In 2024, Brazil suffered from most intense and widespread drought in seven decades according to a research from a laboratory at the University of Maryland, in the United States.
The study, released on Wednesday (21), points out that the drought combined with the high temperatures Increased the spread of fires across the country on a scale never seen.
In addition to the fires, the loss of primary forests (such as the Amazon) was caused mainly by deforestation for soy and cattle cultivation.
According to the research, Brazil has more primary tropical forests than any other country in the world and remains the largest contributor to the loss of forests being responsible for 42% of all the loss of primary tropical rainforest in the tropics.
Forest loss rates, which are not related to fire, have also increased. A 13% growth from 2024 to 2023 but still below the peaks of the early 2000s.
The study also details the losses in Three great Brazilian vegetation see below:
- Amazonian : The biome has suffered the highest loss since the 2016 record, with an increase of 110% between 2023 and 2024. 60% of the growth was due to fires. Agricultural expansion is one of the main drivers, with much of recent deforestation being illegal;
- Pantanal : The area had the highest percentage of loss of forest cover among all biomes, with loss of 1.6% (more than double the 0.83% rate from all over Brazil). 57% of the loss was due to fires;
- Cerrado : All loss of tree coverage decreased by 14% between 2023 and 2024, although this is within normal annual fluctuations
Researchers also point out that conservation and inspection policies are essential, as well as More investments in national fire prevention programs.
They also cite the National Center for Forest Fire Prevention and Fighting (Prevfogo) managed by Ibama, who trains local communities to respond to fires and practice sustainable management of land without fire.
The study was conducted by the University of Maryland Global Land Analysis and Discovering Global Forest Watch (GFW) data from the World Resource Institute (WRI).
This content was originally published in 2024, Brazil had more intense drought in 70 years, points out research on the website CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
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