Residents of Porto Velho in the Brazilian Amazon have scarcely seen sunlight for days as a dense cloud of smoke from forest fires engulfs their city.
“We are struggling to breathe,” said Tayane Moraes, a 30-year-old teacher and one of the 460,000 inhabitants of the city near the Bolivian border.
On Tuesday (Aug 20), the concentration of cancer-causing microparticles, known as PM2.5, reached 56.5 micrograms per cubic meter of air in Porto Velho—11 times the limit recommended by the World Health Organization, making it the worst air quality among Brazil’s major cities.
Inhaling PM2.5 is known to increase the risk of lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and various other health issues. On Aug 14, levels spiked to a hazardous 246.4 micrograms per cubic meter, according to monitoring by IQAir.
Escaping the smoke is challenging, even indoors. “It’s terrible,” said 62-year-old retiree Carlos Fernandes. “Yesterday, I woke up at midnight with my eyes stinging from the smoke entering my house.”
The Rondonia state government attributes the disaster in part to illegal fires often set by farmers clearing land and has launched an online campaign urging residents to report such activities.
Satellite data from Brazil’s INPE Space Research Institute indicates that Rondonia experienced its worst July for forest fires in 19 years, with 1,618 confirmed outbreaks. So far in August, the number has risen to 2,114.
Across the Amazon, over 42,000 forest fires have been recorded from Jan 1 to Aug 19, marking the highest number in nearly two decades—an 87% increase from the same period in 2023.
The Amazon faced a historic drought between June and November last year, exacerbating the situation. INPE’s satellite images show a plume of smoke stretching across Brazil from north to south, affecting Bolivia and Paraguay as well.
State authorities insist much of the smoke blanketing Porto Velho comes from fires in Bolivia and the neighboring state of Amazonas. “Because we are in the center of the continent, the smoke lingers longer here,” explained Cae Aires of the CENSIPAM Amazon protection center in a video shared on the Instagram account of Rondonia governor Marcos Rocha.
In the same video, infectious disease specialist Antonieta Ferreira noted “an increase in asthma attacks, as well as cases of pneumonia and sinusitis” among patients at a children’s hospital.
“It’s especially difficult for those with respiratory problems,” said Beatriz Graca, a 35-year-old homemaker in Porto Velho.
Forest fires have surged even as deforestation—a process crucial for reducing global warming by absorbing carbon dioxide—has begun to decline. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has vowed to end illegal deforestation of the Amazon by 2030, a practice that had escalated dramatically under his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.
