BRAZIL—The surge in fires in Brazil's Amazon rainforest this year fueled a spike in young children being treated for breathing problems as smoke clouded the air throughout the region, according to a study released on Wednesday.
Roughly 5,000 children aged 9 or younger were treated each month in May and June in 36 areas within Brazil's so-called "arc of deforestation," the area partially encircling the Amazon where destruction of the forest is the highest, according to a study by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, a public health research institute.
That is double the monthly average for the past 10 years, with the study linking the rise to the forest fires.
The study only examined cases for May and June, the latest data available, when the number of fires were slightly higher than the previous year. But that period is well before the surge in August when fires in the Amazon nearly tripled compared to the same period a year ago.
The number of forest fires in the Amazon for the year had surged to their highest point since 2010 by August, drawing global outcry that Brazil was not doing enough to protect the world's largest tropical rainforest.
Environmentalists and researchers say that farmers and others destroying the forest were purposefully setting the fires. Brazil's government sent in the military to fight the fires and launched an investigation into the causes.
Cristovao Barcelos, one of the researchers who wrote the study, said it stands to reason that with the increase of fires starting from July that the number of cases could also show an increase.
"There's a sequence that starts with deforestation, then comes fires and breathing problems," Barcelos said.
In areas recording more fires than usual, a child is 36 percent more likely to develop respiratory problems, the study said. Barcelos added that 2 percent of the children who sought treatment later died.
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JAKARTA - Indonesian forest fires are putting nearly 10 million children at risk from air pollution, the United Nations warned Tuesday, as scientists said the blazes were releasing vast amounts of greenhouse gases.
The fires have been spewing toxic haze over Southeast Asia in recent weeks, closing schools and airports, with people rushing to buy face masks and seek medical treatment for respiratory ailments.
Jakarta has deployed tens of thousands of personnel and water-bombing aircraft to tackle the slash-and-burn blazes set to clear agricultural land. The fires are an annual problem but this year are the worst since 2015 due to dry weather.
Almost 10 million people under 18 -- about a quarter below five -- live in the areas worst affected by fires on Indonesia's Sumatra island and the country's part of Borneo island, the UN children's agency UNICEF said.
Small children are especially vulnerable due to undeveloped immune systems while babies born to mothers exposed to pollution during pregnancy may have low birth weights and be delivered early, they said.
"Poor air quality is a severe and growing challenge for Indonesia," said Debora Comini from UNICEF.
"Every year, millions of children are breathing toxic air that threatens their health and causes them to miss school -- resulting in lifelong physical and cognitive damage."
Thousands of schools have been closed across Indonesia due to poor air quality, with millions of youngsters missing classes.
Schools were forced to shut across Malaysia last week as dense smog from its neighbor clouded the skies, while Singapore was also shrouded in haze during the weekend's Formula One motor race.
Air quality had however improved in Malaysia and Singapore Tuesday, and the skies were clearer.
There have been a series of wildfire outbreaks worldwide, from the Amazon to Australia, and scientists are increasingly worried about their impact on global warming.
The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, part of the EU's Earth observation program, said this year's Indonesian fires were releasing almost as much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as blazes in 2015, the worst for two decades.
From the start of August to September 18, the fires emitted about 360 megatons of the greenhouse gas, compared to 400 megatons over the same period four years ago, the service said.
One megaton is equivalent to one million tons.
At the peak of the 2015 crisis, the fires were emitting more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each day than all US economic activity, according to environmental watchdog the World Resources Institute.
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LUMPUR - Toxic haze from Indonesian forest fires closed thousands of schools across the country and in neighboring Malaysia Wednesday, while air quality worsened in Singapore just days before the city's Formula One motor race.
Illegal fires to clear land for agriculture are blazing out of control on Sumatra and Borneo islands, with Jakarta deploying thousands of security forces and water-bombing aircraft to tackle them.
The Indonesian blazes are an annual problem, but this year's are the worst since 2015 and have added to concerns about wildfire outbreaks worldwide exacerbating global warming.
On Wednesday, air quality deteriorated to "very unhealthy" levels on an official index in many parts of peninsular Malaysia, to the east of Sumatra, with the Kuala Lumpur skyline shrouded by dense smog.
Nearly 1,500 schools were closed across Malaysia due to the air pollution, with over 1 million pupils affected, according to the education ministry.
The two worst-affected states were Selangor, outside Kuala Lumpur, where 538 schools were closed, and Sarawak on Borneo, with 337 closures. Hundreds of schools in several other states in peninsular Malaysia were also affected.
Borneo island is divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
A growing number of Malaysians were suffering health problems due to the haze, with authorities saying there had been a sharp increase in outpatients at government hospitals -- many suffering dry and itchy eyes.
Indonesian authorities said hundreds of schools in hard-hit Riau province on Sumatra were shut, without providing a precise number, while about 1,300 were closed in Central Kalimantan province on Borneo.
Poor visibility also caused the cancellation Tuesday of about 40 flights at three airports in Indonesian Borneo.
SINGAPORE SMOG RACE?
Air quality in Singapore worsened to unhealthy levels and a white smog obscured the striking waterfront skyline, featuring the Marina Bay Sands casino resort with its 3 towers and boat-shaped top level.
The worsening pollution increased fears that this weekend's Formula One race may be affected. Organizers say the possibility of haze is one of the issues in their contingency plan for Sunday's showpiece night race, but have not given further details.
The city-state's tourism board said spectators would be able to buy masks as protection from the haze if conditions would not improve.
Assistance would also be provided on-site for spectators who feel unwell, the board's executive director of sports, Jean Ng, told the Today news portal.
"Various Singapore government agencies have been working closely with (the) race organizer... to ensure the delivery of the best race and entertainment experience possible while keeping a watchful eye on the health and well-being of everyone involved," she said.
The Indonesian government has insisted it is doing all it can to fight the fires, with President Joko Widodo saying during a visit to a hard-hit area on Sumatra on Tuesday that "we have made every effort."
But this year's fires have been worsened by dry weather and experts believe there is little chance of them being extinguished until the onset of the rainy season in October.
Indonesia's meteorology, climate and geophysics agency said Wednesday that over 1,000 hotspots -- areas of intense heat detected by satellite that indicate a likely fire -- had been sighted, most of them on Sumatra.
The smog is also affecting endangered orangutans on Borneo, with dozens of the young apes at rescue centers contracting respiratory infections, according to the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation.
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A firefighter extinguishes a fire in a forest at Rambutan village, in Ogan Ilir, South Sumatra province, on Wednesday. Malaysia has stepped up pressure on neighboring Indonesia to tackle huge fires tearing through its rainforests and smothering Southeast Asia in smog.
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SAO PAULO - The number of fires in Brazil's Amazon basin is still on the rise, even though the government has banned burning, officials said Saturday.
In the first 48 hours since the ban was issued, satellite data from the National Space Research Institute (INPE) showed 3,859 new outbreaks of fire, of which some 2,000 were concentrated in the Amazon region.
From January to the end of August, 51.9 percent of Brazil's recorded 88,816 fires were in the rainforest, according to the INPE, a number experts call a dramatic, direct consequence of farmers' widespread deforestation.
Brazil's Amazon region is in its dry season, but experts note that 2019 has been wetter than previous years -- they also stress that there are no natural fires in the Amazon.
The no-burn decree may have been too little too late, and more of a political than practical gesture, some analysts say.
Deforestation has surged this year as agencies tasked with monitoring illegal activities were weakened by right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro.
Often called the Trump of the Tropics, Bolsonaro has questioned climate change, and argues farmers sometimes need the land for their livelihood.
Since the weekend, thousands of troops, firefighters, and aircraft have been deployed, and the defense ministry says the fires are under control.
Bolsonaro claimed in a live Facebook broadcast Thursday "this year's fires are below the average of recent years."
Deforestation for farming is one of the most serious threats to the rainforest and is a problem present in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.
Farmers in Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia commonly set fires in the dry season to clear the undergrowth in deforested areas. However, this often leads to uncontrolled burning, which takes a greater toll on the rainforest.
Much to environmentalists' chagrin, Bolivia's government recently authorized farmers to burn 20 hectares instead of the usual 5 hectares -- which is believed to have contributed to thousands of wildfires that razed 1.2 million hectares of grassland and forest since May.
Illegal crops also reduce the rainforest, such as Colombian coca cultivation, which covers roughly 170,000 hectares, according to UN data.
Significant damage is also done by illegal mining operations, which is compounded by the use of chemicals such as mercury -- particularly in gold mining -- which contaminates soil and streams.
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ALTAMIRA, BRAZIL - Federal agents in Brazil exchanged gunfire with illegal miners in the Amazon state of Para on Friday, according to Reuters witnesses, in a dramatic example of how Brazil has stepped up environmental enforcement in the wake of rainforest fires.
Federal police and agents with environmental enforcement agency Ibama were carrying out a raid on illegal wildcat miners near the Ituna/Itatá indigenous reserve, which crosses into several municipalities including the city of Altamira, according to two Reuters witnesses.
"They (the miners) hid in the forest and shot at the team," said Hugo Loss, Ibama's national coordinator of enforcement operations, who accompanied the mission.
The agents returned fire, but all of the miners escaped into the woods and no suspects were apprehended. No one was injured, according to the official. Ibama and federal police destroyed two backhoes and three other pieces of mining equipment.
Ibama had largely rolled back its field operations in Para state so far this year over failure to reach an agreement with police at the state level to offer support, according to Loss. State police generally accompany Ibama on potentially dangerous operations.
That came on top of efforts by the government of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro to weaken Ibama, including prohibiting agents from destroying machinery used to commit environmental crimes and grounding the agency's special forces unit used on riskier raids, according to a Reuters investigation.
But news broke last week that fires in the Amazon surged to their highest level since 2010 and provoked international criticism that Brazil was not doing enough to protect the world's largest tropical rainforest.
Following several days of public outcry, Bolsonaro authorized the military to support firefighting efforts, with his justice minister further issuing a decree allowing federal police to support environmental operations.
That federal support allowed for Ibama-organized raids such as the one on Friday to be carried out, Loss said. The raid was not directly related to the fires.
"Only now with the recognition of alarming deforestation and fire data and with the (justice minister's) decree, did we have conditions allowing us to operate in this area," he said.
"In this area, we had operations planned for June and July, but we weren't able to execute them... because of lack of support."
Illegal mining contributes to overall deforestation in Brazil, with roughly 10 percent of the area of the indigenous reserve near the raid having been deforested this year alone, Loss said.
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SEOUL, South Korea - A giant forest fire swept across swathes of South Korea Friday, as authorities declared a rare national disaster, deploying 900 fire engines and tens of thousands of personnel to bring it under control.
Apocalyptic images on television and social media showed walls of flame lighting up the night, buildings ablaze, and clouds of smoke billowing across hillsides during the day.
The fire broke out late Thursday alongside a road in the town of Goseong, in the far northeast of the country and only around 45 kilometers from the border with the nuclear-armed North.
Fanned by strong winds, it quickly spread through the mountainous area, incinerating 400 homes and 500 hectares of land, according to the government.
Nearly 4,200 people were evacuated and one person died while 35 were injured, authorities said.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited the areas in Gangwon province most affected by the blaze, meeting with residents who were forced to leave their homes.
Moon and his staff wore yellow jackets, which symbolize situations of national emergency.
The president's approval rating hit a record low of 41 percent Friday over concerns about the economy.
He visited an elementary school in Goseong where evacuees were staying, and Jangcheon village, where many residential houses are reported to have burned down.
"I hope you take extra care of displaced victims who -- after having lost their homes in an instant -- may now find time to catch their breath," Moon told fire officials.
The National Fire Agency said more than 870 fire engines and some 10,000 emergency personnel were dispatched to fight the blaze.
The military sent 32 helicopters, along with fire engines of its own, and 16,500 soldiers, to help.
"Fortunately, the main fire has been brought under control," provincial governor Choi Moon-soon said in a radio interview with TV channel YTN, but added that others were still burning.
The central government declared a state of national disaster, entitling affected areas to special assistance including goods and equipment, and banning entry to dangerous zones.
The last time Seoul made such a declaration was in 2007, when a crude oil carrier leaked thousands of tons of oil into the sea off the west coast.
Moon told officials to liaise with North Korean authorities if the fire approaches the border, the presidential office said.
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LOS ANGELES, California - The death toll in northern California's so-called "Camp Fire" rose to 87, officials said late Saturday, adding that the blaze was almost fully under control.
Cal Fire, the state fire authority, said in its latest bulletin that the fire - which broke out on November 8 - was 98 percent contained.
The office of the Butte County Sheriff said that 249 people remained unaccounted for - a steep drop from 474 missing reported earlier in the day.
It added that only 54 of the fatalities have been identified.
More than 153,000 acres have been torched, with nearly 14,000 homes and hundreds of other structures destroyed by the powerful blaze, California's deadliest and most destructive fire ever.
Previously the death toll had been put at 84.
Rain that soaked the Butte County fire area in the past days helped douse the remaining flames, but also made it more difficult for crews searching for bodies.
"Areas experiencing significant rainfall following a wildfire are at risk for debris flow and flash flooding," the Sheriff's office warned.
Cal Fire said that the remaining uncontained fire "is isolated in steep and rugged terrain where it is unsafe for firefighters to access due to the heavy rains."
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