Fires in the Amazon reached a new all-time high this June. The Queimadas Program of Inpe (National Institute for Space Research) recorded 2,562 fires in the biome throughout the month.
This is the highest number of fires in June of the last 15 years — in June 2007, Inpe recorded 3,519 fires. Since then, the values have been below 2,000 outbreaks in the months of June, until 2019.
With the dry season, which began in May, the numbers of fires start to rise. The month of June had 11% more fires than the previous month.
Every month of June under the Bolsonaro government saw an increase in fires in the Amazon. In June 2019, there were 1,880 outbreaks. In the same month of 2020, there were 2,248 outbreaks and, in 2021, the number reached 2,308. The record for the month is 9,179 outbreaks, in 2004.
The data is also consistent with deforestation alerts, which had already risen in the previous month. In May, deforestation in the Amazon hit a similar record, with the worst number in 15 years, according to Imazon. Deforestation totaled 1,476 km², which represents 44% of the accumulated for the year, with devastation 31% higher than in the same period last year.
The cerrado also hits a record in June. With 4,239 fires, the biome has the highest number in the series since 2010, when fires totaled 6,443 fires. The historical average in the region is 3,760 outbreaks in the months of June.
As in the Amazon, the cerrado had the worst month of June since the beginning of the Bolsonaro government, with 58 more outbreaks than in the same month last year. The record for the month is 7,079 outbreaks, in 2003. The historical average for June is 3,760 outbreaks.
