This year South America has seen its deadliest wave of fires ravage the continent ever. Why do they happen and why are they getting worse each year?
This year, wildfires in South America have skyrocketed to a regional high. Fires rage for days and even weeks at end, and the sky turns a smoke induced grey. According to Reuters, Brazil’s research space agency, INPE registered the highest number of fire hotspots in the continent it has ever seen. In total, 346,112 hotspots have been detected so far this year, surpassing the previous record of 345,322 set in 2007. The wildfires have even prompted Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru to all declare their affected regions under states of emergency.
The effect of the wildfires has been so devastating that it has also garnered considerable international attention. Amnesty International felt prompted to address a letter to the presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru urging them to do everything in their power to stop the fires, and the adverse effects they have on people, the environment and the world.
This is a yearly occurrence in South America, yet this year it has hit harder than most. Why do these wildfires happen in the first place, and why do they keep striking harder each passing year?
The dry season in South America
Nicknamed the ‘fire season’ the dry season refers to the periods of general dryness and drought in the continent, particular to the Andes Mountain range running throughout the whole continent. Between June and September, the Andes experience a period of very minimal rainfall, making it the ideal season for wildfires to easily start and spread. It is between these months that the most wildfires generally tend to occur.
Wildfires during the dry season are much tougher to put out, due to the dry nature of the season, lack of water and the dry vegetation making fires spread with ease. Some of these wildfires are also man made. Some are accidents, such as someone dropping a cigarette butt in a mound of dry plants, but some are intentional. In Ecuador, from the 7 fires that burned around the capital of Quito for days at least 5 were intentional. 6 Individuals have been detained following this fires according to local news source Primicias.
El Nino phenomenon and climate change
El Nino is a maritime phenomenon that causes warm air current to reach the Pacific Coastlines of South America. The warmer currents cause drastic changes in the weather, making temperatures rise in South America, making the continent warmer than usual.
This phenomenon has become steadily less predictable and more long lasting due to climate change. The effects of El Nino before tended to last for set periods of time and were seasonal, but now with climate change El Nino effects last irregular periods of time. This phenomenon ultimately helped make 2023 the hottest year on record.
The effects of the 2023 El Nino wave have still not dissipated and has caused the year of 2024 to have higher temperatures than average as well. In South America these conditions allow for the land to become drier than it normally is during the dry season and even affect the ever-humid Amazon rainforest, making them more prone to fires.
Man made fires in the Amazon
Normally, the Amazon rainforest climate sees consistent rains year-round and overall is very humid, making it nigh impossible for natural wildfires to occur. However, fires have been extremely high this year in the Amazon. According to the World’s Resources Institute (WRI) the number of fire alerts this year for the Amazon have been 79% higher than normal for the June to September season. This significant increase is due to intentional manmade fires in the Amazon.
For years, people have intentionally burned large acres of land on the Amazon. This is generally done regularly during the dry season, and it happens on very large scales in Peru and Brazil; the two countries with the largest ownership of the Amazon. The Amazon itself is very hard land to inhabit and develop, so the easiest solution is to just burn the land.
In Peru, large portions of the amazon are burned to make way for cattle and farmers, as well as coca farmers to make way for their plantations. In Brazil it is also cleared to make the land habitable and all of its cities more accessible.
The manmade fires have become much more reckless and intense in the coming years, in part to the rising temperatures. This coupled with constant fire expansion into the region makes the Amazon progressively less humid and more prone to burn.
This year has seen the worst fires in South America’s history. If nothing is done about it, next year could be even worse.
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