Lula talks to Petro about the drought in the Amazon – 10/19/2023 – Environment

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) spoke by telephone this Thursday (19) with his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, to discuss the extreme drought in the Amazon region.

At Petro’s suggestion, the two held a meeting also involving Ecuador and Venezuela to formulate a common plan to combat the drought.

The Amazon region is facing a severe drought, which has already dried up rivers and has been affecting the population with lack of water, interruption in energy supply and difficulties with transport, among other problems.

On Monday (16), the Negro River reached its lowest level in 120 years of measurement in Manaus. The mark breaks the negative record of 2010 and confirms the 2023 drought as the most severe in recent times in this part of the Brazilian Amazon.

Measurement data from the Port of Manaus, taken into account in analyzes and studies by Inpa (National Institute for Amazonian Research), show that the river’s elevation was 13.59 meters on Monday. On October 24, 2010, the elevation was 13.63 meters, the worst measurement recorded until then.

At the beginning of the month, the Lula government sent a delegation of ministers to Amazonas, led by vice-president Geraldo Alckmin (PSB). The agent is recovering from surgery on his hip region.

The extreme drought in the region is the result of a series of factors. It is possible, however, to point out three main agents causing the water crisis: El Niño, high temperatures in the North Atlantic and global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions. The degradation of the Amazon also affects the generation of moisture in the forest.

During the telephone conversation, Lula and Petro discussed other issues, linked to global geopolitics.

“The two presidents also agreed on the need for peace in the Middle East and celebrated the agreement between the Venezuelan government and the country’s opposition regarding next year’s elections,” said the Presidency of the Republic, in a statement.