Amazon's Worst-Ever
Drought in 2005 Caused
By Global Warming
Brazil's drought in
2005, the worst-ever
hitting the Amazon, was
caused by global warming
instead of the El Niño
weather phenomenon as
previously thought, the
country's National Space
Research Institute (INPE)
announced Sunday.
"The idea that a drought
comes with every El Niño
is simply not correct,"
said INPE researcher
Carlos Nobre who studied
the temperature of the
Atlantic Ocean and
Amazon rainfall. "El
Niño does not affect the
southwestern Amazon
region."
The warming of the
Atlantic's waters is an
effect of global
warming, the U.S.
National Center for
Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
found. The temperature
of the ocean has risen
0.7 degrees in the past
five decades.
"The temperature of the
North Tropical Atlantic
in 2005 was among the
highest in many years,
and our meteorological
analysis shows it
triggered a low pressure
system above these
waters," said the INPE's
Jose Marengo, who led
the study.
"This low pressure
system changed the winds
throughout the tropics,
and the result was less
rainfall in Amazon."
In October 2005, the
Solimoes, which becomes
the Amazon after mixing
its waters with the Rio
Negro, went so dry that
navigation in the region
was halted.
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