2023–2024 South American drought facts for kids
The 2023–2024 South American drought is a long period of very dry weather. It has affected parts of Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia. This drought has caused many problems, like very low water levels in rivers and lakes. People are facing serious water shortages, and many crops have failed. There have also been many wildfires. The areas most affected are the Amazon rainforest and the Amazon basin. The Pantanal wetlands have also seen record numbers of wildfires.
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Why is South America so Dry?
The Amazon region usually gets a lot of rain during its wet season. But recently, there has been less rain than usual. This problem got worse because the northern tropical Atlantic Ocean waters became warmer. Also, the Pacific Ocean near the equator got hotter because of a natural climate event called El Niño.
On top of these natural changes, human-caused global warming has made things worse. When we release more carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane into the air, the Earth gets hotter. This leads to more extreme weather, like severe droughts. For example, September 2023 was the hottest September ever recorded globally at that time.
In January 2024, scientists from the World Weather Attribution group studied the drought. They found that human-caused climate change was the main reason for the 2023 drought. It was even more impactful than El Niño. Higher temperatures and less rain made the soil and plants lose their moisture quickly. This made the drought and wildfires much worse. In central Brazil, temperatures were 1 °C higher than the global average increase of 1.5 °C. This meant a lot of rain evaporated before it could soak into the ground.
What Happened During the Drought?
In 2023, many parts of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru faced severe water shortages and droughts. This made it hard for farmers and led to food insecurity. About 1.3 million people were affected by the drought in 2023.
Impact in Brazil
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From July to September 2023, Brazil saw its lowest rainfall in over 40 years in eight states. The Rio Negro river had some of its lowest water levels ever. In the state of Amazonas, 42 out of 62 towns declared a drought emergency. Around 250,000 people were affected.
Many small communities in the Amazon depend on rivers for travel and trade. The shallow rivers left them stranded, unable to get clean water, food, or fuel. Children who usually traveled to school by boat had to stop their education for months.
In Tefé Lake, water temperatures reached a very hot 39.1 °C (102.4 °F). This caused about 150 tucuxi and pink river dolphins to die. Both of these dolphin types are endangered species. People living near the Amazon River had to wait in long lines for humanitarian aid. This was because the drought killed their crops and fish.
Impact in Bolivia
Bolivia's rural communities were hit hard by drought and wildfires. In November 2023, Bolivia declared a state of emergency in 51 towns. This was due to environmental damage and financial losses. The government estimated that over 4,900 families were affected by wildfires made worse by the drought.
Impact in Colombia
From November 2023 to January 2024, Colombia experienced six droughts and 323 wildfires. Sixty-nine towns faced water shortages. About 45,000 people were directly affected by these harsh conditions. Water shortages led to crop failures and less milk production. Shallow rivers made it hard for fishing communities and affected food supplies because river transport was difficult. A survey found that 63.4% of nearly 2,000 families lost income due to El Niño-related climate impacts like drought. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that about 9.3 million people in Colombia faced risks from higher temperatures, changing rainfall, and food and water shortages.
Impact in Peru
Areas like Lambayeque, Piura, Tumbes, and several Indigenous lands in Peru suffered from a lack of drinking water. They also faced food shortages, more child malnutrition, and lost income. Many farming families were severely affected, with about 38,000 hectares of crops damaged by El Niño-related conditions.
Drought in 2024
In May 2024, the Brazilian savannah called the Cerrado had its worst drought in over 700 years. Scientists found this by studying stalagmites in a cave.
In June 2024, the state of Amazonas declared water shortage emergencies for 20 of its 62 towns. Many rivers became too shallow for boats, stopping local trade. This caused food prices to go up a lot. This emergency was declared two months earlier than in 2023.
In late July, Brazil's water agency announced water shortages for the Madeira and Purus river basins. This area is almost as big as Mexico. The state of Acre also declared a water shortage emergency for Rio Branco. Trucks had to bring water to the city to meet people's needs. The drought caused widespread crop failures in the state. On July 20, the Madeira River's water level near Porto Velho fell below three meters (10 feet).
In August 2024, several rivers in the Amazon reached very low levels early in the dry season. Some rivers in the southwest Amazon hit their lowest points ever for that time of year. The Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization reported that the Amazon basin was greatly affected by the drought. They expect it to cause big problems in its member countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
How the Drought Affects Electricity
In 2023, the Santo Antonio hydroelectric plant in Brazil had to stop working. This is Brazil's fourth-largest power plant. It stopped for the first time since it opened in 2012 because the Madeira River's water levels were too low.
In 2024, the low water levels in the Madeira River also greatly reduced the power output of two of Brazil's largest hydroelectric plants. Because of this, Brazil had to import electricity from Uruguay and Argentina for its northern regions. They also had to use other energy sources and ask people to use less electricity during busy times. The Brazilian National Water Agency said that low water levels would continue to affect power generation until at least November 30, 2024.
Impact on Nature
In 2023, low Amazon river levels caused thousands of fish and many river dolphins to die in Brazil. Scientists think they died because of the extreme heat or because harmful bacteria grew in the warmer rivers.
Wildfires
In September 2023 alone, almost 7,000 wildfires were reported in the Amazonas state. This was the second-highest number for September since satellites started tracking fires in 1998. The huge clouds of smoke from these fires affected over two million people in Manaus. Many people had trouble breathing because of the smoke.
