Environment

Rising Amazon floodwaters kill 48, while 405,000 become homeless

by Amy Judd | May 26, 2009 at 12:42 pm

122 views | 52 Recommendations | 3 comments

River dwellers in the Amazon are having to keep adding new floors to their houses, as they compete with rising floodwaters that have killed 48 people so far and caused 405,000 people to become homeless.

Flooding is not uncommon in this area, but this year the waters have risen so much that entire trees are now underwater. It was only four years ago that severe drought caused this area's fish and vegetation to die.

Some experts think global warming is to blame for these violent climate swings.

It's “the $1-million question,” says Carlos Nobre, a climatologist with Brazil's National Institute for Space Research.

Climatologists say more extreme weather is on te way for most of the planet as temperatures rise and deforestation affects other parts of the world.

“It's important to note that it's likely that these types of record-breaking climate events will become more and more frequent in the near future,” Dr. Nobre said.

A weather system that stayed above Brazil until May is the reason behind the Amazon flooding this year, but the southern Brazilian states have suffered a drought at the same time.

“Something is telling us to us to be more careful with the planet. Changes are happening around the world, and we're seeing them as well in Brazil,” President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said this month on his radio program.

The government has approved $440-million in emergency funding in response to both the flooding and the drought.

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Pythiian1

at 16:40 on May 26th, 2009

Sadly, Brazil is one of those countries that has been stripping its forest.

This is a dated reference although it also supports the climatologists' concerns.

Climatologists say that Brazil has been experiencing more extreme weather in recent years, including intense floods and droughts, and that the trend is likely to continue over the next few decades.

jazzyzazzy

at 00:16 on May 27th, 2009

The god of nature is fighting back.

Spydermonkey

at 08:30 on May 27th, 2009

And we, the industrialized nations are largely to blame. Our demand for cheep wood & growth at any cost will end up costing us much more than we bargained for....