The Amazon has been hit by a severe drought – with shocking photos showing some of the rivers almost completely dried up. The drought has been described as “apocalyptic”.
An “apocalyptic” drought has hit the Amazo, leaving nothing but parched landscapes where water once flowed freely.
As Brazil grapples with its worst drought in 70 years, raging forest fires have ripped through and ravaged protected habitats. Authorities are worried about over a thousand towns facing severe water shortages.
The richly diverse Amazon, known for its lush rainforests and expansive wetlands, alongside the state of Sao Paulo, stands particularly devastated by the fiery onslaught.
The Madeira River, a major contributor to the mighty Amazon River, now reveals stretches ominously emptied of water, while other regions display a stark barrenness.
Drone captures above the Jaquiri River in Manaquiri, located within the northern expanse of the Amazonas State, show a riverbed nearly bereft of water.
Even the outskirts of Brasilia weren’t spared, as flames consumed a protected section of forest. With the National Centre for Natural Disaster Monitoring and Alerts (Cemaden) warning of potentially more arid weather ahead, scenes emerge of locals in northern Brazil carrying drinking water across sandbanks, trying to endure amid the suffocating smoke from nearby fires, particularly affecting the Parazinho community in Humaita.
Brazil could be on the brink of a catastrophic drought, with around 5 million square kilometres that’s a whopping 58 percent of the nation currently staring down the barrel of severely dry conditions, and it looks like things might only get drier in the years to come. Researchers are tying this worrying trend to a marked decrease in rainfall since the summer of 2023.
Ana Paula do Amaral Cunha from Cemaden raised the alarm, indicating that current humidity levels in Brazil are shockingly “as low” as those in the Sahara Desert. As Brazilians grapple with what could be the “most extensive dry season for at least 70 years” there’s a grim forecast for air quality too.
Over in Humaita fine particulate matter readings now hovering at a level 14 times higher than what the World Health Organisation (WHO) deems safe for human health.
As Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva surveyed the parched landscape this week, he shared: “It seems to me that things are getting worse, year after year after year. In the Pantanal we’ve had the worst drought in the last 73 years.”
He issued a stark warning on the global stage, stressing: “This is a problem that we have to fix because otherwise humanity is going to destroy our planet. We cannot destroy that which we rely on for our life.”