MANACAPURU, Brazil, Sept 20 (Askume) – A group of environmental activists from Greenpeace Brazil on Friday placed a conservation banner on sand dunes in the middle of a major Amazon river bed hit by one of the world’s worst disasters yet.
It asks, “Who will pay for this?” Greenpeace blames the environmental damage to the Amazon from climate change and global warming on the continued use of fossil fuels.
The drought has caused water levels in the Solimões River to drop to unprecedented lows, exposing its bed in the town of Manacapuru, above the city of Manaus, where it joins the Rio Negro to form the vast Amazon.
This is the second consecutive year that severe drought has dried up tropical forests, sparked massive wildfires and left riverside communities inaccessible because the water is too shallow to navigate.
Romulo Batista, a spokesman for Greenpeace Brazil, said: “We want to send a message that climate change is already affecting the world’s largest rainforest and that its rivers are drying up.”
He said vulnerable communities in the Amazon are paying the price for the consequences of climate change, such as indigenous people, fishermen and other residents whose floating homes no longer float on dry rivers.
“People living outside Amazonian cities are paying the biggest price for these extreme climate events caused by the oil and gas industry around the world,” Batista said.
The drought is causing rivers and lakes to warm, killing fish and endangering freshwater dolphins .
On Wednesday, the water temperature on the sandy banks of the Solimões River was measured at 40 degrees Celsius, which is intolerable for fish and dolphins. Dead fish or fish skeletons were found on the beach.
