Wildfire destroys 20% of Brasilia forest, arson suspected
By Sebastian Rocandio
BRASILIA, Sept 4 (Reuters) -Firefighters succeeded on Wednesday in reducing the extent of a massive wildfire that blazed for two days and destroyed 20% of a forest in the Brazilian capital, cloaking the city in clouds of gray-white smoke, according to officials, who suspect that it may have been started by arsonists.
The National Forest of Brasilia is a conservation area that extends over 5,600 hectares of woodland that protects the springs that are the source of 70% of the city's freshwater.
The fire broke out at the peak of the dry season when vegetation is parched and temperatures high allowing flames to spread fast.
"We have put out three of the four blazes and we hope to have the fire under control by the end of the day," said Fabio dos Santos Miranda, who manages the forest.
"We are sure this was an environmental crime, but we haven't confirmed if it was intentional or not," he said in an interview, adding that three suspected arsonists were seen in the area where the fire started.
Firefighters struggled to contain the forest fire and stop it spreading to adjacent orchards where farmers grow tomatoes and flowers.
"We are working to protect the orchards, but the wind is blowing the fire towards them and the sparks fly a long way." said fireman Major Godoy.
Emilia Vasconcellos, who raises cattle and chickens on a farm at risk of being caught in the blaze, said she thought people had set off the fire to clear land for themselves, but she had no evidence.
The forest was cut in size by almost half in 2022 to give way to urban development by the government of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, who reduced environmental controls and allowed deforestation to surge in the Amazon rainforest.
A record drought in the Amazon increased fires in the rainforest for the month of August to the highest level since 2010, government data showed on Sunday.
Last year's rains came late and were weaker than usual because a weather pattern, known as El Nino, was supercharged by climate change, leaving the rainforest especially vulnerable to this year's fires.
Reporting by Sebastian Rocandio, writing by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Aurora Ellis
免責聲明: XM Group提供線上交易平台的登入和執行服務,允許個人查看和/或使用網站所提供的內容,但不進行任何更改或擴展其服務和訪問權限,並受以下條款與條例約束:(i)條款與條例;(ii)風險提示;(iii)完全免責聲明。網站內部所提供的所有資訊,僅限於一般資訊用途。請注意,我們所有的線上交易平台內容並不構成,也不被視為進入金融市場交易的邀約或邀請 。金融市場交易會對您的投資帶來重大風險。
所有缐上交易平台所發佈的資料,僅適用於教育/資訊類用途,不包含也不應被視爲適用於金融、投資稅或交易相關諮詢和建議,或是交易價格紀錄,或是任何金融商品或非應邀途徑的金融相關優惠的交易邀約或邀請。
本網站的所有XM和第三方所提供的内容,包括意見、新聞、研究、分析、價格其他資訊和第三方網站鏈接,皆爲‘按原狀’,並作爲一般市場評論所提供,而非投資建議。請理解和接受,所有被歸類為投資研究範圍的相關内容,並非爲了促進投資研究獨立性,而根據法律要求所編寫,而是被視爲符合營銷傳播相關法律與法規所編寫的内容。請確保您已詳讀並完全理解我們的非獨立投資研究提示和風險提示資訊,相關詳情請點擊 這裡查看。