A colony fires in the Amazon jungle several days ago

In just four days, the largest rainforest on the planet is witnessing raging fires equivalent to more than two-thirds of the fires of September 2021 as a whole, after the Amazon experienced the worst month of August in 12 years, according to what was monitored by satellites.

As Brazil celebrates Monday Amazon Day, the National Institute for Space Research has detected more than 12,000 fires in the Amazon region from September 1 to 4, 70% more than the number recorded for this whole month last year.

In September 2021, 16,742 wildfires were recorded, a number well below the average of 32,110 fires during the month since 1998, when the institute began collecting this data.

It is feared that if more than 3,000 flashpoints of fire continue to be recorded each day, this September could be one of the worst in history.

In August, the number of forest fires in the Amazon increased by 18% compared to last year, with at least 33,116 fires, the highest since 2010.

The NGO Observatoire du Climat says the Amazon "is under attack by criminals who, with the encouragement of the government, are causing the largest wave of deforestation in nearly two decades".

Environmentalists accuse right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, who is seeking to stay in power during elections in less than a month, of neglecting the preservation of the Amazon in favor of farming and mining.

"This day in the Amazon will be the last under Bolsonaro's rule, or the last ever," the Climate Observatory said in a press release.

Since Bolsonaro came to power in January 2019, average deforestation in Brazil's Amazon region has increased by 75% compared to the previous decade.

Bolsonaro shrugs off criticism by saying that Brazil "conserves its forests much better than Europe."

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