English: November 14, 2023 December 25, 2022

Mud-colored riverbanks and the appearance of new islands mid-stream mark the results of severe drought in Brazil’s Amazon basin in this false-color image acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite on November 14, 2023. Thin lines of water (blue) threads through narrow, muddy banks of the Rio Negro (north) and the Amazon River. To the practiced eye, the severe impacts of the record-setting drought are unmistakable in this single image. However, to truly appreciate the breath-taking impact simply, click on the dates to reveal a second Terra MODIS false-color image of the same region on December 25, 2022, when water levels were more normal.

July through October fall within the dry season in the western and northern Amazon rainforest, but a particularly acute lack of rain during this period in 2023 has pushed the region into a severe drought. NOAA reported that the water levels in the Rio Negro had reached a new historic low of 12.7 meters on the gauge at Manaus on October 27. That’s the lowest level in 121 years of record keeping. In the image, Manaus is marked by gray and tan pixels at the confluence of the Rio Negro and Amazon.

According to a Humanitarian Situation Report published by UNICEF on November 22, the State of Amazonas in Brazil has declared emergency for 100% (62 in total) of the state’s municipalities since October 2023. As of 25 October 25, the State of Pará, adjacent to Amazonas, also declared 20 of its 144 municipalities in emergencies. The affected surface represents between 1,5 and 2 million km², about 20% of Brazil's territory - which is about the size of both Colombia and Venezuela combined.

The UNICEF report reads, “The low level of the Rio Negro means that the transport of the most basic and essential products (food, medicine, fuel) is compromised, as most secondary and tertiary tributaries are dried up. As a result, hundreds of communities and towns in the region are totally isolated without any means of locomotion. The rivers are no longer navigable, making the transport of cargo and passengers impossible.” An estimated 150,000 families (600,000 people) are affected by the low river levels.

Following several periods of severe drought, this year’s drought has created an exceptionally high risk of wildfire. More than 22,050 fires were recorded in Amazonas since October, impacting the entire population of Manaus (over 2 million people) and surroundings. UNICEF reports that this resulted in “heavy smoke in Manaus and surrounding areas, reaching a critical life-threatening air quality level (index 749 - WAQ Index), considered the worst in the world history, directly affecting the most vulnerable, including children and pregnant women.”

Although seasonal rains have resumed over Peru, and light rains have begun to fall in Brazil by mid-November, the national disaster center released a bulletin projecting a high likelihood of extremely limited rainfall over the Amazon in the next two months. Rain usually begins to fall in this region in October.