Aerial view of the Tarumã River, which has become unnavigable due to drought. The landscape is marked by lines left by boat propellers before the river became impassable. Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil.
Typically, water levels in the Amazon fluctuate between the rainy and dry seasons. However, this year's dry season has been particularly severe, causing critical drops in all major rivers across the Amazon basin. The ongoing drought is not merely a natural occurrence; it is closely linked to climate change.
According to Brazil's geological service, the Negro River at the port of Manaus measured just 12.66 meters at the beginning of October, far below its normal level of approximately 21 meters. This is the lowest recorded level since measurements began 122 years ago.
Declining water levels threaten the region’s rich biodiversity and disrupt vital river ecosystems. Local communities that rely on these rivers for fishing, transportation, and other livelihoods are facing severe hardships. Many have found themselves cut off, with their boats stranded on expansive sandbanks. As droughts intensify, many settlers face the difficult choice of abandoning their land and livelihoods for urban areas, changing the social fabric of this region permanently.
This project makes the effects of climate change, which can so often be abstract or difficult to represent, appear as a tangible and concrete reality shaping the futures of vulnerable communities closely connected with the natural world.
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