“The latest satellite image shows how the smoke is already in the north of the country reaching the center, approaching the south. By the end of Wednesday afternoon, the entire south will be covered by smoke again,” the weather station reported.

Experts, however, have clarified that as of Thursday, the probability of rainfalls accompanied by thunderstorms increases, mainly in the south and west of the eastern region, which would contribute to clear the air quality of external pollutants.

Wildfires in Paraguay have so far consumed 165,000 hectares in the area of Chovoreca hill, department of Alto Paraguay.

The total number of hectares affected is the equivalent of 28 to 30 properties, a figure that represents 95 percent of the native forests damaged by the flames.

Climate change, heat, extreme droughts, wind gusts, deforestation, agricultural practices, such as burning to clear land and other human activities are some of the causes prompting the wave of forest fires affecting South America today.

For months, the region has been facing fierce battles against the fires that are devastating wetlands, such as those in central western Brazil, and in the southeast, jungle areas as the Amazon, among others.

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