Amazon River Is Drying Out, Creating a South American Crisis

Oct 29, 2024

Thought Question: If you had the power to change one thing in your environment to help it thrive, what would you change and why?

The Amazon River winds some 4,000 miles through South America before flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. It’s the world’s second-longest river and holds more water than any other. As such, it serves as a key transportation route. People rely on it for getting children to school. It's used to ferry the sick to hospitals. Some people use it to get to their jobs. And it’s used to ship needed supplies as well.   

But now, sections of the Amazon are drying up. It has become as shallow as only a few feet deep in some spots. In fact, overall water levels dropped last month to their lowest on record. One section is 25 feet below its normal level for this time of year. That's according to the Brazilian Geological Service. 

“We can practically see the vegetation on the surface of the river,” Fabricio de Oliveira Galvão told The New York Times. He's the director of the National Department of Transport Infrastructure in Brazil. 

There are a number of reasons for this. But experts point to climate change as the driving force. It is affecting nearly all parts of the Amazon rainforest. The Amazon River’s levels rise and fall due to rainfall. That's true of most rivers. This year’s dry season has been much drier than normal.   

Brazil's leaders are now trying to fix the crisis in their country by doing something once unimaginable: making the river deeper. Some parts of the river have been dredged in rare emergencies in the past. But a major dredging project that just began will be ongoing over the next five years, Galvão told the Times.   

“The climate is changing,” Galvão said. “And we are starting to prepare for this.”

Photo of the Amazon River from Wikimedia Commons courtesy of Neil Palmer/CIAT.

Question
Based on the details in the story, what do Brazilian officials and scientists agree on? (Common Core RI.5.9; RI.6.9)
a. Dredging the river is not a good solution to the water crisis.
b. Climate change is a significant factor affecting the Amazon River.
c. The river will naturally return to its normal levels without intervention.
d. The current water levels are not a cause for concern.
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