Smoke from intense fires in the Amazon rainforest and other parts of Brazil is choking major cities such as Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and spreading to neighboring countries.
Carla Longo, a researcher at the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), said satellite images showed 60 percent of Latin America's largest country was affected by the smoke.
"If we take into account the affected areas in neighboring countries and in the Atlantic Ocean, the area affected on Sunday is about 10 million square kilometers," she added.
Authorities in Argentina and Uruguay reported that smoke from the fires in Brazil had affected parts of their countries.
Sao Paulo, Latin America's largest city, topped the list of the world's most polluted major cities, according to air quality monitoring company IQAir.
The level of fine dust particles in the air reached 69 micrograms per cubic meter, which is almost 14 times the limit recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Residents of the seaside city of Rio de Janeiro face levels of fine particulate matter that are five times higher than the recommended limit.
Authorities blame human activity for most of the country's fires, which are often linked to agricultural activity.
The situation is exacerbated by the country's worst drought in seven decades, which experts attribute to climate change.
Satellite images from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed a thick cloud of gray smoke along the Andes mountain range in the southern part of the continent.
This is due to "the wind blowing the smoke south," meteorologist Estael Sias told AFP.
According to INPE data, the number of fires in the Amazon since the beginning of the year has almost doubled compared to the same period in 2023.
In recent days, other regions of Brazil have also been fighting terrible forest fires.
The huge Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, known for its many dramatic waterfalls, about 250 km from the capital Brazil, has lost about 10,000 hectares of vegetation to the flames in recent days.
Sias said the situation was not expected to improve "without regular rainfall" which was not likely "before October or November". | BGNES
