This Friday, representatives of the Brazilian government flew over parts of the Pantanal and reported that most of the fires are the result of “deforestation by fire.”
“The fires that are happening now have a perverse combination: climate change, acute water shortages and deforestation by fire. This is what makes us see the Pantanal on fire,” said Environment Minister Marina Silva at a press conference, as quoted by Campo Grande News.
Planning Minister Simone Thebe, who accompanied Marina Silva on the flyover, said she could only see “earth and fire” from the air due to a severe drought that had reduced river levels to a trickle and was made worse by “the hand of criminals.”