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Forest fires rage across South America, devastating the Amazon and beyond

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Wildfires have scorched millions of hectares of forest across South America so far this year. From Bolivia to Brazil, Peru to Argentina, the continent has been gripped by one of its worst fire seasons in decades, with deforestation and drought fueling the flames. “The Amazon is not burning because it wants to burn, it is being set on fire. One of the most important biomes on the planet is being destroyed,” Patricia Gualinga, an Indigenous Kichwa leader from Ecuador, said at Climate Week in New York on Oct. 4. With the rainy season still several weeks away, the situation may still worsen. Bolivia has been hit the hardest, with more than 7 million hectares (17 million acres) of forest and natural vegetation scorched by late September. This makes 2024 Bolivia’s worst year for fires on record. The government declared a national disaster on Sept. 30. There were three times more fires in Bolivia this year than in previous years, devastating biodiversity and Indigenous territories. Brazil, home to 60% of the Amazon, also faces extreme fire activity. NASA satellite data show widespread hotspotswhich indicate a high likelihood of fire, across the country, worsened by severe drought. Water levels in the Madeira and Negro rivers, major Amazon tributaries, are at historic lows. In the Brazilian Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland that also straddles Bolivia and Paraguay, more than 1.3 million hectares (3.2 million acres) burned by October, marking one of the most destructive fire seasons in recent history. Jaguars (Panthera onca),…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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