Nearly a quarter of Brazil’s territory had wildfires in last 40 years
Nearly a quarter of Brazil's territory caught fire at least once between 1985 and 2023, covering 199.1 million hectares, or 23 percent of the country's land area.Of the area affected by fire, 68.4 percent was native vegetation, while 31.6 percent was influenced by human activities, particularly farming. The Cerrado and the Amazon are the main biomes impacted by fires, whether natural or man-made, accounting for 86 percent of the burned area.The data, obtained by comparing satellite images, is part of a study released on Tuesday (Jun. 18) by MapBiomas Fogo, a network of universities, non-governmental organizations, and technology companies.Using satellite images, researchers can analyze the size and historical patterns of the burned areas, but they cannot pinpoint the exact cause of t...