#drought
More than third of Amazon rainforest struggling to recover from drought, study finds
The Guardian
‘Critical slowing down’ of recovery raises concern over forest’s resilience to ecosystem collapse.
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Drought last year left the Amazon’s rivers, including the Rio Negro tributary, at record low levels. Photograph: Andre Coelho/EPA.
More than a third of the Amazon rainforest is struggling to recover from drought, according to a new study that warns of a “critical slowing down” of this globally important ecosystem.
The signs of weakening resilience raise concerns that the world’s greatest tropical forest – and biggest terrestrial carbon sink – is degrading towards a point of no return. (...)
They found 37% of the mature vegetation in the region exhibited a slowing-down trend. While the patterns varied from area to area, they concluded that the highly deforested and degraded south-eastern Amazon was most vulnerable to a “tipping event”: in other words, a calamitous decline of the tropical rainforest to a different, drier state. (...)
The paper says the slowing recovery rate of the forest may be an “early indicator” of large-scale ecosystem collapse. (...)
“The message to policymakers is that we must protect the forest that is still there, especially in the south of the Amazon. Farmers should stop cutting forest because they lose out when this reduces rainfall,” Van Passel said. “We must stop climate change. We have all this information, now let’s act on it … I’m worried, but hopeful.”
Tags: #amazon #rain_forest #brazil #brazilie #drought #climate #climate_change #climate_crisis #global_warning #deforestation #rainfall
We need to talk about water – and the fact that the world is running out of it
The Guardian
On a planet getting hotter and drier by the year, governments are wilfully ignoring a looming crisis. (...)
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Illustration: Eleanor Shakespeare/The Guardian
To keep pace with the global demand for food, crop production needs to grow by at least 50% by 2050. (...)
A paper published in 2017 estimated that to match crop production to expected demand, water use for irrigation would have to increase by 146% by the middle of this century. One minor problem. Water is already maxed out.
In general, the dry parts of the world are becoming drier, partly through reduced rainfall; partly through declining river flow as mountain ice and snow retreats; and partly through rising temperatures causing increased evaporation and increased transpiration by plants. (...)
Already, agriculture accounts for 90% of the world’s freshwater use. We have pumped so much out of the ground that we’ve changed the Earth’s spin. The water required to meet growing food demand simply does not exist.
That 2017 paper should have sent everyone scrambling. But as usual, it was ignored by policymakers and the media. (...)
Above all, we need to change our diets. Those of us with dietary choice (in other words, the richer half of the world’s population) should seek to minimise the water footprint of our food. With apologies for harping on about it, this is yet another reason to switch to an animal-free diet, which reduces both total crop demand and, in most cases, water use. (...)
This is yet another of those massive neglected issues, any one of which could be fatal to peace and prosperity on a habitable planet. Somehow, we need to recover our focus.
Tags: #agriculture #water #water_use #crops #irrigation #cattle_farming #food_production #drought #rainfall #climate_change #climate_crisis #global_warming
Heartbreak in Zimbabwe park: Elephants’ desperate hunt for water
Blackened corpses scar a landscape where the rains have been more than six weeks late.#Features #Gallery #Climate #ClimateCrisis #Drought #InPictures #Africa #Zimbabwe
Heartbreak in Zimbabwe park: Elephants’ desperate hunt for water
Natural disasters that plagued the world in 2023
Natural disasters and extreme weather events killed and displaced tens of thousands of people across the world.#Features #Gallery #ClimateCrisis #Drought #Earthquakes #Floods #InPictures #Volcanoes
Natural disasters that plagued the world in 2023
Amazon drought: 'We've never seen anything like this'
The Amazon rainforest experienced its worst drought on record in 2023. Many villages became unreachable by river, wildfires raged and wildlife died. Some scientists worry events like these are a sign that the world's biggest forest is fast approaching a point of no return.
As the cracked and baking river bank towers up on either side of us, Oliveira Tikuna is starting to have doubts about this journey. He's trying to get to his village, in a metal canoe built to navigate the smallest creeks of the Amazon.
Bom Jesus de Igapo Grande is a community of 40 families in the middle of the forest and has been badly affected by the worst drought recorded in the region.
There was no water to shower. Bananas, cassava, chestnuts and acai crops spoiled because they can't get to the city fast enough.
And the head of the village, Oliveira's father, warned anyone elderly or unwell to move closer to town, because they are dangerously far from a hospital.
Oliveira wanted to show us what was happening. He warned it would be a long trip.
But as we turn from the broad Solimões river into the creek that winds towards his village, even he is taken aback. In parts it's reduced to a trickle no more than 1m (3.3ft) wide. Before long, the boat is lodged in the river bed. It's time to get out and pull.
. . .
#Amazon #AmazonRainForest #drought #climateChange #climateCrisis #BBC
‘Everything is dead’: How record drought is wreaking havoc on the Amazon
Communities that rely on the rainforest’s waterways now find themselves struggling with fire and plunging water levels.#Features #Agriculture #Climate #ClimateCrisis #Drought #Brazil #LatinAmerica
‘Everything is dead’: How record drought is wreaking havoc on the Amazon
First the drought, then flood: Climate crisis compounds woes for Somalis
The shocks from a relentless climate crisis have upended the lives of millions in Somalia and the Horn of Africa region.#Features #ClimateCrisis #Drought #Floods #HumanitarianCrises #Africa #Somalia
First the drought, then flood: Climate crisis compounds woes for Somalis
South America extreme weather: Rain, flood and fire hit Brazil and Bolivia
Bolivia has requested international help to deal with deadly wildfires in its Amazon region. Neighbouring Brazil is facing a severe drought in the north and ...#AlJazeera #AlJazeeraEnglish #Amazonregion #Amazonwildfires #Bolivia #Brazil #Brazildrought #Brazilfloods #Climate #ClimateChange #Drought #Environment #Floods #Naturaldisaster #SouthAmericaextremeweather #Weather #aljazeeralive #aljazeeravideo #aljazeeraEnglish #aljazeeralatest #aljazeeralive #aljazeeralivenews #naturalcalamity #naturalcalamityhitBrazilandBolivia
South America extreme weather: Rain, flood and fire hit Brazil and Bolivia
France’s poorest island is parched because of drought and underinvestment
Mayotte is in its sixth year of drought, and just had its driest year since 1997.#Features #Gallery #Climate #ClimateCrisis #Drought #InPictures #Europe #France
France’s poorest island is parched because of drought and underinvestment
‘Between risk and despair’: Cyclical drought hurts pregnant women in Angola
Angola is struggling with its worst climate crisis in 40 years as it severely affects the lives of its pregnant women.#Features #Drought #Health #Africa #Angola
‘Between risk and despair’: Cyclical drought hurts pregnant women in Angola
#Amazon #River Level Falls To Record Low During #Drought
Source: https://weather.com/news/weather/news/2023-10-17-el-nino-drought-in-brazil-amazon-record-low-river
Throughout #Brazil's Amazon, low river levels have left hundreds of riverine communities isolated and struggling to get access to drinkable #water. The drought also has disrupted commercial navigation that supplies Manaus, a city of 2 million with a large industrial park.
Panama Canal reduces ship traffic due to drought, as El Nino bites
https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3240016/panama-canal-reduces-ship-traffic-due-drought-el-nino-bites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal
#panamacanal #panama #climatechange #drought #elnino #extremeweather #americas #interoceanic #waterway #ships #atlantic-pacific #trade #transport
Brazil drought: Misery for hundreds of thousands as rains fail
Drought in Brazil's Amazon affects 600k+ people, 60 cities in emergency. Climate change worsens El Ninho's impact. Families are walking kilometers on dry san...#AlJazeera #AlJazeeraEnglish #ClimateChange #Drought #alJazeera #aljazeeraEnglish #aljazeeralive #aljazeeravideo #aljazeeraEnglish #aljazeeralatest #aljazeeralive #aljazeeralivenews #latestnews #newsheadlines #Brazildrought #Brazil
Brazil drought: Misery for hundreds of thousands as rains fail
Extreme drought in the Amazon Rainforest has turned the typically inky-black waters of Rio Negro to a parched, muddy brown. It’s a death sentence for an ecosystem defined by moisture. Dozens of river dolphins and thousands of fish have been found dead, and 42 out of 62 municipalities in Brazil’s Amazonas region have declared a state of emergency. - Planet #PlanetScope #remotesensing #Amazon #drought #climatechange
Amazon drought exposes ancient rock carvings
The Amazon region's worst drought in more than a century exposed human faces sculpted into stone up to 2,000 years ago.#Gallery #ArtsandCulture #Drought #History #InPictures #Brazil #LatinAmerica
Amazon drought exposes ancient rock carvings
Mississippi saltwater intrusion threatens Louisiana water supply
The Mississippi River is a vast waterway flowing down the center of the United States, and the source of drinking water for millions of people.But at its sou...#aljazeeralive #aljazeeraenglish #aljazeera #AlJazeeraEnglish #AlJazeera #aljazeeraEnglish #aljazeeralive #aljazeeralivenews #aljazeeralatest #aljazeeravideo #Usarmycorpsofengineers #Mississippiriver #Mississippiriverdrought #gulfofmexico #mobiledesalinationmachines #Mississippiriverwaterdesalination #newOrleans #Mississippisaltwatercreep #Louisiana #Louisianesaltwaterproblem #newOrleansdrinkingwater #drought #Louisianasaltwaterintrusion
Mississippi saltwater intrusion threatens Louisiana water supply
Mississippi River drought: Saltwater moving upstream threatens water supply
A flow of saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico has been creeping up the Mississippi River for weeks.It is a threat to those who use the river as a source of saf...#AlJazeera #AlJazeeraEnglish #Drought #GulfofMexico #MississippiRiver #MississippiRiverdrought #Water #aljazeera #aljazeeraenglish #aljazeeralive #aljazeeravideo #aljazeeraEnglish #aljazeeralatest #aljazeeralive #aljazeeralivenews #drinkingwater #latestnews #newsheadlines
Mississippi River drought: Saltwater moving upstream threatens water supply