Deaths, fires, drought… the Amazon is suffocating under a historic heatwave

In recent weeks, Latin America has been facing extreme heat. In Brazil as in Bolivia, record heat has caused deaths. With the tropical season underway, 2023 is shaping up to be the hottest year on record in the region.

In a region accustomed to tropical seasons, the repetition and intensity of these heatwaves even before the arrival of summer, worry and affect residents of cities and rural areas alike.

In Brazil, unprecedented heat waves have been raging for weeks. On November 19, the highest temperature ever recorded in Brazil was reached at 44.8°C. Everywhere, thermometers are panicking. In Bolivia, several temperature records were recorded and almost all departments were placed on red alert for extreme weather. The locals keep repeating it: they have never experienced such heat. Also approaching 45°C, 15 historic temperature records were recorded. In Cochabamba, Bolivia, at 2500 m altitude, it was 34°C, whereas normally it is around 25°C at this time and the heat was felt as far as La Paz, the Bolivian capital at 3 700 meters above sea level.

Heat causes death

In Rio de Janeiro, a Taylor Swift concert made headlines because a young woman died and more than a thousand people fell ill due to the excessive temperature. Being hot in Brazil is nothing new, but these heat waves are more frequent and intense. There were no more than seven days of extreme heat per year before the 1990s. Since the last decade, 52 days have been recorded each year.

The consequences for Bolivia are even more dramatic. For weeks, the media have been broadcasting prevention messages to protect against “heatstroke”, but this has not been enough. In Santa Cruz, in the east of the country, temperatures rose to 43.8°C and caused the deaths of 13 people. More generally, the entire ecosystem of the country is affected, particularly around Lake Titicaca, which has reached a historically low level, because evaporation is much higher. The situation threatens local populations and of course the species that breed in the lake.

Conjunction of critical phenomena

Threats to crops and drought are historic in the Amazon. With the immense fires in the Brazilian Pantanal, the largest wetland in the world, the entire country is suffocating. Although rains in recent days have put an end to these fires, they are not enough to normalize the situation. In Bolivia too, fires, which had been brought under control at the end of October, reactivated. The flames even reached certain urban areas and burned homes in the Amazon. The heat, combined with the fires, has seriously degraded air quality. Heavy pollution was felt up to the heights of La Paz.

According to local scientists, the conjunction of several phenomena is responsible for these climatic anomalies. The influence of El Niño causes excessive rains in some corners of the region and droughts in others. Global warming is increasing these extreme episodes, in addition to the deforestation of the Amazon, which is disrupting the balance of the regional climate system, leading to a sharp drop in precipitation.

Peak expected for December-January

In Brazil, the authorities are trying to mobilize. Beyond the intensification of the fight against deforestation since the end of Jair Bolsonaro’s mandate, aid has been released to fight against drought in the Amazon. Specific actions are also implemented in large urban centers. The Bolivians, for their part, took out the masks to protect themselves and in the Santa Cruz region, classes in schools were suspended for several days.

In recent days, the long-awaited arrival of rains has made it possible to slightly reduce the number of hot spots. But unfortunately, these extreme heat events and their consequences should not stop since the El Niño phenomenon has just started and must mature between December and January.