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THE NUMBER OF forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon so far this year has already surpassed that recorded for all of 2021, according to official figures released today that triggered new alarm for the world’s biggest rainforest.
Satellite monitoring has detected 75,592 fires from 1 January to 18 September this year, already higher than the 75,090 detected for all of last year, according to the Brazilian space agency, INPE.
The latest grim news from the rainforest will likely add to pressure on President Jair Bolsonaro, who is fighting to win reelection next month and faces international criticism over a surge in destruction in the Amazon on his watch.
Since Bolsonaro took office in January 2019, average annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has increased by 75% compared to the previous decade.
Greenpeace Brazil spokesman Andre Freitas called the latest figures a “tragedy foretold”.
“After four years of a clear and objective anti-environmental policy by the federal government, we are seeing that as this government’s term – one of the darkest periods ever for the Brazilian environment – comes to an end, land-grabbers and other illegal actors see it as the perfect opportunity to advance on the forest,” he said in a statement.
Election-year row
This has been a worrying year for the Amazon, a key buffer against global warming.
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon last month was nearly double the figure from August 2021, at 1,661 square kilometres.
And since the burning season began in earnest in August with the arrival of drier weather, the number of fires has soared.
According to INPE figures, there have been multiple days that surpassed the so-called Day of Fire on 10 August 2019, when farmers launched a coordinated plan to burn huge amounts of felled rainforest in the northern state of Para.
Then, fires sent thick gray smoke all the way to Sao Paulo, some 2,500 kilometres away, and triggered a global outcry over images of one of Earth’s most vital resources burning.
Bolsonaro vehemently rejects that criticism, insisting Brazil “protects its forests much better than Europe” and batting away international alarm with the line: “The Amazon belongs to Brazilians, and always will.”
The front-runner vying to unseat him in next month’s presidential elections, leftist ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has vowed to do a better job protecting the Amazon.
Deforestation in Brazil’s 60% share of the Amazon basin fell sharply under Lula, from nearly 28,000 square kilometres in 2004 to 7,000 in 2010.
Still, he has faced criticism from environmentalists for his own track record, which notably included the controversial decision to build the massive Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in the Amazon.
And the highest number of fires ever recorded in the Brazilian Amazon by INPE, whose records go back to 1998, was on his watch: 218,637, in 2004.
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My advice. Don’t bother looking till you have mortgage approval. It could take 2 years. The market changes so frequently you’ll only be disappointed. Secondly understand the different estate agents. Sherry Fitz over price their clients houses to get a bigger fee. The guide price you see is exactly that. Offer €100k below. Sure who knows. Also keep and eye on listings. If they’ve been up for a while, they are obviously struggling to sell. That’s to your advantage.
@Danny Sherrard: offer 100k below in a sellers market? Good luck with that.
@Danny Sherrard:
This is why it should be a set fee so the prices aren’t just ballooned so much.
@Danny Sherrard: what house is going for €100k under asking in this market? Can you provide one example?
@Elaine Phelan: or be dope and offer the asking price. People like you are the reason house prices are crazy. Start low is all I say. I got my house in 2020, €40k below asking price.
When you view a home online have a careful look at the garden and try and see what flowers are blooming, whether it’s spring summer or autumn etc This can give you some indication as to how long it’s been on the market or whether it’s been relisted. It can either be a red flag indicating problems with the neighbourhood, or simply too high an asking price, in which case you might get away with offering less than anticipated.
@Liz O’Neill: On the likes of Daft there is usually a listed date.
1. Location. Close to work/family/what you love.
2. Cost v lifestyle. Make a choice, if you want holidays & fun etc buy a house with a smaller mortgage. If you prioritise a large home over everything else – go as big as you can afford.
3. Time. Which is it? Happy paying back a 35+ yr loan & see it as rent anyway (and if anything happens that’s what insurance is for). OR do you want to pay off your fast.
4. Future. Planning a family? Buy a house with that extra room to allow those teens some time away from you/a play room when they are young.
5. Short-term/life term. Buy big & sell when kids are gone -downsize? Buy small & upgrade? Do what most do – make do? Have a plan.
6. cheap furniture for the short term to fill the house & upgrade/only buy the best of the best bit by bit?
Go abroad, do the hard graft and save for couple of years, come back and buy where you know. Not for everyone, but time does fly.
Use your passport, it’s very valuable.
have your say