The Brazilian government announced that it plans to dredge several sections of the river Amazon because the water level is reducing to shallow pools just a few meters deep. Sediment would be collected in four strategic sections of its channel and moved to areas where the water is deeper.
The decision will allow the circulation of people and goods, even in times of drought, official sources explained.
Scientists warned there could be lasting traces left in aquatic systems and would harm plants and animals.
The Geological Survey of Brazil reported that In September the river dropped to its lowest level ever recordedabout 7.6 meters by Below average for this time of year.
The director of the National Department of Transport Infrastructure, Fabricio de Oliveira Galvão, He expressed: “In some places, we can practically see the vegetation on the surface of the river, the water is so low that the plants in the bed are exposed.”
The Amazon river basin It is delimited from the watershed and includes the surface occupied by the river and its thousands of tributaries, covering an area of 7,352,112 km2in six countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela
The Amazon River is an important communication route.
The lowering of the waters negatively impacted the movement of people and vital cargo through vessels, as well as the access of cargo ships to the international production center of Manaus.
But they are not the only activities affected. According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the drought generated an increase of 0.44 percent in prices in September (the highest variation in the month since 2021) and 0.50 percent in food prices. .
Due to the contribution of hydroelectric generation to the national energy matrix, the lack of rainfall also made electricity more expensive, causing an increase of almost 0.90 reais per 100 kWh.
Rising temperature
The researcher at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, in Brazil, Bernard Floreshighlighted that in some regions of the Amazon The average temperature has increased 2 percent since the 1980s and is forecast to continue rising.
Flores expressed: “The entire Amazon is getting much warmer… and this has an enormous influence. “The current drought is associated with these much higher temperatures.”
He climate change, deforestation and constant fires are the main reason for the drought in the region and, consequently, of the descent of the waters of the Amazon River.
He Amazon river born in the Andean mountain range 6600 meters above sea level and flows into the Atlantic Ocean.
In the Amazon basin there are known more than 2,700 species of fish (1,900 of which are endemic)which is approximately 8% of the world’s fish species. Approximately 35 new species are described each year, at an average of one every 10 days.
Beyond its amazing diversity of life, The Amazon River is a source of life for the more than 47 million people who live on its banks and throughout its basin.
Almost 2.2 million indigenous peoplerepresenting more than 400 different ethnic groups, call the basin home.
For many, River fish is its main source of protein. A single person can consume about 500 g of fish per day in certain communities.
The river itself and the animals that live in it are revered in local cultures.
However, the health of the Amazon River is being threatened. The hydroelectric dams, invasive species and pollution They continue to degrade their waters.
The deforestation and conversion to agriculture, mining, urban expansion and other stresses They also affect the flow and quality of water entering the river.
Source: Ambito
