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The Water is Disappearing in Amazonas

Photo from Gravgaard's article, "The Water is Disappearing in Amazonas" in Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. Anna-Katarina Gravgaard. Colombia, 2011.

Anna-Katarina Gravgaard's article, "The Water is Disappearing in Amazonas," appeared in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. In it, she reports that the water levels in the Amazon river were at their lowest ever measured this year.

As the temperature rises over the North Atlantic, hot air is sent in over the forest which impacts the natural rain patterns causing three dramatic droughts within the last 15 years. Gravgaard went to the center of the Amazon forest, to the city Leticia, and up the Amazon river to talk to some of the indigenous communities that had been all but isolated by the drought. Although the dry period is usually welcome here, because it brings a layer of fertile soil and easy access to fish, they told her about the hardship of having to walk the distances they usually navigate by boat, of not being able to bring their crops to the markets and of losing rainwater for drinking and cooking.

Download a pdf of the article below (in Danish).