State of emergency declared in Mato Grosso do Sul due to Pantanal fire

Brazilian authorities have declared a state of emergency for six months in Mato Grosso do Sul in a move to facilitate help against the fire in the Pantanal, a natural region encompassing the world's largest tropical wetland area, and the world's largest flooded grasslands, where flames reached 627,000 hectares this year, according to the Laboratory of Environmental Satellite Applications (Lasa) of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Experts believe the main cause for this phenomenon was the extreme drought coupled with human action, especially agricultural expansion.