"SAO PAULO - The number of fires in Brazil's Amazon rainforest region for the month of August surged to the highest level since 2010, government data showed on Sunday, after a record drought that has been plaguing the biome.
Last year's rains came late and were weaker than usual because a weather pattern, known as El Nino, was supercharged by climate change, leaving the rainforest especially vulnerable to this year's fires.
Satellites detected 38,266 fire hotspots in the Amazon in August, more than double compared to the previous year and the largest number for that month since 2010, data from Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) showed.
The August data reaching a 14-year high comes after last month's fire hotspots in the region surged to a two-decade high."
Stefanie Eschenbacher reports for Reuters September 1, 2024.
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