In response to an unprecedented wave of wildfires exacerbated by the most severe drought in decades, the Brazilian government has deployed nearly 1,500 firefighters to the Amazon rainforest. Despite a significant reduction in deforestation since President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office in January 2023, satellite data from the National Institute for Space Research reveals that 59,000 fires have ravaged the forest since the beginning of the year—the highest count since 2008.

The early onset of the fire season has engulfed Porto Velho, a city of 540,000 residents, in thick smoke, raising serious health concerns as people are forced to breathe hazardous air. The fires have also disrupted the region’s natural “flying rivers” of moisture, which are now being replaced by vast plumes of smoke. The environmental crisis is not limited to the Amazon; the Pantanal wetlands, another critical Brazilian biome, have also been devastated by fires, with studies indicating that human-induced climate change has intensified these blazes by at least 40%.

Brazil’s Environment Minister, Marina Silva, attributed the worsening situation to global warming, exacerbated by the El Niño phenomenon and ocean temperature changes. Silva emphasized that these climate shifts are aggravating the severity of the fires. The government announced on Wednesday the mobilization of 1,489 firefighters to combat the blazes, noting that more than half of the wildfires in northern Brazil had been controlled or extinguished. However, with the peak fire season still ahead in September and October, there are growing fears that the situation could deteriorate further.

Ten Brazilian states have been impacted by the fires, prompting federal authorities to urge the governors of Pará, Amapá, Roraima, Rondônia, and Acre to impose fire bans, a common land-clearing practice among farmers. A ranchers’ union in Pará confirmed that its members have refrained from using fire this year due to the extreme dryness.

The ongoing drought, the worst in at least two decades, has severely affected the Amazon Basin, with rivers like the Madeira and Purus experiencing critically low water levels. The environmental impact is dire, with non-human species, including endangered river dolphins and core forest life such as plants and insects, suffering in the unusually dry conditions. Scientists warn that over a third of the Amazon rainforest is struggling to recover from this persistent drought, raising alarms that the world’s largest tropical forest and a crucial carbon sink may be nearing an irreversible tipping point.