In an interview with CNN Brazilthe minister of , revealed that the country has already managed to extinguish more than 400 fires. The declaration comes in the midst of a fire crisis that is ravaging several regions of Brazil.
Marina Silva highlighted the complexity of the situation, pointing to a combination of factors that worsen the scenario. “You have an action that has been planned, adjusted every day, every week”, stated the minister, highlighting the coordinated efforts between more than 20 ministries.
Extreme weather conditions
The minister emphasized the adverse weather conditions that contribute to the spread of fires. “You see that this line of fire that is happening, it is happening in a situation of organic matter completely dried out to the point of combustion in an environment of high temperature with low humidity”, explained Silva. In some places, relative humidity reaches 7%, a lower rate than that recorded in the Sahara desert.
Furthermore, winds of up to 70 km/h, with rare cases reaching 100 km/h, intensify the spread of flames. The minister also denounced criminal actions, with people setting fires in various regions of the country, even with a total ban in force.
National panorama of the fires
Marina Silva presented an alarming overview of the current situation: “At this moment we have 931 fires in Brazil throughout the national territory”. Of this total, 479 have already been extinguished, 261 are in combat, and more than 100 have not yet received attention, mainly because they are in difficult to access areas.
The minister warned that 58% of the national territory is in a drought situation, with a third of this area facing extreme drought. “Whoever uses fire is committing a criminal action”, emphasized Silva, remembering the total ban on the use of fire in force in the country.
The federal government, through the Ministry of the Environment, has intensified prevention and combat actions since the beginning of 2023. This includes the rearticulation of SIMAM (Monitoring and Operations Center) and the implementation of national policies to combat deforestation and forest fires.
