South America Is Drying Up

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By Meghie Rodrigues, Eos/AGU. 

Excerpt: In August and September, huge portions of South America were shrouded in intense smoke from wildfires raging in the Amazon and other parts of Brazil and Bolivia. The Brazilian Pantanal—the world’s largest tropical wetland—had an almost eightfold increase in wildfires this year compared to 2023. From Manaus to São Paulo and Buenos Aires, the smoke, visible from space, blurred sunlight for weeks and posed a threat to the health of millions. ...South America, according to a new study published in Communications Earth and Environment, is becoming drier, warmer, and more flammable. These conditions favor not only natural wildfires but also the uncontrolled spread of human-caused fire. ...The paper did not uncover the weight of climate change and land use change when it comes to wildfires. Up to what point can we attribute the findings to El Niño or to land use? It would be interesting to have a bit more detail of how anthropogenic factors influence what they found.... 

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