River level in Amazon rainforest reaches 122-year low amid drought By Reuters

By Bruno Kelly and Jake Spring

MANAUS, Brazil (Reuters) – The Amazon river port ( NASDAQ: ) of the largest rainforest city of Manaus hit its lowest level since 1902 on Friday as a drought drains waterways and piles up shipping of grain exports and of the essential supplies that represent the salvation of the region. .

Below-average rainfall – even in the rainy season – has affected the Amazon and much of South America since last year, also fueling the worst fires in more than a decade in Brazil and Bolivia. Researchers say climate change is the main culprit.

Scientists predict that the Amazon region may not fully recover its moisture levels until 2026.

Last year, the drought became a humanitarian crisis as people dependent on the rivers were stranded without food, water or medicine.

This year, the authorities are already on the alert. In hard-hit Amazonas state, at least 62 municipalities are under a state of emergency, with more than half a million people affected, according to the state’s civil defense corps.

“This is now the worst drought in more than 120 years of measurements in the port of Manaus,” said Valmir Mendonca, the port’s chief of operations, who said the river level would continue to drop for another week or two.

As the region never fully recovers from lower-than-usual seasonal rains, many of the effects of last year’s drought appear to be repeating themselves or reaching new extremes.

The Port of Manaus measured the Rio Negro at 12.66 meters on Friday, according to its website, surpassing the previous all-time low recorded last year and still falling rapidly.

The Rio Negro is a major tributary of the Amazon River, the largest river in the world by volume. The port is near the “meeting of the waters”, where the black water of the black meets the sandy colored Solimoes, which also reached a record low this week.

Grain shipments were halted on the Madeira River, another tributary of the Amazon, due to low water levels, a port association said last month.

Researchers are again finding the carcasses of freshwater dolphins in the Amazon, which they blame on thinning waters, which is bringing the threatened species into closer contact with humans.

The national disaster monitoring agency Cemaden has already called the drought the worst event in Brazil since the 1950s.

The drought also destroyed hydroelectric plants, Brazil’s main source of electricity. Energy officials have approved bringing back daylight saving time to save electricity, though the measure still needs presidential approval.

Extreme weather and dryness are affecting much of South America, with the Paraguay River also at a low level. That river begins in Brazil and flows through Paraguay and Argentina to the Atlantic.

The same heat and extreme dryness are fueling wildfires in the Amazon and nearby Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland. Bolivia is also on track to break a record for most fires ever recorded, according to data from Brazil’s space research agency.