In August 1959, NASA satellite Explorer 6 was launched. Its purpose was to study Earth’s magnetosphere and follow up on the research of Van Allen radiation belts which were discovered by a previous satellite from the same program - Explorer 1. Explorer 6 was the first satellite that captured a crude picture of Earth’s surface, starting a revolution in how we see and perceive the Earth.
In August 2019, day turned into night in São Paolo. A dark cloud of smog covered the city, turning skies dark, and media from all over the world started reporting on the event. The Amazon was burning, and a cloud of smoke from fires was carried for thousands of kilometers by a weather front.
While people in São Paolo were wondering what is causing the pollution, a satellite-based on the technology that emerged 60 years ago was taking pictures of the Earth, 800 kilometers above their heads. Currently there are almost 800 satellites orbiting the Earth that rely on remote sensing technology that emerged 60 years ago to study Earth’s surface from afar. They are called Earth Observation satellites, and they can detect many different things, depending on their purpose. Cameras on some high-resolution satellites such as TERRA, AQUA, and Suomi NPP satellites have sensors that can detect fires. In this analysis we have used Suomi NPP VIIRS active fire data, which is publicly available via the NASA Earthdata portal,
Detecting fires from space
Suomi NPP satellite has a polar orbit, meaning that it orbits from north to south pole, while the Earth rotates underneath. This visualization by Nadieh Bremer shows Planet Labs satellites orbiting the Earth in a polar orbit. Suomi NPP takes the picture of Earth’s surface twice every day - once during the day and once during night, giving us data on a daily basis.
When we take a photo with a regular camera, the sensor captures information within the visible spectrum of light reflected from photographed objects. Generally, this information is captured in the form of red/green/blue band color band combinations. In case of earth observation satellites, their sensors can capture dozens, or sometimes hundreds of different bands, each capturing a specific wavelength range of the electromagnetic spectrum. When a fire burns, energy radiates in the infrared part of the spectrum, and that is captured by the satellite sensor, enabling us to detect fires from space.
Data that comes from satellite sensors is translated into raster imagery, that are made out of pixels (pixel - picture element). Suomi NPP satellite carries a sensor named Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite, or VIIRS, which has a spatial resolution of 375 meters. This means that a single pixel will cover an area that’s roughly 375x375 meters. Raster imagery is processed into VIIRS active fire data product, which can tell us whether there is an active fire in the area covered by a pixel. However, the drawback is that we do not know more about the size or the intensity of the fire within the given pixel.
Are fires good or bad?
It depends… Ecosystem fires can have different consequences, depending on where they are, and for how long they burn. Areas where fires occur naturally, and often in periodical events, have vegetation that is more adapted to burning. Here fire plays a role in removing the dead vegetation, triggering the maturation and seeding of some species (pyriscence), or it has a key role in vegetation successions. Controlled burning can also be beneficial for the management of some ecosystems.
However, in ecosystems where fire is a foreign element, such as the Amazon rainforest, fires have lasting and long term consequences for the vegetation, wildlife, and soil. Even decades after burning, a rainforest will often not recover. Many animal species in the rainforest are also unable to escape the fires or to survive in burned areas. Rainforest fires can also have a large contribution to global carbon emissions.
Although there is evidence of some fires in the Amazon rainforest paleoecology, this comes from early human settlers that used to set up agriculture plantations by clearing the undergrowth with fire. One of the signs of pre-European settlers in the Amazon interior are dark terra preta soils, that are a product of slash-and-char agriculture. However, this type of agricultural practice is very different from what we see today in the region, where large patches of land are completely cleared of trees, and often a single species of crop is being planted in those areas.
However, this is not the same as what has been happening during the last few decades. Unprecedented amounts of human pressure drive the destruction of intact nature. Expansion of towns, infrastructure, agriculture, and farming, have painted a new picture of Amazon ecosystem dynamics, and with that a different picture of the region’s fire dynamics. A fire in the Amazon rainforest is therefore not a natural occurrence, and it has a devastating effect on the local flora, fauna, and the environment.
Timing of fires
The story from São Paolo and the news of the Amazon fires became viral around 20th of August. However, initial increase in the frequency of fires was detected from 4th of August and a large wave of fires started on August 10th. Reports show that local farmers and landgrabbers organized a “day of fire” on 10th of August, allegedly to support loosening of environmental restrictions by the current government of Brazil.
Figure 1: Bars show daily frequency of detected active fires (VIIRS) in the Amazon biome, for the period of July - September 2019. Red lines show mean daily value for that month, based on 2012-2018 average. August had above average frequncy of detected fires throughout, with only a single below-average day. Large wave of detected fires started with announced burning on 10th of August - the “day of fire”. Data source: VIIRS.
Current legislation in Brazil allows squatter rights in the rainforest, and deforested areas in the Amazon converted to pastures can be sold for a large profit. However, if you are caught doing destructive activites you risk paying a fine, and with large scale fires such as these it is easier to avoid fines while clearing the forest that will be sold for profit.
Brazilian Institute of the Environment (IBAMA) is responsible for issuing the fines, and its work has been repressed under the new government of Brazil. IBAMA has reportedly lost the backing of police and national guard in Novo Progresso and Altamira regions, which circumstantially had a major spike in detected fires after the “day of fire”. Current government also seeks to abolish the “industry of fines”, and while deforestation rates increased, there is a record low number of fines given out under the new government.
Where were the fires?
Some of the highest frequencies of fires during August 2019 were detected around Porto Velho, wider Novo Progresso area, São Félix do Xingu, Boca do Acre, and Apuí. Besides the fires in the Amazone biome region, there was a high frequency of fires detected in and around Chiquitano forest of Bolivia and Brazil. Chiquitano forest are rich and biodiverse forests, but outside of the Amazon biome region.
fig1
During the August 2019, 74% of all active fires detected within the Amazon basin were inside forests. Outside of the Amazon region, most fires that were detected were on non-forested lands, which may have more common fire regime than the moist rainforest areas. Many fires are set on the forest’s edge, where fire is sometimes used as a slash-and-burn management tool with which the land is cleared and converted into an agricultural land or a pasture. Due to the human impact, many forests in the Amazon region are already degraded and therefore more susceptable to fires. However, some of the most pristine nature areas in the World are located in this region.
Figure 2: Frequency of fires during August 2019. Map shows the frequency of fires, aggregated at XX kilometer resolution, and the proportion of burnt forests in the given area. Only the most pristine forest areas are shown on the map in green color, as defined by the Intact Forest Layers data. Data on burnt forests includes the IFL data, and non-IFL forest areas taken from the ESA CCI land cover dataset. Data sources: VIIRS, IFL, ESA.
Green areas in the map above show the extent of Intact Forest Landscapes (IFLs). Out of all active fire pixels detected inside of the Amazon biome region, 10% were inside IFLs. Intact Forest Landscapes are the last frontier of Earths wilderness, and intact forests in the Amazon region occupy the largest area, and make up arguably some of the most important ecosystems on Earth. On a global perspective, the importance of the Amazon rainforest is particularly evident when compared with the extent of other Intact Forest Landscapes.
Were August fires an isolated event?
Suomi NPP satellite was launched in October 2011, and VIIRS active fire data data is available from 2012. Since 2012, VIIRS data shows periodicity of fires in the Amazon basin, with very low frequency of fires during the wet season (December - May) and a large increase during the dry season (June - November). Months with the highest frequency of fires in the Amazon region are usually August and September, during the dry season peak.
The highest frequency of fires until now was recorded in the month of September 2017, with 18 700 fire events detected in total (VIIRS fire events with high confidence). For reference, this is almost twice as many fires as the previous recod months during previous years. The month August 2019 broke this record with 19 100 fires detected. This amount of fires is almost as large as the total number of fires for 2018, when 21 000 fires were detected in total.
Figure 3: Monthly frequency of fires in the Amazone biome region. Bars in the barchart below are colored according to the location of fires, either within protected areas, indigenous territories, or non-protected. Fires that were inside of the Amazon biome region, but outside of protected areas or indigenous territories, are shown in grey. Data sources: VIIRS, WDPA, landmark.
Compared to all previous months for which VIIRS data is available, August 2019 had the highest frequency of fires both within indigenous territories and within protected areas. There were 1473 pixels in indigenous territories with active fires detected during August 2019. Previous record was from September 2017, when 1406 active fire pixels were detected. Even larger difference was in protected areas. Number of fires detected in protected areas during August 2019 was 3176 - twice as much as the previous record of 1556 fires during August 2017.
Although the size of area that the indigenous territories in the amazon is XX % of the entire region, and protected areas cover XX %, the number of recorded fires is much smaller in these regions. That indicates, that in addition to the remoteness of these areas, they are also effective in reduction of fires. However, the frequency has been increasing…
Fires on indigenous territories and protected areas
Brazil has one of the largest populations of indigenous people and uncontacted tribes in the world, with between 350 and 400 recognized groups (source). The rights of indigenous people were first regulated by the Indian Protection Service (Serviço de Proteção aos Índios - SPI), founded in 1910 by Cândido Rondon. He was one of the first that supported the rights of indigenous people, and he put pressure on the governmenet of Brazil to further the protection of indigenous people and prevent their genocide. After a period of turmoil, SPI was eventually replaced by the National Indian Foundation (Fundação Nacional do Índio - FUNAI), that was taking care of indigenous rights. Unlike the indigenous people, the rights of traditional communities - ribeirinhos, who may not be indigenous but live in harmony with rivers and nature, have been recognized only in 2007. Although these organizations worked well at some point or another, the new government of Brazil has put up a hard stance towards the indigenous people and their rights.
“IfI become president, there won’t be one square centimeter of land designated for indigenous reservations” Jair Bolsonaro, 2017 at a campaign stop in the farm state of Mato Grosso.
On the first day of his presidency, Jair Bolsonaro issued a decree where certifying indigenous territories as protected areas was transferred from FUNAI to the Ministry of Agriculture. A new president of FUNAI was also elected, who supports further development of agribusiness in the Amazon. Former FUNAI president described this move as “the death” of FUNAI[source]. The protection of rainforest and the protection of the indigenous rights is basically seen as an obstacle for the development of Brazil by most of the current government.
As mentioned before[link], August 2019 broke the record for detected fires on indigenous territories. More worryingly, the trend seems to have continued, and although September 2019 had lower amount of total detected fires compared to August, it had even more fires detected on indigenous territories than August 2019[how many].
Indigenous territory that had the largest number of detected fires in August by far was Marãiwatsédé region where one of the oldest known inhabitants of the Americas live - the Xavante indigenous people. This area had 127 pixels with active fires detected, compared to the territory with second highest number of fires in August in Kayapó area. Kayapó had 77 fire pixels detected, but on the area 20 times larger than Marãiwatsédé region.
fig4
Figure 4: Top 10 indigenous territories and protected areas with the highest density of fires.
High frequency of fires was clustered around three major roads that go through the Amazon’s interior - BR-158, BR-163, and BR-364. One of the few unasphalted sections of the BR-158 road passes straight through the Marãiwatsédé territory. Due to the pressure from the Xavante people, constructing a detour that would not enchroach the Marãiwatsédé territory was considered. However, current government recently agreed to proceed with the asphalting of BR-158.
However, the effect of roads on frequency of fires does not act in isolation. Municipality that is right next to the Marãiwatsédé territory is Querencia, which is a municipality with one the largest amounts of soya exported in Brazil. Agriculture is a large industry in the Amazon that provides livelihood for many people. Opportunity for increased profits due to agribusiness industry, along with turbulent status of the region is likely sparking a new wave of violence.
Agribusiness enchroachment
Brazil is the largest supplier of soyabean in the world, and soya is one of the largest industries in Brazil. Large demand for soya globally, drives the supply, and Brazil is trying to keep up. With 27 billion dollars of soya exported, it is the largest Brazilian export, making the exports 14.3% of total Brazilian exports.
Around 75% of the total export[ABIOVE] of soya is designated to China, which increased to a whopping 82% in 2018. The amount of export has also increased during the recent years. Due to the large rise of economy during the last 20 years in China, many more people are able to buy better food. Many people in China have a taste for meat, especially pork, and soya is used as animal feed, driving the global demand.
Figure 5: Soya export from Brazil has been increasing in the recent period.export has increased, and the export via ports in theregion has almost doubled compared to previous years.
The majority of the soya trade in Brazil goes through the largest ports on Brazil’s Atlantic coast, however the export through large ports in the Amazon region has been increasing in the last few years. Ports in Amazon region are closer to soya production areas, however the roads between them and the ports itself are of much lower quality. This makes currently the cost of transport to Amazon ports currently similar to cost of moving crops to Atlantic ports. Construction of new roads and paving of existing roads will lower the cost sufficiently for crop exporters to move commodities through Amazon ports.
Development of a major road in the Amazon region, BR-163, has been linked with large lobbies that have agribusiness interests. Expansion of ports such as the Miritituba port, and the improvement of roads, will further lower transport costs, incentivizing development of new agricultural areas close to the ports, deep in the Amazon rainforest. Plans for major infrastructure development puts pressure on large areas of rainforest, and on local and indigenous communities. With current government of Brazil supporting the expansion into intact nature areas, development of agricultural industry in the Amazon region will be a dominant driver in its destruction in the future.
Impact of deforestation
Deforestation of the amazon is mainly done to establish new crop plantations or animal ranches. Initial deforestation is mainly a consequence of infrastructure development, which opens up previously inaccessible areas of the rainforest. Around 95% of deforestation in the Amazon occurs less than 5 kilometers from existing roads or navigable rivers. Roads make up the backbone of fishbone pattern of deforestation, which is visible from space.
When were the burned areas deforested plot
However, the impact of deforestation on the Amazon ecosystem can be felt on a much larger scale. Amazon is a tropical rain forest, which means that the amount of rain here is much higher than in a regular forest. However, what is even more important, most of the rain in the Amazon rainforest created by the forest itself. Plants absorb water with their roots, and release it through the leaves as water vapour. The released water vapour condenses eventually in the form of clouds, and falls back on the forest as rain.
With every tree that is removed, the rainforest creates less rain for itself. Deforestation produces in this way drier and warmer conditions, creating suitable conditions for droughts and fires. Eventually, so much of forest can be removed that there are not enough trees to create rain clouds. Then it becomes a matter of time before a rainforest shifts to a regular forest or a savannah. This is called a tipping point - a point when system rapidly goes from one state to another. It has been calculated that the Amazon rainforest may reach this tipping point at 20-25% deforestation (Lovejoy & Nobre 2018). Current estimates of total deforestation are around 18% of the pre-1970 Amazon rainforest extent.
Where to go from here
If you want to know what is happening in the Amazon, you can just watch Avatar. Same as the lush nature paradise of Pandora, the Amazon rainforest and its indigenous people are under attack. Development of agribusiness economy in the rainforest is putting the environment in Amazon under a large pressure. It is a dominant industry that provides income to people in areas where poverty is a major issue, and it is an industry that directly profits from the destruction of environment. With few options to provide livelihood in a sustainable way, economic insecurity pushes local people to participate in the violence against indigenous communities and nature.
Development of Brazil is tightly linked with the growth of agricultural sector, and 60% of the Amazon that is in Brazil is open for bussiness. Demand for commodities such as soya, corn, and beef is the main driver of further enchroachment of the rainforest. However, offering alternative livelihood for people in the region is the one of the underlying issue for which there is not a lot of political will.
As consumers we can decide not to contribute to the supply chain linked with the Amazon destruction by not purchasing goods or services related with it. As citizens we can support sustainable causes and address appropriate institutions if you are in the position to do so. Commodities are ultimately sold to us, the consumers. Consumer habits impact supply chains and drive commercial and national strategies. With responsible consumption choices, we have choice in that regard to contribute towards the improvement of situation. Unlike Pandora, Amazon does not have flying creatures that can defeat the invaders. It is being destroyed right in front of our eyes, and we should support its conservation. The Amazon rainforest, and the Amazon river basin contain the largest diversity of species on Earth, and from what we know now, in the Universe. Its protection should be one of the highest priorities of humankind.