The largest tropical forest on the planet has been destroyed in recent weeks by terrible fires that have broken out due to extreme drought. “We are having difficulty breathing,” says Tajan Moraes, a resident of Porto Velho, the metropolis of the Brazilian Amazon that has been enveloped in a thick cloud of smoke.

“Smoke destroys our noses (…) We have to drink a lot of water and turn on air purifiers,” this 30-year-old teacher told AFP.

Porto Velho, capital of the state of Rondônia in northwestern Brazil, yesterday, Tuesday, had the worst air quality among the country’s major cities, according to data from the independent organization IQAir.

In this city of 460,000 inhabitants, which is located near the border with Bolivia, the percentage of fine particles (PM2.5) reached 56.5 micrograms per cubic meter, i.e. 11 times above the limit set by the World Health Organization.

On August 14, that ratio had reached 246.4 micrograms per cubic meter, a level considered “dangerous” and the maximum set by Switzerland-based IQAir.

Smoke from forest fires has turned Porto Velho’s sky dark gray and the city appears shrouded in thick fog. Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish from afar apartment buildings that under normal conditions are completely visible.

“It’s terrible, yesterday I woke up at midnight and my eyes were itching because of the smoke coming into my house,” says 62-year-old retiree Carlos Fernandez.

He assures that Porto Velio is experiencing “the worst smoke episode” in its history this year and says that the fires “in the agricultural zones”, where cattlemen set fire to clear pastures, are responsible for this.

The state government started an internet campaign calling on the population to report illegal fires.

According to the data collected by the satellites of the Institute for Space Research INPE, a public organization, this July was for the state of Rondonia the worst in 19 years in terms of forest fires, as 1,618 outbreaks were detected.

And the situation continues to worsen, as 2,114 fires have already been recorded from August 1 to 19.

From January 1 to August 19, fire outbreaks increased by 87% compared to 2023 in the Brazilian Amazon, which has been in a drought for months.

Other cities in the region have also suffered particularly in recent weeks from the smoke, such as Manaus, the largest metropolis in the Amazon, where the public health agency Fiocruz recommended that citizens wear a protective mask when going out.

According to the authorities of the state of Rondonia, the smoke, which has engulfed its capital, also comes from fires in Bolivia, to the west, and in the neighboring state of Amazonas, to the north.