Brazilian Vice President Says ‘Opponent’ at INPE Discloses Only Negative Fire Data

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Without mentioning names or providing evidence, Vice-President Hamilton Mourão suggested yesterday that there is “someone” from the opposition at the INPE (National Institute of Space Research) who is responsible for disclosing negative data about the fires in Brazil.

“It’s someone from the inside who opposes the government. I am making this very clear here. When the data is negative, the ‘guy’ will disclose it. When it is positive, he doesn’t disclose it,” said the general to journalists, outside the vice-presidential building. When asked who this opponent would be, Mourão dodged the question: “I don’t know, I’m not the INPE’s director.”

The patch burn data in the country, in fact, are public and are available on a special INPE web page. The numbers are fed daily, producing automatic reports on the outbreaks in all of the country’s biomes, the increase over the past five days, and the comparison with the same period last year.

National data, by state and by biome, is available. It is also possible to search for municipalities with the largest number of fire outbreaks.

Currently, the INPE data show 133,974 fire outbreaks accumulated throughout the country between January 1st and September 14th, an increase of 13 percent compared to last year. In the Amazon alone there are 64,498 of such outbreaks.

This month’s figures also show an acceleration in patch burning. Until September 14th, 2019, the INPE had recorded 11,003 accumulated outbreaks in the Amazon; in 2020, on the same first 14 days of the month, there are now 20,485 – an increase of 86 percent.

210 percent more fires in the Pantanal

In the Pantanal alone, fires have increased by 210 percent this year compared to the same period in 2019, according to a report published on Monday by INPE. Between January 1st and September 12th, the number of hot spots reached 14,489, against 4,660 in 2019.

With three months to go until the end of 2020, this is now the year with the highest rate of fires in the biome. The former record was set in 2005 when 12,536 fires were recorded, and the numbers began to be measured in 1998.

The situation is so severe that it led the governor of Mato Grosso do Sul, Reinaldo Azambuja to declare an emergency situation. At least 79 municipalities in the state and 1.4 million hectares have been affected, including environmental protection and permanent preservation areas.

Source: UOL