Bread and Circuses

2024-09-16 13:00:14

Excerpts from an article in which scientists explain the cause of South America's devastating drought and wildfires...
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Brazil is in the grip of its worst drought on record, an event that has parched at least 59% of Latin America’s largest country and dried out more than 1,400 cities.

Much of the crisis, scientists say, can be explained by climate change, which is driving temperatures higher and making rainfall more unpredictable. But it’s been exacerbated by the deforestation of the Amazon, which has the potential to disrupt rainfall patterns across much of South America.

“We have to focus on why this is happening,” said Philip Fearnside, a biologist at the National Institute of Amazon Research. “This is global warming and deforestation.”

Reliant on trees, the hydraulic system is now being frayed by deforestation. The destruction has been most acute in the southeastern Amazon, precisely where the moisture from the Atlantic is first deposited. The loss of vegetation is reducing the volume of water that’s reaching the continent.

In a country where agricultural gains often come at the loss of the natural environment, many think “forest is a waste of land,” said Luciana Gatti, a climate researcher at Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research.

2024 might be a year of historic drought in Brazil, she said. But don’t expect the record to stand for long.

“You can put this in capital letters,” said Gatti. “It WILL get worse and worse. We are heading toward an apocalyptic situation, and unfortunately we only wake up at the last minute.”
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FULL ARTICLE -- https://archive.ph/VO6eb

#Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis