By Leonardo BenassattoCORUMBA, Brazil (Reuters) – As Jose Cleiton and Brandao Amilton ride their horses into the vastness of the Pantanal grassy wetlands of Brazil, a wall of smoke towers from the horizon far into the sky above.The worst of the dry season is still far off, but already these Brazilian wetlands are so dry that wildfires are surging.The number of Pantanal fires so far this year has jumped tenfold from the same period last year according to Brazil’s National Institute of Space Research (INPE).”It’s hard to breathe. It’s hard for newborn children. The heat gets stronger and stronger,” said Amilton, a local fishing guide. “The Pantanal is already hot and it gets hotter, drier, with smoke, the weather gets very bad.”The men guide cattle across the flood plain, hoping for a better chance of survival. “The way the fire is coming, it could surround them and burn them to death,” said Cleiton, a farmer.The Pantanal wetlands, roughly 10 times the size of the Florida everglades, are home to jaguars, tapirs, caimans and giant anteaters. Weak rains since late last year have disrupted the usual seasonal flooding, leaving more of the region …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnBy Leonardo BenassattoCORUMBA, Brazil (Reuters) – As Jose Cleiton and Brandao Amilton ride their horses into the vastness of the Pantanal grassy wetlands of Brazil, a wall of smoke towers from the horizon far into the sky above.The worst of the dry season is still far off, but already these Brazilian wetlands are so dry that wildfires are surging.The number of Pantanal fires so far this year has jumped tenfold from the same period last year according to Brazil’s National Institute of Space Research (INPE).”It’s hard to breathe. It’s hard for newborn children. The heat gets stronger and stronger,” said Amilton, a local fishing guide. “The Pantanal is already hot and it gets hotter, drier, with smoke, the weather gets very bad.”The men guide cattle across the flood plain, hoping for a better chance of survival. “The way the fire is coming, it could surround them and burn them to death,” said Cleiton, a farmer.The Pantanal wetlands, roughly 10 times the size of the Florida everglades, are home to jaguars, tapirs, caimans and giant anteaters. Weak rains since late last year have disrupted the usual seasonal flooding, leaving more of the region …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
