Brazil is engulfed in smoke from fires and debris

2024-09-30 22:41:59

“Even though I’m drinking, I’m coughing more than usual,” said anxious student Luan Monteiro in Rio de Janeiro’s port, which is like most Brazilian cities. living with garbage spikes for weeks, because of the wave of fire in the country.

Amid increased drought linked to climate changeBrazil suffers the effects of the multiplication of fire from north to south. Clouds of smoke covered a good part of the territory of the largest country in Latin America – “up to 80%” last week – according to Karla Longo, researcher at the National Institute for Space Research (INPE).

“Sleep is scary. The sun is not good anymore, it is very blurry. Normally the air here is not dry, because we are near the port and it is refreshing. But now it’s drier than normal,” Monteiro, 20, told AFP.

São Paulo, Latin America’s largest city, climbed to the top of the ranking of the most polluted cities in the world for several days, according to the air quality monitoring company IQAir, based in Switzerland.

The masks were also found, especially in Porto Velho and other cities in the Amazon, which experienced the worst fire wave in two decades, according to the European Copernicus observation.

Smoke rises from a fire in the environmental protection area of ​​Brasilia National Park during the dry season near Brasilia. AP photo

“In the flight from San Pablo to Rio I could see the problem. When I looked out the window, there was a lot of black smoke. It’s really impressive“, said Celso Quijada, a 36-year-old caretaker from São Paulo, on a visit to “Cidade Maravilhosa” on Copacabana beach.

At least 40% of the population of San Pablo and Belo Horizontethe capital of the state of Minas Gerais, and 29% of Rio de Janeiro said that their health is “very” affected by pollution, according to a study by the company Datafolha published last week.

In one of the largest hospitals in Brasilia, patient care for respiratory problems has exceeded the average by more than 20 times.

To withstand the dry climate in Brasilia, which accumulates more than 160 days without rainValderes Loyola installed a fan in his house, placed cold towels and buckets of water.

“When I go out I wear my mask,” the 72-year-old housewife told AFP, covering her mouth and nose as she walked through the subway.

A firefighter works to put out a forest fire in a field, in a farm in Cristalina, Goiás state. Reuters photo

Classes were temporarily suspended in forty schools in the capital, while the authorities recommend that its residents drink water and avoid outdoor exercise.

Experts point out that smoke released into the air by a fire produces similar effects smoke four to five cigarettes a day.

Air pollution can cause anything from respiratory “irritations to diseases” – such as bronchitis and asthma – and the risk increases the longer the exposure, according to pediatrician Renato Kfouri, vice president of the Brazilian Society of Immunizations.

If the fire becomes frequent “The implication is that this situation exists every year” in Brazil, doctor Evangelina Araujo, president of the Ar Institute, told AFP.

Internet search for “air quality” They have gone up throughout Brazil to unprecedented levels, according to the Google Trends app, which also reported an increase in the words “humidifier” and “air conditioner.”

In cities like Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro, fans of sunrises and sunsets go to exhibitions with red and orange tones, attributed to the reflection of the rays on the particles of pollution.

Experts point to outdated models for measuring air quality and the absence of emergency plans in Brazil.

With only 1.7% of the regions with air monitoring stations and focus in the most populated areas and industrial areas of the southeast, the system. “It’s very rude and old-fashioned”, Evangelina Araujo said.

And the expert points out that only a fifth of these stations have the ability to detect harmful fine particles (PM2.5) found in smoke.

In Brazil, the daily limit for PM2.5 is 60 micrograms per cubic meterfour times the World Health Organization recommendation.

And matching that process with international standards will take more than 20 years, according to a government decision.