Changes in the population’s exposure to smoke generated by forest fires in the Amazon: what do the data on disasters and air quality say?

ABSTRACT

The fire use and its impacts are growing in the Amazon. In this study, the problem of burning and wildfires in the context of civil protection and defense was evaluated, to assess the number of records of emergency situations or state of public calamity declared regarding the increase in the occurrence of fires and forest fires in the Amazon. A historical analysis was carried out to quantify changes in the population’s exposure to fires, forest fires and air quality. A vision of the forest fire crisis in the Amazon in 2019 was presented in which one of the main immediate impacts was low air quality associated with these events. The analyzes suggest that there is a neglect in officially registering emergency situations and public calamities associated with low air quality, arising from burnings and forest fires, mainly in the northern region of the country. Through the monitoring of the crisis between the months of July and August 2019, due to the critical situation of the occurrence of fires reported until the end of 2019 in the southwest of the Amazon, it is understood that there is a possibility that this situation could be considered a disaster.

KEYWORDS Wildfires; Vulnerability; Disasters