Paulinho dos Santos remembers the dark nights in November when he would leap out of bed to use buckets of water to douse flames threatening his farm.
And Maria Leao’s two daughters suffered sinusitis, caused by a smoke cloud that for weeks enveloped Breves, the largest city on the island, surrounded by sea and rivers in the northern state of Para.
Like them, many residents of the region felt the brunt of blazes in the Brazilian Amazon, which had over 140,000 fires in 2024 — the highest number in 17 years.
The situation was worst in Para state, whose capital Belem will in November host the COP30 climate conference, with more than 56,000 fires during the peak of the fire crisis last year.
According to scientists, the fires were linked to global warming, which dries out vegetation and makes it more flammable.
But they are almost always started by people clearing land for pasture or agriculture, or for illegal logging.
‘Intolerable’
