Due to deforestation, El Niño, and climate change, the Amazon rain forest is currently experiencing a drought unlike any other.
A section of the Negro River in the Brazilian Amazon jungle, close to Manaus, dropped to just 41.6 feet this month, the lowest level since records were kept 120 years ago. Around 500 miles to the west, at Lake Tefé, over 140 river dolphins were discovered dead. This was most likely due to the lake’s temperature approaching 40 °C, rather than low water levels.
While climate change is part of the cause, but deforestation is the main issue at hand. Deforestation has caused the area to become a dryer landscape, thus causing the river levels to drop drastically.
This issue doesn’t only affect wildlife, it affects all humans that utilize the river on a daily basis — for travel, food, supply chains and general daily living needs.
To see a first hand look at just how much the Amazon river has dropped in water levels, check out world traveler Kurt Caz’s video below.