The world's largest wetland is burning. Brazil's Pantanal is burning at a rate that equals the devastation of the fires of 2020, the worst fire year on record. Then, about 30% of the biome burned killing an estimated 17 million vertebrates. Animals that cannot out run the flames are doomed. Chard corpses dot the landscape burnt to a smoky crisp. Prior to the age of global warming annual rains filled the region with water, but drought and weak rains have turned the region which stretches across Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay into arid tinder. Fires started this year in May and June, earlier than the usual season of July to September. Scientists think that the new climate conditions spell an end to what was a richly diverse biome.
More than 90% of the Pantanal is privately owned, and most of that is ranch land. The majority of fire outbreaks are caused by human activity. Ranchers have been using fire to clear the land for grazing. Wetlands provided a natural fire break, but now fires can easily become uncontrolled. Pantanal has lost 68% of its water coverage since 1985. Vegetation accumulates during the wet season, becoming highly combustable during the dry season. Fierce winds cross the landscape at 40kms, fueling flames into conflagrations.
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| a carcass from the 2020 fire |
Calls are coming for the government to do more to fight the flames. Mato Grosso du Sul declared the region an emergency, and water drops have occurred but the fires continue to burn. Long term residents say the fires are getting worse than they remember. A resident on the banks of the Paraguay River told UK Guardian, “The animals and plants and the land are dying, from the bees to the jaguars. We need even the smallest animals to be able to survive. The fires are destroying the beauty of the Pantanal.” [photo credit: UK Guardian]