Fires in Brazil's Pantanal wetlands rip through the biodiverse region, consuming an area the size of London in just the past 10 days, burning some animals alive and sending others fleeing.
FILE - In this May 18, 2017 file photo, Joao Aquino Pereira, right, talks with fellow cowboy Rene Almeida at dawn in Corumba, in the Pantanal wetlands of Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazil. As of Wednesday, Nov. 6 2019, fires in Brazil's Pantanal wetlands have ripped through the biodiverse region, consuming 15,000 football fields of vegetation in just the past 10 days, burning some animals alive and sending others fleeing.
The inferno in the world’s largest tropical wetlands is the latest environmental disaster facing Brazil, coming after a mysterious oil spill that is afflicting beaches in the northeast and August fires that raged in the Amazon region. Between January and November, the area had 516% more fires than the same period last year, according to data from Brazil’s National Institute of Space Research.
Fires in the Pantanal this time of year are abnormal because heavy rains usually start in October. Rabelo said waters in the rivers and wetlands drained much faster this year. The Paraguay River, one of the region’s main fluvial veins, is at a 20-year low.With little precipitation, high temperatures, low humidity and strong winds, fires are spreading fast through the low vegetation, authorities say.
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