MENA Newswire News Desk: The Amazon River basin is experiencing its worst drought on record, with water levels plunging to historic lows, leaving once-navigable rivers and tributaries dry. The Solimões River, one of the Amazon’s major tributaries, has dropped to unprecedented levels in Tabatinga, a Brazilian town bordering Colombia. The river, which originates in the Peruvian Andes, is now 4.25 meters below its usual level for this time of year.
Further downstream in Tefé, a critical branch of the Solimões has dried up entirely, leaving large stretches of riverbed exposed. Nearby Lake Tefé, where more than 200 freshwater dolphins perished in last year’s drought, has also dried out, depriving the endangered pink river dolphins of their natural habitat. The drought marks the second consecutive year of severe conditions in the region, exacerbating wildfires that have ravaged vast areas of vegetation across Brazil. These fires have caused smoke to blanket cities, creating hazardous conditions for millions of people across South America.
In Tefé, the river level is now 2.92 meters below the average for the same period last year and is expected to continue dropping. The situation is similarly dire in Manaus, the largest city in the Amazon, where the Rio Negro is nearing its record-low water level set in October last year. Experts fear that the prolonged drought may have irreversible consequences for the ecosystem and the people who depend on the Amazon River for survival. As environmental groups and local authorities scramble to mitigate the crisis, many are calling for urgent international support to address the impact of climate change, which scientists say is a major factor in the intensifying droughts in the region.