VOA科学技术2023--Water Levels Low in North Brazil, Near Amazon River

Water Levels Low in North Brazil, Near Amazon River

People, animals and fish who depend on the waterways connected to the Amazon River close to the Brazilian city of Manaus are facing a long period of dry weather.

The city's port is an important economic area for northern Brazil. But recently, the water level of the area where the Amazon and Rio Negro¹ rivers meet reached a very low level.

The civil defense² agency³ in Amazonas state said the drought⁴ is hurting over 400,000 people.

Those who have floating homes or use boats to move around on the river for work cannot travel. They cannot get fuel, food or fresh water.

Animals and fish along the river are dying⁵. Thousands of dead fish float on the water's surface. A number of river dolphins died when they washed up on land. Dolphins are rare water mammals that live in Brazil's biggest rivers.

The organization that runs the port said the water level is only about 14 meters, the lowest since measurements⁶ started in 1902.

The previous all-time low came in 2010.

Without water, ‘there is no life'

Brazil's monitoring and disaster alert⁷ center, Cemaden, said the rainfall in the Amazon area is the lowest it has been since July to September 1980.

The nation's science ministry⁸ said the weather pattern known as El Nino is to blame for the drought and low rainfall.

Reporters in the area are describing the situation as "grim⁹."

Raimundo Silva do Carmo is a fisherman. But he cannot fish at this time. It takes him much of the day just to get water. One recent morning he was making his fourth visit of the day to a well east of Manaus.

He called carrying a water container back and forth¹⁰ "dreadful¹¹ work" made harder because of the hot sun. "Without water," he said, "there is no life."

Another man, Joaquim Mendes da Silva is 73. For 43 years, he repaired ships on a large lake. The water is the lowest he has ever seen.

Children in the area stopped going to school one month ago because they could no longer travel by boat to the schoolhouse.

Along with Amazonas state, Cemaden said seven other states recorded their lowest rainfall in 40 years for the period from July to September.

The drought is hurting all of the waterways that connect to the Amazon River, an area that contains 20 percent of the world's fresh water. By last week, 42 of the 62 cities and towns in the area declared a state of emergency.

In one area, about 600 kilometers east of the lake, about 300 families are having trouble getting food and supplies in the Auati-Paraná reserve. They can only use small boats to get to the closest city. As a result, their travel time is 14 hours instead of the usual nine.

Along the river, people fish for a large fish called a pirarucu. The fish weigh as much as 200 kilograms. People catch the fish and then take them to local markets. They usually bring their catch to market by boat. But they can no longer sell the fish because they cannot reach the market.

Edvaldo de Lira is a local business leader. He said the fishermen "run the risk of catching¹² fish in the lake, and it arrives spoiled. So, there is no way for us to fish," de Lira said.

Rain does not fall all year in the Amazon area. Rainfall is light from May to October, but the El Nino weather event is reducing the rain more than usual, said Ana Paula Cunha of Cemaden.

Climate scientists say the effects of El Nino this year are stronger because of global warming. Warming temperatures, they say, are because of carbon gases from years of burning coal, oil and gas.

One of the important rivers in the Amazon area is the Madeira. It travels over 3,500 kilometers from Bolivia to Brazil. Four of its five lowest water levels were recorded in the last four years, the Brazilian Geological¹³ Survey said.

In the port city of Porto Velho, the river's level is the lowest since measurements started in 1967. Brazil's fourth-largest hydroelectric dam, which produces power from water, is in nearby Santo Antonio. It stopped producing power last week for the first time since it opened in 2012.

Unprecedented¹⁴ difficulties

For now, the Brazilian government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is sending food and water to the far away communities in the northern part of the country. Engineers will start digging paths along dry rivers for boat travel. Payments¹⁵ will soon go to families who cannot work.

But the problems will continue, experts say.

Photographs of dead dolphins appeared in newspapers and on television programs. Ayan Fleischmann is a hydrologist, or a scientist who studies water, at the Mamiraua Sustainable Development Institute. It describes itself as a social organization supervised¹⁶ by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation¹⁷. He said the photos were a "shock for everyone." He said the extreme heat may have hurt the organs of the dolphins or contributed to the growth of harmful bacteria.

"It was an unprecedented tragedy," he said. Unprecedented means never seen before.

Experts in Brazil from the National Institute for Space Research say the drought will likely continue until the end of 2023.

Words in This Story

previous –adj. taking place at an earlier time

monitor –v. to watch or observe over time for a special purpose

drought –n. a period with very little rain or with an abnormally¹⁸ low amount of rainfall

grim –adj. causing feelings of sadness or worry

spoiled –adj. ruined; no longer usable or edible

1 Negro   

n./adj.黑人；黑人的

参考例句：

• It's impolite to call the black people Negro.称呼黑人为Negro是不礼貌的。
• He was the first Negro ever to enroll there.他是学院招收的第一个黑人学生。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 agency   

n.经办；代理；代理处

参考例句：

• This disease is spread through the agency of insects.这种疾病是通过昆虫媒介传播的。
• He spoke in the person of Xinhua News Agency.他代表新华社讲话。

4 drought   

n.旱灾，干旱，久旱

参考例句：

• The plants are growing in again,despite the drought.尽管干旱，植物又长出来了。
• The ground is as hard as stone after the drought.长期干旱后土地硬得就像石头一样。

5 dying   

adj.垂死的，临终的

参考例句：

• He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
• She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子，那里有一个垂死的人。

6 measurements   

n.量度( measurement的名词复数 )；测量；衡量；（量得的）尺寸

参考例句：

• The second group of measurements had a high correlation with the first. 第二组测量数据与第一组高度相关。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In the metric system, measurements are made in metres and liters. 在公制中，用米和升作计量单位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 alert   

adj.机警的，活泼的，机灵的；vt.使...警觉

参考例句：

• Drivers must be on the alert for traffic signals.驾驶员必须密切注意交通信号。
• The rabbIt'seems to be very alert all its life.兔子似乎一生都小心翼翼，十分警觉。

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 grim   

adj.严酷的，令人害怕的，不愉快的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• I've had a grim day.我过了不愉快的一天。
• His expression was grim when he told them they had lost their jobs.当他告诉他们说他们已被解雇时，他的表情十分冷酷。

10 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

11 dreadful   

adj.糟透了的，极端的，可怕的，令人畏惧的

参考例句：

• I cannot imagine what to do in this dreadful situation.我不能想像在这么糟的情况下该怎么办。
• I must apologize for the dreadful mistake I made.我为我所犯的严重错误深表歉意。

12 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

13 geological   

adj.地质（学）的

参考例句：

• aeons of geological history 数以亿万年计的地质史
• The workers skirted the edge of the cliff on a geological survey. 工人们沿着崖壁作了一次地质勘察。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

15 payments   

n.支付，付款，缴纳，报酬( payment的名词复数 )；付出的[要付出的]款项；报答，报偿

参考例句：

• Welfare payments cease as soon as an individual starts a job. 一旦就业，即停发福利救济。
• The law can compel fathers to make regular payments for their children. 这项法律可强制父亲定期支付子女的费用。

16 supervised   

v.监督，管理( supervise的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The architect supervised the building of the house. 建筑工程师监督房子的施工。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He supervised and trained more than 400 volunteers. 他指导和培训了400多名志愿者。 来自辞典例句

17 innovation   

n.改革，革新，新观念，新方法，新发明

参考例句：

• There are all sorts of possibilities for technical innovation.技术革新的门道很多。
• An enterprise should encourage innovation.企业应鼓励创新。

18 abnormally   

adv.不正常地

参考例句：

• His eyes were abnormally large. 他的眼睛异常大。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Blood vessels develop abnormally in cancer tumours. 在癌肿瘤中血管出现不正常。 来自《简明英汉词典》