Smoke from fierce wildfires in the Amazon rainforest and other parts of Brazil blanketed major cities such as Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro on Monday and spread to neighboring countries.
Carla Longo, a researcher at the National Institute for Space Research, said satellite images showed 60 percent of Latin America’s largest country was affected by the smoke.
“Taking into account affected areas in neighbouring countries and the Atlantic Ocean, the area affected on Sunday was around 10 million square kilometres,” she added.
Authorities in Argentina and Uruguay reported Monday that smoke from the fires in Brazil was affecting parts of both countries.
Latin America’s largest city, Sao Paulo, topped a ranking of the world’s most polluted big cities on Monday, according to air quality monitoring company IQAir.
The percentage of fine particles in the air – an indicator of air quality – reached 69 micrograms per cubic metre, nearly 14 times the limit recommended by the World Health Organisation.
Residents of the coastal city of Rio de Janeiro suffered from fine particle concentrations five times the recommended limit.
Officials say most of the recent fires in the country are human-caused, though they are often linked to agricultural activities.
Experts blame climate change, but the situation has been exacerbated by the worst drought in 70 years.
Satellite images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed a thick cloud of gray smoke along the Andes mountain range in the south of the continent on Monday.
Meteorologist Estelle Sias told AFP that this was due to “winds blowing the smoke south”.
According to INPE data, the number of fires in the Amazon since the beginning of this year has almost doubled compared to the same period in 2023.
Other parts of Brazil have also been battling devastating wildfires in recent days.
About 10,000 hectares of vegetation have been lost in fires in recent days in the vast Chapada dos Beadeiros National Park, some 250 kilometers (150 miles) from the capital Brasilia and known for its many dramatic waterfalls.
Sias said he doesn’t expect the situation to improve “unless we get regular rains,” and likely not “until October or November.”
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