Drought in Amazon

Key Points: 

• Amazon forests are spread around seven million square kilometres, and stores more than 150 billion metric tonnes of carbon.
• The key rivers in the Amazon Rainforest include the Amazon River, Madeira River, Rio Negro, Marañón River, Ucayali River, Japurá River, Tapajós River, and Purús River.
• Recently, the Rio Negro river has fallen to a record low level of 13.59 metres near the city of Manaus, Brazil. 
• The present spell of drought has been since  June this year.  Water levels has dropped, killing large number of fishes. Operations of major hydropower projects have also been stopped. 
• Rainforest have become more  vulnerable to wildfires,  Amazonas state in Brazil  has witnessed 2,700 fires,   highest ever recorded  for  October since the records began 25 years ago. 

Reasons: 

• EL Nino:  It causes abnormal warming of surface waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean  and this has triggered  more extreme heat in the region.

• High Water Temperatures in the Northern Tropical Atlantic Ocean: Due to warmer ocean waters, heated air rises into the atmosphere, which on reaching  Amazon rainforest  inhibits the formation of clouds, causing rainfall to drop sharply. 

Grim Future:

• According to  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS):   If burning fossil fuels continues at the current rate, the rainforest would experience major drought nine out of every 10 years by the year 2060.

• Over the past 20 years, Amazon has become less adept at recovering from extended droughts. 

• If this continues, Amazon  would transform   into a drier open savanna, releasing a large amount of stored carbon. 

• Between 17 and 20 percent of the Amazon has been devastated in the last 50 years. To preserve the Amazon, it is therefore vital to stop deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. 

Why in news:

• The Amazon rainforest is suffering  from an intense drought and numerous rivers vital for travel have also dried up.