Grapevine

Why South America is burning

A record wave of wildfires, fueled by severe drought linked to climate change and deforestation, is causing havoc across South America.

The blazes have killed at least 30 people, left cities shrouded in toxic smoke and caused millions of dollars in economic losses.

This fire season is "completely different" from the one that ravaged forests in Brazil, Peru and Bolivia in 2019, according to Brazilian environmentalist Erika Berenguer, a researcher at Oxford University.

At the time, rain helped douse the fires, which in Brazil were chiefly started by farmers taking advantage of lax legislation under then far-right president Jair Bolsonaro to clear land for crops and ranching.

This year, the continent is in the throes of a severe drought. The Amazon basin, usually one of the wettest places on Earth, is experiencing the worst fires in nearly two decades, according to the EU's Copernicus observatory.