A fire has been burning since mid-July in the remote wetlands of west-central Brazil, leaving in its wake a vast charred desolation bigger than New York City.
A dead caiman is pictured in an area that was burnt in a fire in the Pantanal, the world's largest wetland, in Pocone, Mato Grosso state, Brazil, August 31, 2020. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli
The Pantanal is smaller and less-known than its famous cousin, the Amazon jungle. But the region’s normally abundant waters and strategic location - sandwiched between the rainforest, Brazil’s vast grasslands and Paraguay’s dry forests - make it a magnet for animals. Last month, Reuters witnessed a fire that flashed from forest to pasture near the tourist gateway of Poconé in Brazil’s Mato Grosso state. The rush of air sucked in by the blaze spun a strong wind into a tornado of smoke. The temperature on the ground soared to 46.5 Celsius .
NASA scientist Doug Morton said this phenomenon is caused by shifts in ocean temperature known as the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation - the Atlantic Ocean’s equivalent of El Niño in the Pacific. Unlike El Niño, which typically happens every 2-7 years, the oscillation alternates between hot and cold roughly every 30-40 years.
More worrying still, Morton is concerned global warming could disrupt the Oscillation and leave it permanently in the warm phase, contributing to more fires.
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