Los Límites de la Habitabilidad

The report examines the critical health crisis in the Brazilian Amazon caused by intentional forest fires used for agricultural land clearing. It highlights that smoke-related pollution frequently exceeds WHO safety guidelines, leading to increased hospitalizations for respiratory and cardiovascular issues. Indigenous populations are identified as particularly vulnerable due to pre-existing health conditions and limited access to healthcare, with a noted synergy between air pollution and COVID-19 severity. The document calls for an urgent suspension of deforestation and the implementation of stricter air quality monitoring and public health warnings.

• Forest fires in the Amazon are largely intentional, driven by land clearing for intensive agriculture and livestock, which contributes to climate change by damaging a global carbon sink.
• Air quality standards in Brazil only set limits for PM10 particles, not PM2.5, and the national daily average of 60 µg/m3 exceeds the WHO guideline of 50 µg/m3 for PM10.
• In the Amazon basin, approximately 10 million of the 27 million residents live in areas with poor air quality, with smoke associated with low birth weight, increased respiratory diseases in children and elderly, and higher hospital admission rates.
• Indigenous populations face heightened risks; a 2020 study showed a 25% average increase in hospitalizations for indigenous people over 50 due to respiratory problems, and a 33.6% increase for those over 49 in Mato Grosso during burning periods.
• Air pollution increases the vulnerability of indigenous peoples to COVID-19, which is particularly critical as the COVID mortality rate among indigenous populations is 250% higher than the national average.
• Access to healthcare is severely restricted in the Amazon; while the national average distance to complex care is 155 km, it exceeds 400 km in some Amazonian states.
• PM2.5 concentrations exceeded WHO safety standards in 81% of the 616 municipalities where data was collected, with Novo Progresso (PA) recording 570 µg/m3, which is 23 times the WHO limit.

APA

MacGuire, F., & Sergeeva, M. (2021). Los Límites de la Habitabilidad. Global Climate and Health Alliance. https://climateandhealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Los-limites-de-la-habitabilidad-Caso-estudio-Brasil.pdf

Chicago

MacGuire, Frances, and Milena Sergeeva. Los Límites de la Habitabilidad. Global Climate and Health Alliance, 2021. https://climateandhealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Los-limites-de-la-habitabilidad-Caso-estudio-Brasil.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=MacGuire |first1=Frances |last2=Sergeeva |first2=Milena |title=Los Límites de la Habitabilidad |publisher=Global Climate and Health Alliance |date=2021 |url=https://climateandhealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Los-limites-de-la-habitabilidad-Caso-estudio-Brasil.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{macguire2021los, author = {MacGuire, Frances and Sergeeva, Milena}, title = {{Los Límites de la Habitabilidad}}, institution = {Global Climate and Health Alliance}, year = {2021}, url = {https://climateandhealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Los-limites-de-la-habitabilidad-Caso-estudio-Brasil.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }