A file pic of an agent of the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) inspecting a tree extracted from the Amazon rainforest, in a sawmill during an operation to combat deforestation, in Placas, Para State, Brazil. — Reuters
A SEVERE drought in Brazil’s Amazon has damaged the forest ecosystem, brought chaos for riverside communities reliant on fishing and river transport, and fuelled wildfires that have cloaked the region’s biggest city in smoke for weeks.
The Amazon basin accounts for a fifth of the freshwater flowing into the world’s oceans, but many of the region’s key rivers have been severely depleted by the dry spell – the fourth severe drought to hit the Amazon in less than 20 years.
