MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil blames human action for the fires sweeping the Amazon

The fires coincide with an El Niño episode that forecasts place among the most intense in recent decades and that is usually associated with drought in the Amazon

The Brazilian government has blamed deliberate human action for the wave of fires in Amazonas state, where 540 new hotspots were recorded in 48 hours, more than half of those detected in the whole of October 2025, according to the National Institute for Space Research. The situation has led to a state of emergency in 36 municipalities.

Environment and Climate Change Minister João Paulo Capobianco flew over the region on Sunday with Integration and Regional Development Minister Waldez Góes and observed fire in hard-to-reach forest areas. Since fires do not occur spontaneously in the Amazon biome, the minister argues the outbreaks are the result of deliberate action, possibly to degrade the forest and prepare the ground for future clearing. “It is essential that those acting criminally see that they will be punished,” he said.

According to the institute’s data, 494 fires started in the state on Saturday 10, the highest figure of the month; on the same day in 2025, none were recorded. There were 874 hotspots in the whole of October 2025.

The smoke led civil defence authorities in Manaus, the state capital, to issue a health warning on Friday over air pollution. A joint municipal, state and federal operation is fighting the fires. The federal environment agency, Ibama, sent four water-bombing aircraft, two helicopters and 290 firefighters, and the air force added two KC-390 aircraft on Sunday. “It is one thing to deploy all the forces we can to put out the fire. It is another to assist people who need humanitarian aid and medical care because of the fires,” Góes said.

The fires coincide with an El Niño episode that forecasts place among the most intense in recent decades and that is usually associated with drought in the Amazon, while it brings extreme rainfall and flooding to the south of the continent.