Topline The river port in the most populated city of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest recorded its lowest water level in over a century on Monday amid a drought that has left boats stranded on the Amazon river and cut off food and water supply to villages, all while damaging the world’s most diverse ecosystem.
An aerial view of a stranded boat at the drought-hit harbor of Cacau Pirêra in the Amazon rainforest … [+] on October 4, 2023.
Getty Images Key Facts The port in Manaus, Brazil recorded a water level of 13.59 meters on Monday, Reuters reported, the lowest level recorded since record keeping began in 1902 and amid the lowest levels of recorded rainfall seen since 1980.
The El Nino weather pattern, which brings warmer sea surface temperatures and triggers extreme heat both in the ocean and on land, is likely to blame for this year’s extreme drought, per Reuters, which has impacted nearly 400,000 people and killed more than 100 endangered river dolphins.
Worldwide, countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America are also in droughts that have impacted the global food supply and contributed to record-high temperatures.
More than 40% of the lower 48 states in the U.S. were in drought last week, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with 319 million acres of major crops and 95.8 million people affected by the relative lack of rainfall.
Extreme drought in Spain, Portugal and Italy this summer has severely impacted the supply of mango, avocado, olives and durum wheat, which is headed toward a 22-year low in global production and has forced Italy’s pasta makers to turn elsewhere for their main ingredient.
In Asia, as much as 23% of India was in drought this summer as the nation experienced the driest August in more than a century, per NOAA, which impacted rice yield and came at the same time residents of Istanbul were asked to reduce their water consumption.
This year’s was the warmest August recorded since at least 1910 in Africa, with as much as 23% of the continent in drought at the end of the month.
Stranded boats can be seen in the port of Manaus on October 1, 2023.
dpa/picture alliance via Getty ImagesBig Number 20%. That’s how many members of the Northern Farmers and Shepherds Association in Portugal have stopped farming due to a lack of water and a shortage of grain, according to NOAA. Fifty percent of members have reduced their flocks.
Key Background The severe drought in the Brazilian Amazon poses a threat to as many as 30 million people who live in the Amazon basin, the BBC reported, and residents of remote villages are now stranded without ground access to food, medicine or water. Some have been forced to dig wells by hand for drinking and bathing as boats carrying supplies run aground in the river. Fish and river dolphins have been washing up dead in numbers before unseen by locals, per the BBC, and researchers are working to determine their exact cause of death. The Amazon is one of the most diverse places on Earth with more than 3 million species of animals and 2,500 species of trees calling the forest’s 2.72 million square miles home.
Tangent Global temperatures have been on the rise for years due to human-caused climate change, and those increasing temperatures increase the risk of drought in several ways, according to Yale Climate Connections. High air temperatures drain liquids from soils and plant leaves, cause water to evaporate more quickly and diminish snowfall, which is considered an essential source of water for as many as 1.9 billion people in the Northern Hemisphere. A study published this March in the journal Nature Water confirmed that the intensity of extreme drought and rainfall (or lack thereof) has “sharply” increased as global temperatures rise, PBS reported, and scientists are blaming the burning of fossil fuels and other greenhouse gas-emitting human activity for the increasingly devastating droughts.
Further Reading Amazon rainforest port records lowest water level in 121 years amid drought (Reuters)
Olive Oil Prices Jump 50%—And Climate Change Might Be Why (Forbes)
Out With Shrimp, In With Jellyfish? Seafood Industry Facing Potential Overhaul Due To Climate Change (Forbes)
India To Ban Sugar Exports In Addition To Rice—As Corn, Soybeans And More Crops Falter In Extreme Heat And Drought (Forbes)