NEWS: Amazon Drought Emergency Widens

A severe drought in the Amazon basin is worsening, prompting Brazilian authorities to widen the State of Emergency. Brazils Military has been stepping up efforts to deliver relief supplies to thousands that have been trapped or isolated due to the severe drop in water levels.



Some of the pictures and information about this drought are shocking. Many environmentalists have blamed global warming and deforestation for the drought, wheras the official line is warmer ocean temperatures in the Atlantic, thought to be responsible for the increase in dangerous Hurricanes this year.

Tens of thousands of people are trapped, as the river was their only means of transportation, ships are left on sand banks in the many large ports along the basin and millions of fish are rotting in the sun amongst the mud. This is truly a major environmental disaster in the making.

We can only pray for rain in that part of the world and hope that the damage is limited. If this happens over the course of several years, we could be looking at the loss of the worlds largest rainforest and the implications of that are too grim to contemplate.

Anyone care to explain what is wrong with my grammar or spelling? I must be missing something here....

Nope. I can't find it.

Blow 'em off. It's a good article!

Thanks!

I felt this needed addressing and was quite surpirsed to find that ATSNN didn't have a "climate change" or such like category for these things.

I think this is something major in the works, like I said above if we lose or seriously damage the Amazon, we will be quite buggered....

Don't worry Stu, some of us voted 'Yes'.

What worries me most, in the short term, about this situation, is fire. The whole region sounds like it may be being reduced to one rather large tinder box. Should a significant area be engulfed in flames then who knows what the outcome will be!!

Imagine of there was to be a forest fire in the Amazon! The amount of CO2 released would be considerable, then the "carbon sink" nature of the forest would also be damaged. Not to mention recovery from an extensive fire would take decades, not counting the possibility of a repeat!

EDIT:

An anonymous contributor has a comment your submission: (submission) (news) Amazon Drought Emergency Widens. They seem to think your source link could be better.

No vote was recorded, and you can go back and edit your submission if you like. Correcting this issue may increase the changes of your submission being voted up sooner.

Now the source is being questioned....honestly, some people......

[edit on 15/10/05 by stumason]

news.mongabay.com...
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Some Amazon related news links above.

Its sad really the state of the Earth with deforestation...the surface of mars but on earth as our future is what I see...


[edit on 15-10-2005 by Mayet]

Ya well there will be plenty of water there when polar ice caps melt