Climate change drives Amazon droughtーNHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS

Today we explore a region described as the beating heart of our planet. Stretching across South America, the Amazon River Basin hosts the world's largest tropical rainforest, where millions of trees generate oxygen and regulate global climate. Also known as the pillar of life, it shelters an astonishing share of the world's biodiversity. Yet this critical ecosystem is under siege. Illegal logging is rapidly diminishing its forests. And now there's a new threat, a catastrophic drought. For a closer look at the unfolding crisis, we go to Brazil, home to the largest stretch of the Amazon River. The second straight year of record drought is rocking areas along the Amazon River. Many places have seen no rainfall for months. And the dry air and parched vegetation are fueling forest fires. The village of Manacapuru faces the Solimois River, one of the main tributaries of the Amazon. Residents mostly relied on the river to get around to nearby villages and transport goods. But as the water levels in parts of the river's upper reaches have shrunk drastically, many boats are now stranded. Where water once rained, vast expanses of sand stretch out for kilometers. These days people have to walk or use vehicles to take care of business and personal needs. At this time of the year, the dry season, water levels always drop, but never as dramatically as this. People are even forced to transport their boats to points where they can safely navigate the river. All of this is not just impacting the communities in river basins. It's also taking a toll on one of the Amazon's main businesses, tourism. Here at another branch of the Amazon, grass is growing where the river once flowed and where Diogo Pereira ran his floating restaurant. Before the drought, his place was packed with people enjoying the food, music and stunning scenery. Closed now for over two months, Pereira has no sense of when he may be able to open again. The drought is also hitting manufacturing. This free trade zone, located in Manaus, the largest city in the region, hosts around 500 companies. Many assemble imported parts at their factories and ship finished products domestically and worldwide. For this, they need container ships. But depleted river water levels near Manaus mean the large ships can no longer enter the port. So the port administrators had to set up a temporary site downstream at Itacoatiara at considerable cost. There, cargo is transferred to smaller vessels that can navigate shallow waters to reach Manaus. What is behind the record drought? An expert who studies the Amazon River in Manaus analyzed the phenomenon. Areas shown in red indicate low rainfall. Drought is occurring not only in the Amazon region, but also across South America. He believes that the El Nino climate pattern, which describes the warming of the Pacific Ocean surface, is being compounded by the concurrent warming of the Atlantic Ocean. And this may be driving the extreme drought conditions. When these events occur, rainfall amounts in the Amazon rainy season decrease. The tropical rainforest is also being impacted by the drought in various ways. If the amount of rainfall declines and the soil is exposed for extended periods, groundwater levels will decrease. Many trees will die off. And this will make the area more vulnerable to forest fires. He added that if the drought persists, some areas along the Amazon River may be rendered uninhabitable. The concern is that residents affected by the drought will become climate refugees, as we are already seeing in Africa and Asia. If residents are forced to move, forest logging and illegal mining will further advance. The process of climate change seen on Earth today will speed up. With the natural climate change buffer under threat, the urgency of human intervention has never been greater. But Takamura Yukari, an expert on negotiations for environmental issues, says a united global response seems elusive. The incoming administration of the United States is expected to come up with policies that put its own interests first, rather than policies of working together with a majority of countries to resolve global issues. Major countries in Europe and other areas are also losing their political bases at home. So I think the political environment has become very difficult for reaching an agreement to resolve issues through interstate negotiations. Yet Takamura retains hope that other players can take action. Everyone is starting to feel the urgency concerning the impact of climate change. So I'm hoping that a country or group of countries will emerge to take the lead in solving this issue. At the same time, during the first term of the Trump administration, non-state actors such as businesses, financial institutions, and local governments worked together on a global scale to promote measures related to climate change policy. So I believe the role of these businesses and civil society will become even more important.