Fire and Strong Winds Create 'Sandstorm' in the Pantanal
A mixture of strong winds with soot and smoke from the Pantanal fires on Tuesday (13) caused a scenario similar to a sandstorm. The phenomenon occurred in Serra do Amolar (MS), one of the biome's most preserved areas. A photo taken from inside one of the aircraft used to fight fires in the region shows a huge low brown cloud covering almost the entire area. A video recorded the ashes being blown away by the wind, in an image that resembles a blizzard. "After almost 15 days of continuous fire, it has been put out thanks to the efforts of brigadiers and firefighters. When the fire was extinguished, we were surprised by "his storm," said the president of the Instituto do Homem Pantaneiro (IHP), Angelo Rabelo, who is in the Serra do Amolar. "It advanced in a few minutes, from east to west, bringing smoke, soot, and sand. It was difficult to breathe and to see. We were all scared; it was very surprising. From the beginning of the year until last Sunday (11), Pantanal's Pantanal's 15 million hectares were consumed by fire, a destroyed area equivalent to that of the state of Rio de Janeiro. The calculation is from Lasa (Laboratory of Environmental Satellite Applications), from UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), and was passed on by Ibama.