One in every four hectares in Brazil burned between 1985 and 2023, says study

Almost 200 million football fields the size of Maracanã – this is the size of the area of ​​Brazil that was burned at least once between 1985 and 2023 . According to a survey carried out by MapBiomas Fogo, 199.1 million hectares have already been affected by fire in the country. This data represents 23% of the country’s territory.

MapBiomas Collection 3 with this data was launched this Tuesday (18). The study was carried out based on images obtained by Landsat satellites 5, 7, 8 and 9, from the United States National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA ). Using artificial intelligence, researchers were able to analyze the area burned in more than 851 million hectares of Brazilian territory from 1985 to 2023.

With the analysis, it was possible to identify the total area of 199.1 million hectares affected by the fires in the country in the chosen period. This region, for example, represents an area larger than countries such as: Mexico (more than 196 million hectares), Peru (128 million hectares), France (55 million hectares) and Spain (50 million hectares).

Of the area affected by fires, 68.4% (136 million ha) was in native vegetation, while 31.6% (62.9 million he) was in pasture and agricultural areas.

According to the survey, this indicates the average 18.3 million hectares burned per year . In 2023 alone, there were 16.2 million he. The data also shows that around 43% of the burned areas had the last fire occurrence between 2013 and 2022.

This does not mean that the entire area burned at the same time, but rather that this area of ​​Brazil has already been burned at least once throughout the period. Each hectare represents 10 thousand m^two. However, 65% of the country’s area affected by fire has already been burned more than once.

According to Felipe Martnexen, a researcher at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM), he explained that recurring fires are a warning sign. “Burns frequent occurrences in forest biomes such as the Amazon raise serious concerns ecological and environmental impacts, degrading native vegetation, compromising biodiversity and the recovery of ecosystems”, he said.

“The recurrence of fire makes forests more susceptible to new fires, creating a cycle of degradation to be continued. Furthermore, fire directly affects local fauna and increases emission of greenhouse gases, intensifying climate change”, he continues. “Practice inadequate agricultural conditions, deforestation and climate change are factors that contribute to this cycle of degradation.”

The season with an increase in fires annually is during the drought, between July and October. The season accounts for 79% of fire incidents in Brazil, with September accounting for 33% of the total.

In relation to the states, the highest concentration of burned area is in Mato Grosso (43.6 million hectares), Pará (28.4 million hectares) and Maranhão (20 million hectares). Together, they cover more than 92 million hectares.

Pantanal was the biome that suffered most from the fires

Among the biomes, the thick and the Amazon led in areas affected by fires between 1985 and 2023, with 88.5 million hectares and 82.7 million hectares, respectively. The two biomes alone accounted for 86% of the affected area in the country.

However, the Amazon is the largest biome in the country – so, consequently, it has the largest affected area. The area burned in the period corresponds to 19.6% of the size of the Amazon.

In the Cerrado, the situation is more serious. The affected area represents 44% – that is, almost half – of the biome’s territory. According to Vera Arruda, technical coordinator of MapBiomas Fogo and researcher at IPAM, the main factor for this is the increase in deforestation.

“The Cerrado has suffered from high rates of deforestation, which results in an increase in fires and the risk of them becoming uncontrolled fires”, explains Arruda. “Although it is a natural component of the Cerrado [incêndios, porém de causas naturais]is occurring with a frequency and intensity that vegetation cannot withstand.”

A Caatinga 11 million hectares were burned between 1985 and 2023, around 12.7% of the biome. Already in Atlantic forest it was around 7.5 million – that is, around 6.8% of the biome.

O Pampa recorded the smallest area among the biomes: 518 thousand hectares, which represents 2.7% of its entire territory.

Among the biomes, it was Pantanal which suffered most from the fires during the period. Although the burned region is 9 million hectares, which is considerably smaller than that of the other biomes mentioned, this represents 59.2% of the biome . In 2023 alone there were 600 thousand hectares – with 97% occurring between September and December.

In 2020, the biome faced its worst fire in history. According to data from the Queimadas Program of the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe ), the year recorded 22,116 fires – the largest ever recorded in the history of monitoring, which began in 1998.

According to Inpe, by 2024 there will already be 2,168 fires in the biome. Of these, 1,269 fire points in the biome occurred in June, even with data only up to the 16th. Even though the month is not over, this consolidates June 2024 as the month of June with the worst monthly maximum ever recorded since 1998. Until So, the worst index for the month had been recorded in 2005, with 435.

The fire situation in the biome in June 2024 remains so dramatic that the Mato Grosso do Sul Fire Department reported that agents have been in the Pantanal fighting the fires for 77 days.

Corumbá, in the Pantanal, was the city that burned the most in Brazil

As it was the biome that burned the most between 1985 and 2023, the Pantanal is also home to the city with the most fires in the country.

According to MapBiomas, the city of Corumba at the Mato Grosso do Sul was the leader in fires during the period: there were 3.69 million hectares affected . Then there are São Felix do Xingú (PA), in the Amazon, with 2.49 million, and Formosa do Rio Preto (BA), in the Cerrado, 1.36 million.

Among the ten cities that had the most fires between 1985 and 2023, however, Corumbá is the only one in the biome. In the ranking, five are in the Cerrado, four in the Amazon and, finally, one in the Pantanal: Corumbá.

According to Inpe, Corumbá also leads the country in fires in June 2024. The city accumulated 914 fires until the 16th of the month.