Amazon forest fires increased by 30% in 2019: Report

Aizar RALDES / AFP

As bushfires continue to threaten parts of Australia, new stats show that Amazon fires grew by 30.5 per cent in 2019.

According to the data released by space research agency INPE, the number of fires detected in the Amazon region was 89,178 in 2019 compared with 68,345 fires in 2018.

It also identified the rising number of fires last year in other Brazilian ecosystems such as Pantanal and Cerrado. 

Critics have blamed President Jair Bolsonaro's government for contributing to the deforestation and for emboldening ranchers by calling for the Amazon to be developed.

More from International

  • Funeral ceremony for Iranian President, FM begins in Tabriz

    The funeral ceremony for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and their companions who were killed in a helicopter crash, began in the city of Tabriz on Tuesday morning.

  • One dead, injuries as Singapore Airlines flight hits 'severe turbulence'

    A Singapore Airlines flight from London made an emergency landing in Bangkok on Tuesday due to severe turbulence, the airline said, with one passenger on board dead and injuries reported.

  • Greek court drops charges in migrant shipwreck case

    Charges were dropped on Tuesday against nine Egyptian men accused of causing one of the Mediterranean's deadliest shipwrecks off Greece last year, after a Greek court said it had no jurisdiction to hear the case because the disaster occurred in international waters.

  • Nine accused of German coup plot go on trial

    A would-be prince, a former judge and parliamentarian, and retired military officers were among nine alleged conspirators who went on trial on Tuesday for a suspected "Reichsbuerger" plot to overthrow Germany's democracy.

  • Israeli army raids West Bank's Jenin

    Israeli forces raided Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday in an operation that the Palestinian health ministry said killed seven Palestinians, including a doctor, and left nine others wounded.