The sight of Brazil’s pink river dolphins is “one of the great privileges of living in the heart of the Amazon,” says Daniel Tregidgo, a British researcher. But over the past week, more than 100 dolphins and thousands of fish have been found dead at Lake Tefé, where the water temperature is reaching 39C as a protracted drought dries up most of the water. Brazil has been experiencing extreme weather in recent months as a result of climate change and the El Niño weather phenomenon, with the level of the Amazon, the world’s largest waterway, falling by 30cm a day for the past fortnight, according to the Guardian. Brazil’s government is preparing emergency assistance for around 111,000 people affected so far – the country’s civil defence agency says the drought could eventually impact up to 500,000 people in the Amazon.
Photograph André Zumak/Mamirauá Institute