2024 Argentina wildfires

2024 Argentina wildfires
Copernicus Programme February 2024 satellite imaging of wildfires in Argentina's Los Alerces National Park showing several burn scars and smoke trails.
Copernicus Programme February 2024 satellite imaging of wildfires in Argentina's Los Alerces National Park.
Date(s)February 2024 – ongoing
LocationCórdoba and Patagonia, Argentina
Statistics
Total fires11,560 per GWIS[1]
Total area3,933,523 hectares (9,719,950 acres) per GWIS[1]
Impacts
Evacuated54+
Structures destroyed20+
Ignition
Cause2023–2024 South American drought, anthropogenic climate change, human activity

The 2024 Argentina wildfires refer to significant outbreaks of wildfires primarily across Northern and Central Argentina that devastated large stretches of forests and farming land. The intensity and spread of the wildfires markedly increased in August and September 2024 due to drought conditions and elevated temperatures.

Wildfires

The typical wildfire season was significantly exacerbated in 2024 by ongoing drought conditions and elevated temperatures caused primarily by anthropogenic climate change. These climate conditions were widely present across several other South American nations such as Brazil and Peru, leading to both of them and other nations also suffering from devastating wildfire seasons in 2024.[2][3]

Wildfires first began in Argentina in February 2024 in the Patagonia alongside deadly wildfires in Chile, where a wildfire burnt 6,000 hectares (15,000 acres) of the Los Alerces National Park.[3] Córdoba Environmental Forum president Federico Kopta noted that most of the wildfires were the result of human activity, including one outbreak that was started by an individual who was emptying a heating salamander. Volunteer firefighter Santiago Tarduchy also noted that Argentine laws, in some cases, allow a designated forest or conservation area that is struck by a wildfire to be recategorized to allow construction on its territory, which could lead to instances of arson for political reasons.[4] An open letter by Amnesty International pointed to Argentine laws that cause the nation to economically rely significantly on fossil fuels and deforestation with relatively little environmental regulation, specifically pointing to the Javier Milei government's Largescale Investments Law (RIGI) and 65% cuts to environmental funds for the 2024 budget.[5][6]

Impact

Argentine authorities reported that hundreds of wildfires had burnt at least 91,540 hectares (226,200 acres) of land in total.[6] By 25 September, the Copernicus Programme found that 11,560 fires had burnt 3,933,523 hectares (9,719,950 acres) of land in 2024[1] The wildfires burnt at least 40,000 hectares (99,000 acres) of land in Córdoba, resulting in significant agricultural losses including widespread killing of cattle and the destruction of several houses and fields. Photographs taken in Capilla del Monte showed cattle that were "completely burned and blackened", while residents claimed that the arriving wildfires sounded like a "monster", a "growl", or a "turbine".[2] By 23 September, over 20 homes were destroyed and 54 people required evacuation in the Punilla Valley region.[4]

As a result of a massive cloud of smoke produced by wildfires in Argentina as well as in nearby nations such as Bolivia, Paraguay, and Brazil, significant decreases in air quality were recorded across cities in northern Argentina during September.[7]

Response

President of Argentina Javier Milei intended to travel to the devastated regions on 25 September. Several firefighting units, planes, and helicopters were deployed in order to prevent the wildfires from spreading into nearby urban and residential areas.[2] Residents of Capilla del Monte and Los Cocos were evacuated as the wildfires began to reach homes.[8] Three people were arrested for intentionally starting fires.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "GWIS - Statistics Portal". gwis.jrc.ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  2. ^ a b c "Cattle burn as 'monster' wildfires rage in Argentina ranchlands". Reuters. 25 September 2024. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  3. ^ a b Meadows, Sam (2024-02-13). "'We are in an era of megafires': new tactics demanded as wildfires intensify across South America". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  4. ^ a b c Iricibar, Valen (2024-09-24). "Wildfires hit Córdoba province: multiple arrests, over 16,000 hectares burned". Buenos Aires Herald. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  5. ^ Gardel, Lucía (2024-05-30). "Menos fondos para ambiente en el gobierno de Javier Milei: el presupuesto 2024 destinado a la subsecretaría se redujo un 65%". Chequeado (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  6. ^ a b "Américas: Carta abierta a presidentes de Argentina, Brasil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Perú: Récord de incendios forestales requiere una respuesta sin precedentes". Amnistía Internacional (in Spanish). 23 September 2024. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  7. ^ de los Ángeles Orfila, María (2024-09-19). "Record-breaking fires engulf South America, bringing black rain, green rivers and toxic air to the continent". LiveScience. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  8. ^ Wildfires rage in central Argentina. Sky News. 22 September 2024. Retrieved 2024-09-25.