‘Without Water, There Is No Life’ - Amazon's Drought Sharpens Fears for Future 1023.rtf
- 8 Brazilian states recorded the lowest rainfall in the period from July to September in over 40 years. The Amazon’s #2 tributary, the Madeira River, whose basin extends some 2,000 miles from Bolivia to Brazil, had 4 of the 5 lowest river levels recorded in the past 4 years. Further north, in the Negro River basin, a different pattern has emerged. The Amazon’s #1 tributary has had 7 of its largest floods in the past 11 years, with the worst in 2021. But the Negro River, too, is headed toward its lowest-ever water levels this year.
In 2016, 636 million cubic meters of water were traded globally, thru pipelines, trucks, and paper markets.
That's less than 0.1% of the 2 trillion cubic meters of water exchanged thru trading agricultural products in the same year.
The world's virtual water trade is dominated by food trade, led by 10 food crops - wheat, soybeans, palm oil, and maize (corn). The 10 crops - also including rice, chocolate and coffee - were responsible for 60% of world water trade.
Section Map: Drought, Oceans, Snow, Adapt