Perilous Times and Climate Change
Drought shrinks Amazon River to lowest level in 47 years
A motorized canoe travelling between protruding sandbars due to the low
water level affecting the Amazon River. Photo courtesy AFP.
by Staff Writers
Rio De Janeiro (AFP) Sept 15, 2010
A severe drought parching northern Brazil this year has shrunk the
mighty Amazon River -- the world's longest river -- to its lowest level
in 47 years, officials said Wednesday.
The waterway's depth at Manaus, the main city in the Amazon region, was
just 19.34 meters (63.45 feet) -- well below its average of 23.25
meters (76.28 feet), the country's Geological Service told AFP.
The last time the river was at such a low level was in 1963.
Scientists say it appears Brazil is headed for its worst drought since
that year. Final data to be collected up to October were expected to
confirm that.
The withering of the Amazon has produced unusual scenes of children
playing football in the dried-up riverbed of a tributary, the Quarenta,
that crosses Manaus.
Worse, seven remote towns upstream that rely on water traffic as their
main link to civilization have been cut off as their own tributary has
all but disappeared.
"There are towns inaccessible by foot, and we need helicopters," the
mayor of one of the towns told the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper.
Some residents who lived through the 1963 drought said they were not so
hard up this time, as they have mineral water and water trucks
available.
"The drought is affecting river traffic, but today we can take a plane
if we have to," said resident Joao Texeira, 74.