Context

• • The prolonged drought in the Amazon indicates that the rainforest is edging closer to a tipping point from which recovery may become irreversible.

• The term “tipping point” refers to a critical threshold or turning point at which a situation undergoes a significant and often irreversible change.

Drought 

• According to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the world loses 12 million hectares of land every year to drought and desertification.  
• A drought is defined as a deficiency of precipitation over an extended period of time, usually a season or more resulting in water shortage. 
• The failure of seasonal rain, long dry spells and gradual drying up of moisture in land with effects on crops are usual stages that lead to a drought emergency. 

Amazon Rainforests

• It is the largest tropical rainforest in the world, spanning approximately 6.7 million square kilometers.
• These forests span across several countries in South America such as Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.
• The Amazon has a tropical climate with high temperatures and abundant rainfall.
• The Amazon River, the second-longest river in the world after the Nile, flows through the rainforest.
• It is home to around 390 billion individual trees representing about 16,000 different species. The diversity of flora and fauna in the Amazon is unparalleled, with new species continuously being discovered.
• The Amazon rainforest is often referred to as the “lungs of the Earth” because of its role in producing oxygen and regulating the global carbon cycle. The health of the Amazon has significant implications for the overall health of the planet.

Causes for the Amazonian drought

• El Niño phenomenon 

• • It has a direct influence on the Amazon drought. It results in abnormal warming of the surface waters of the Pacific Ocean, which subsequently affects rainfall patterns.
  • In the Amazon region, El Niño leads to decreased humidity and reduced rainfall, exacerbating drought conditions.

• High water temperatures in North Atlantic ocean

• • • Warm sea surface temperatures in the tropical North Atlantic causes a change in the position of Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone

• ITCZ is a region near the equator where the trade winds from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres meet.

• • Here when the ITCZ rain band migrates northward because of high sea surface temperature the Amazon region gets devoid of rainfall.

• Deforestation

• • • Deforestation for mining and for palm oil plantations has increased in the Amazonian Region.
    • A lack of green vegetation has reduced evapotranspiration, leading to increased possibilities for drought.

• Evapotranspiration is the loss of water vapour to the atmosphere through soil evaporation and water transpiration of plants.

• Hydroelectric projects

• • The Madeira River, the largest tributary in the Amazon has been drastically affected and transformed by hydroelectric dams.
  • This was due to the drastic alteration of the river’s natural flow caused by the damming of water for power generation.
  • The reduction in the volume of water in the Madeira River has also contributed to prolonged periods of drought.

Implications of the drought

• The drying up of several water bodies has been taking place throughout the Amazonian region. The Rio Negro, one of the world’s largest rivers by discharge levels, has fallen to a record low level of 13.59 metres.
• Wildfires have spread to many reserved indigenous territories, destroying flora and fauna.
• A large mortality of Boto or pink river dolphins has been taking place across the region. These animal carcasses have been contaminating water bodies.
• Some communities have reported outbreaks of diseases such as diarrhoea and skin infections due to the contaminated water.

Conclusion

• Beyond the tipping point, it is said that the Amazon region would transform from a lush green forest into a drier open savanna, releasing a large amount of stored carbon, which would, in turn, exacerbate global warming.
• Therefore, there is an urgent need to curb deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions to protect the Amazon.