Is Unprecedented Drought Pushing the Amazon River to the Brink of Disaster?

The Amazon River: Will the World’s Longest River Become the World’s Longest Riverbed?

The chilling video at the top of the page reveals the desolate state of the Amazon River. It is truly heartbreaking. The incredible Amazon rainforest is a place on earth that can show the current state of the climate disaster. The video begins with narration explaining that the group is traversing the Amazon river to reach a village. But the river is abnormally low, forcing them to exit the canoe and drag it across sections of dry land! Severely impacting the community of 40 families in the middle of the rainforest, the drought hinders their access. Nonetheless, they’re still trying hard to reach the affected area. 

There’s such little water that the community is having trouble bathing and watering their crops! The journalist attempting to reach the community can’t even continue boating up the river, making the horrific conditions even more clear. Forced to stop, the journalist asks the local guide about the effects of this drought. He emphasizes the severity of the situation, as the families in the village will face isolation. One of the community members already passed away because they could not transport them to a hospital in time! 

The drought is affecting thousands of villages in the same ways, affecting the more than 100,000 people that call the Amazon home. But ecologists familiar with the area warn that this drought is resulting in unprecedented, disastrous anomalies. In two lakes, freshwater dolphins have been turning up dead on the coasts in numbers like never before seen. The brazilian government responded by sending an emergency team to try to discover the cause. In some parts of the lakes, the water temperature was higher than the resting body temperature of both humans and dolphins.

The Amazon Rainforest Is Teetering On a Tipping Point!

When undisturbed by human development, the amazon rainforest can form its own rain system. Moisture condenses from the trees to form rain clouds and continue to feed the very thirsty species of plants and animals. But with large swaths of the rainforest cleared off by people, this system is all out of whack. Farmers have been setting small fires in the amazon to clear land for agricultural use. But as the forest gets drier and drier due to this diminishing rain system, these small fires easily get out of hand.

As highlighted in the video at the top of the page, logging and agricultural spread have cleared 17% of the Amazon since 1970. The tipping point would be reached if this figure hits 25% and global temperatures rise another 2.5 degrees celsius. This would be absolutely disastrous, and not only for the people who live in the amazon. For the amazon rainforest is one of the largest carbon sinks in the world, and the whole world would feel its collapse. The video concludes with words from a wary expert on Amazon plants and animals, expressing her fear. Scared for the future of the amazon, and scared if what has happened so far are only warning signs.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Alexandr Vorobev/Shutterstock.com