Amazon people brace for a drier future along the endangered Madeira River.
The Madeira River, the largest tributary of the Amazon, has been losing water flow over the last 20 years while facing severe droughts. The water drop is worrying the local population, whose livelihoods depend on balanced water bodies for small-scale agriculture, wild fruit extractives, fishing and transportation.
The Madeira is particularly vulnerable to hydrological extremes and reached its lowest level ever recorded in September 2024. The Amazon has been warming since the 1980s, suffering 15 extreme droughts so far.
