Top Posts
NDDC, others push for climate change awareness in...
Heaviest monsoon in a decade kills 458 people...
Council releases first fully electric bin lorry
Report: A fifth of migratory species face extinction...
Stakeholders seek integration of climate change into national...
Study shows US asthma inhalers produce same emissions...
Report: Nigeria, others may lose $300 billion, 49m...
Pope Leo hits out at climate change critics
Nigeria insurers prepare to global delegates on climate...
Energy Dept. asks employees not to use words...
EcoNai Newsroom
  • Newsround
  • Nigeria
  • Africa
  • World
World

Brazilian president in Amazon amid alarm over droughts, wildfires

by admineconai September 12, 2024
written by admineconai September 12, 2024
425

Latest reports show that Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has flown into the Amazon amid growing alarm over the droughts and wildfires sweeping the rainforest region and others parts of Brazil.

Speaking during a visit to a riverside community near the city of Tefé, the president said that Amazonia was suffering its worst drought in more than 40 years. He said he had come to discover “what is going on with these mighty rivers” that in some places now resemble deserts.

Lula expressed concern over what he described as the often criminally set fires that are consuming three of Brazil’s six biomes: the Amazon, the Cerrado and the Pantanal wetlands.

“It seems to me that things are getting worse, year after year after year,” Lula said as he visited drought-stricken communities in Amazonas state, where all 62 municipalities have declared a state of emergency. More than 340,000 people have reportedly been affected.

“In the Pantanal we’ve had the worst drought in the last 73 years … This is a problem that we have to fix because otherwise humanity is going to destroy our planet,” Lula added. “We cannot destroy that which we rely on for our life.”

Read also: Save the Children withdraws Science Museum event over sponsor concerns

The president’s visit came as huge swaths of South America’s largest country, and neighbours such as Bolivia and Peru, grappled with the consequences of extreme climate events that have caused temperatures to hit record highs and fires to rage.

Schools have been closed and flights diverted in Rio Branco, the capital of the Amazon state of Acre, after smoke enveloped the city and pollution levels soared. In the city of Porto Velho, the capital of Rondônia state, the Madeira River has fallen to its lowest level since the late 1960s.

The effects of the wildfires and drought have been felt as far away as Rio and São Paulo, where air quality has also plummeted in recent days. On Monday an expert from Brazil’s space institution, Inpe, said smoke from the fires had covered a 5m sq km area – about 60% of the country.

“We’ve reached a historic moment, the likes of which we’ve never reached before,” said Danicley de Aguiar, an Amazon campaigner for Greenpeace Brazil who is monitoring the situation.

“We’ve had severe droughts before in Brazil but not to this extent. I don’t think we’ve ever had a drought that affects not only the north but also the midwest, the south and the south-east and a part of the north-east too.

Story was adapted from the Guardian.

AmazonBrazilDroughtPresidentWildfire
0 comment 0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
admineconai

previous post
Save the Children withdraws Science Museum event over sponsor concerns
next post
Tiktoker dies after running Disneyland in heatwave

Related Posts

Heaviest monsoon in a decade kills 458 people...

October 9, 2025

Council releases first fully electric bin lorry

October 9, 2025

Study shows US asthma inhalers produce same emissions...

October 7, 2025

Pope Leo hits out at climate change critics

October 3, 2025

Protesters seek $5tr payment from fossil fuel companies

October 1, 2025

UN official says climate change displaces up to...

September 30, 2025

UN ends high-level week with calls for peace,...

September 30, 2025

China announces plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions...

September 25, 2025

China locks down as Super Typhoon Ragasa nears...

September 24, 2025

Trump says climate change ‘greatest con Job in...

September 24, 2025

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Newsletter

Subscribe my Newsletter for new blog posts, tips & new photos. Let's stay updated!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
  • Bloglovin
  • Vimeo

@2021 - All Right Reserved. Designed and Developed by Eco-Nai+

EcoNai Newsroom
  • Newsround
  • Nigeria
  • Africa
  • World