ブラジル国土の８０％、森林火災の煙が覆う

【ブラジリアＡＦＰ＝時事】ブラジル国立宇宙研究所（ＩＮＰＥ）が先週公開した衛星画像で、国土の８０％が森林火災の煙に覆われていることが明らかになった。（写真はブラジルの首都ブラジリアの国立公園で発生した山火事の煙でかすむ国会議事堂）
　南米大陸は現在、極度の干ばつと記録的な山火事に見舞われているが、中でもブラジルでは数週間にわたる山火事で深刻な大気汚染が起きている。
　欧州連合（ＥＵ）のコペルニクス大気監視サービス（ＣＡＭＳ）によると、通常地球上で最も雨量の多い地域の一つであるアマゾン盆地は、過去２０年で最悪の火災に見舞われている。
　専門家らによると、山火事の煙を吸い込むと、１日にたばこ４～５本を吸うのと同程度の影響がある。
　首都ブラジリアにある大規模病院の一つでは、ここ数日間で、呼吸器系の問題で受診する患者の数が通常の２０倍以上に達している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/10/01-21:02）

With as much as 80 percent of Brazil under a blanket of smoke from historic wild fires, face masks last used during the coronavirus pandemic are coming out again.
South America's biggest country has for weeks been choking on pollution along with much of the rest of the continent battling extreme drought and record fires.
Millions of hectares of forest and farmland have burnt in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru.
The Amazon basin, usually one of the wettest places on Earth, is experiencing its worst fires in nearly two decades, according to the EU's Copernicus observatory.
And last week, satellite images from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), showed 80 percent of Brazil affected by smoke.
I am a smoker but I've been coughing more than usual, student Luan Monteiro, 20, told AFP in the port of Rio de Janeiro.
Indeed, experts say that inhaling smoke from the fires has effects comparable to smoking four or five cigarettes a day.
Air pollution can worsen bronchitis and asthma, and the risk is greater the longer the exposure, according to pediatrician Renato Kfouri, vice president of the Brazilian Immunizations Society.
In one of the biggest hospitals in the capital Brasilia, the number of patients treated for respiratory problems in recent days was more than 20 times higher than usual.
- 'I put on my mask' -
In Brasilia, which has seen 160 days without rain, homemaker Valderes Loyola said she had bought a fan she uses to blow over wet towels and buckets of water to try and add some moisture to the dry air.
When I go out, I put on my mask, the 72-year-old told AFP.
Sao Paulo, Latin America's biggest metropolis, for several days last week was ranked the world?s most polluted city by Swiss-based monitoring firm IQAir.
At least 40 percent of residents of Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte, and 29 percent in Rio de Janeiro say their health was affected very much by pollution, according to pollsters Datafolha.
Internet searches for air quality reached record levels in Brazil in recent days, according to the Google Trends tool, which also reported an increase searches for humidifier and air purifier.
Experts warn about outdated air quality monitoring in Brazil, and a dearth of emergency plans to deal with smoke pollution.
Less than 2.0 percent of municipalities have air monitoring stations, Evangelina Araujo of the Instituto Ar pollution think tank told AFP.
And only one in five can detect the fine particles found in smoke that should trigger health warnings.
Authorities blame human activity for most of the recent fires in Brazil -- where they are often linked to land clearing for agriculture.
Neighboring Bolivia on Monday declared a national disaster due to forest fires affecting most of its Santa Cruz department, where authorities said 7.2 million hectares have burned since last week.