those with comorbidities;
- • Do not burn garbage. Whenever possible, store in bags for appropriate municipal collection;
- • Look for the closest Basic Health Unit at the “first” signs of respiratory complications, cough or burning eyes.
According to the city hall, smoke inhalation can cause harm to health. On 03/24/2024, at 6:10 pm, the concentration of PM 2.5 reached 399.2 μg/m3 captured by the sensors of the National Amazon Research Institute (INPA).
Fires
In February this year alone, 950 thousand hectares were affected by fire in Brazil. The number represents an increase of 410% compared to the same period in 2023, according to data from the Fire Monitor, an initiative of the MapBiomas Fogo network coordinated by the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (Ipam).
Of the affected area, 79% is native vegetation. The most impacted biomes were the Amazon and the Cerrado, totaling an area of 750 thousand hectares burned in February.
In total, in 2024, 1.98 million hectares have already been burned, which represents an increase of 319% compared to the first two months of 2023. Roraima, Pará and Amazonas correspond to 85% of the entire area burned this year in country. Roraima, specifically, has already recorded 1 million hectares burned in 2024, which represents 54% of the entire affected area in Brazil.
“The increase in fires in the state of Roraima is directly related to the dry period that occurs between the months of December and April, which was worsened by the El Niño phenomenon”, explains Felipe Martenexen, researcher at Ipam.
The Amazon biome concentrated 93% of the burned area in the country in the first two months of 2024. In February alone, the burned area in the biome reached 898 thousand hectares, the largest area affected in the month since the Fire Monitor began monitoring the fires in the Amazon, in 2019.
(Published by André Rigue)
Source: CNN Brasil
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