Amazon Dries Out as Worst Ever Drought Hits Rainforest [View All]

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Amazon dries out as worst ever drought hits rainforest

Alex Bellos in Manaus
Saturday October 1, 2005
The Guardian

Large parts of the Amazon rainforest are at their driest in living memory, a direct consequence, scientists say, of the severe hurricane season off the US Gulf coast.

Rainfall has been significantly below average this year along the Rio Solimoes and the Rio Madeira, two of the major Brazilian tributaries that flow into the Amazon, causing water levels to drop to record lows. Rivers and lakes are drying up, revealing huge sandbanks and making navigation difficult for boats. Since many towns are only accessible by river, medicine, food and fuel are running out in some communities.

"There is no rain here because the air is descending, which prevents the formation of clouds," said Ricardo Dellarosa, of the Amazon Protection Organisation (Sipam) in Manaus. "The air is descending here because the air is rising very intensely in the north Atlantic, creating storms and hurricanes. What goes up must come down."

Gilvan Sampaio of the National Institute of Space Research said the north Atlantic was slightly warmer than usual, which had shifted the tropical weather system further north. A secondary factor, he added, was that cold fronts that usually came from the south of Brazil at this time of year had not been arriving. "These cold fronts have been heading straight into the ocean, instead of heading north towards the Amazon."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1582355,00.html