Lake Tefe - Amazon region, courtesy Mongabay.com

If the Earth is our body, the Amazon rainforest is our lungs. Situated in South America, it spans over a whopping 6.7 million square kilometres, 9 countries, and is twice the size of India. It is a fascinating place that hosts 10% of the known species of Earth, with new animals and plants discovered almost every other day.

The majestic Amazon is home to nearly 400 billion trees. Producing about 20 percent of the world’s oxygen and storing close to 140 billion tons of carbon, it is no surprise that the Amazon rainforest is one of our most potent medicines for the climate crisis that human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) have created. However, it is facing an unprecedented crisis due to severe drought conditions that have persisted over recent years. This environmental catastrophe not only threatens the rich biodiversity within its vast expanse but drastically affects the local indigenous communities and has far-reaching implications for global climate patterns.

Amma says: "When fire breaks out on the first floor of a ten-story building, the person living on the first floor cries out for help. The person living on the tenth floor says that it is not his problem. But it soon will become his problem too. He does not realize that."

"Our own mother may carry us on her lap for five years or so. But Mother Earth will tolerate all our abuses and take care of us for our entire lifespan. We cannot forget the Mother who sustains us for all our life, who sustains all of life. We cannot forget our responsibility towards her."

Since the 19th century Industrial Revolution, when coal, oil and gas-fueled machines began to take over manual labor, the increase in pollution such as carbon dioxide (CO2) has greatly accelerated. With the rise of CO2 in our atmosphere, more of the sun’s heat gets trapped and the Earth’s surface temperature consequently rises. Since 1750, the CO2 in our atmosphere has increased by a staggering 50%.

The truth is that every fraction of a degree of warming is significant. Greenhouse gases like CO2 caused by human activities are responsible for a temperature increase of about 1.1°C since 1850. This has caused extreme weather patterns, negatively impacting all life and nature. As global temperatures continue to rise, it becomes increasingly more difficult for species and ecosystems to adapt and survive, not to mention the harmful effect on our health.

Amma says: "Today, our air, food, water – all are polluted. If we do not stop exploiting nature for our temporary selfish gains, we will destroy the world."

Dead fish as the Amazon dries up, courtesy Mongabay.com

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The Amazon is home to nearly 50 million people, including 1.5 million indigenous people. The indigenous communities are comprised of 385 different groups, speaking 274 indigenous languages, more than anywhere else in the world. As a result of unprecedented global warming, in the middle of 2023, the Amazon was hit with a devastating, record-breaking drought affecting all nine rainforest countries. As temperatures increased, reducing rainfall and causing high evaporation which dries out the soil, scientists and researchers agree that climate change was the leading factor.

Mark Poynting, Climate and Environmental researcher for BBC News, writes: “In October (2023), the Rio Negro – one of the world’s largest rivers – reached its lowest recorded level near Manaus in Brazil, surpassing marks going back over 100 years.”

Due to the high river temperatures, hundreds of endangered, pink and grey dolphins were unable to adapt and thousands of fish died. This devastating drought isolated millions of people who rely on Amazon’s waterways for transportation, income, food and medicine. Bom Jesus de Igapo Grande, a community of 40 families living in the middle of the forest, has been severely affected.

The head of the village’s son, Oliveira Tikuna admitted, "I'm 49 years old, we've never seen anything like this before. I've never even heard of a drought as bad as this."

Their transportation was disrupted, their crops spoiled, and they could not get their bananas, cassava, chestnuts and acai to the city fast enough, which severely affected their income and livelihoods. They had no water to shower. Facing such dire challenges, the elderly and most vulnerable were urged by the head of the village to move away from their loved ones and homes so they could be closer to town and the nearest hospital.

National Institute for Amazonian Research plant ecologist, Flávia Costa, who has been living and working in the rainforest for 26 years, says: "When it was my first drought I thought, 'Wow, this is awful. How can this happen to the rainforest? And then, year after year, it was record-breaking. Each drought was stronger than before."

Amma says: "By living in harmony with Nature, one gains a healthy mind and body.” It is no wonder then that the further we move away from our connection with nature the more we suffer, both mentally and physically."

Dry Amazon River bed - courtesy BBC News

Drought map - courtesy BBC.com