Data from Brazil has shown that the Amazon region in the country has a large increase in the number of fires compared to the same time last year. Satellite images from the National Space Agency show a 28% increase in fires. The number is currently 6,803.

Experts are already worried about this year, after huge wildfires that made headlines around the world in August and September 2019. Greenpeace Brasil reported that 1,000 fires were registered on July 30, the highest single-day number in July since 2005.

“It’s a terrible sign,” Ane Alencar, science director at Brazil’s Amazon Environmental Research Institute, was quoted by Reuters news agency. “We can expect that August will already be a difficult month and September will be worse yet.” According to Reuters, the fires have gotten worse in recent days. The Amazon plays a crucial role in fighting Climate change because the region absorbs so many greenhouse gases.

President Jair Bolsonaro, who’s critics blame him for his lack of environmental policy and placation to illegal logging operations, banned setting fires in the Amazon for 120 days. Deforestation was at an 11-year high in 2019 and was 25% higher than that in early 2020. Deforestation can be traced back to the meat industry and large conglomerates that depend on the area for cattle farming.

Read more about species in the Amazon, how the meat industry is destroying the rainforest, and the Amazon Rainforest fires.

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