Brazil Water Study Raises Fears for Drought

 

The Brazilian scientists were in disbelief after seeing the results.

They tested different models to re-check their information. But all returned the same.

The country with the most freshwater resources in the world had lost 15 percent of its surface water since 1991.

There has been slow water loss in the Brazilian-owned part of the Pantanal. The Pantanal is the world's largest warm-climate wetland. It covers an area of between 140 thousand and 195 thousand square kilometers over three countries. Today, water coverage¹ in the Pantanal is only 25 percent of what it was thirty years ago.

And the scientists' findings² are only up through 2020. This year's drought³ has been Brazil's worst in ninety years.

"When we got the first results, we wondered if there was a problem" with the math, said Cassio Bernardino. He is a project manager for the environmental group WWF-Brazil. He took part in the study along with Brazilian universities and local partners like the Amazon Environmental Research Institute. It also included international cooperators such as Google and The Nature Conservancy.

The group used artificial⁴ intelligence to study 150,000 satellite images of all surface water across Brazil, including lakes and rivers.

And their numbers were correct.

The ongoing⁵ drought has already raised energy costs and food prices. It has also dried out crops. And it has increased the risk of wildfire for large parts of forest.

Specialists warn of possible electricity shortages⁶. President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday said hydroelectric dam reserves are "at the limit of the limit."

Brazil is quickly "losing water that feeds industries, energy generation and agribusiness," Bernardino said.

Evaporation⁷ is a part of the natural process that can lessen⁸ water resources. This is especially true in areas with low water levels like the Pantanal wetlands. But the scientists believe something else is happening.

Experts have warned human activity is affecting the world's weather patterns. It is causing extreme events to happen more often, such as severe droughts⁹ and floods.

The cutting and burning of forest and the building of large hydroelectric factories and dams for watering crops all affect natural patterns, said Mažeika Patricio Sulliván. He is an ecology professor at Ohio State University.

Sulliván is a wetlands expert who has studied water systems in the United States, South America, Eastern Europe and the Caribbean. "This is not just happening in Brazil. It's happening all over the world," he said.

Sulliván said an estimated¹⁰ 90 percent of South America's wetland area has disappeared since 1900. That number is nearly 40 percent in North America, he said. Many kinds of wildlife need wetlands. Wetlands also slowly release¹¹ water into rivers, which prevents flooding.

In Brazil's Amazon rainforest, water evaporates¹² then travels on air flows to provide rainfall far away. But some climate experts say if too much forest is destroyed, the Amazon will start an irreparable process of becoming a savannah.

There are more immediate¹³ causes for worry, like possible power shortages this year. Hydroelectric reservoirs¹⁵ have had ten years of lower-than-usual rainfall. Reservoirs in the Parana River area have never before been so overused, one worker said [this month].

The Parana River and its connected water bodies supply fresh water to some 40 million people. That includes the large city of Sao Paolo and several states. Fishing communities and farmers also depend on these water bodies.

On August 25, Brazil's energy minister, Bento Albuquerque, called a press conference to deny the possibility of limiting water. At the same time, he told companies and people to reduce power usage¹⁶.

"At the current rate, blackouts are likely to happen this year," especially during high-usage hours, said Nivalde de Castro. He is with the electricity industry studies group at the Federal¹⁷ University of Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil's decreasing water resources may also worsen fires that people set each winter to clear land. The fires then burn out of control.

Last year, more than 25 percent of Brazil's Pantanal was on fire. It was the worst yearly¹⁸ damage since officials began keeping records in 2003.

The Pantanal has strong ability to restore¹⁹ itself if given the chance to do so without repeated burning events. A series of fires [in the past week] caused concern among local people.

Once again, the threat of fires is back, said Angelo Rabelo. He is president of a local environmental group that manages a protected area of about 300,000 hectares. Last year, 90 percent of his land was damaged by fires.

For Rabelo and others, those fires were a wake-up call. He formed a full-time²⁰ private firefighting team of seven people — the Pantanal's first. They are better trained and have so far been able to respond faster than government fire fighters, before fires get out of control.

But in areas without roads, moving on smaller rivers can be a problem because of low water levels, Rabelo said. That means firefighters could soon have trouble reaching some fires. And, even if they can, less water is available to put them out.

We need to start thinking about the water loss and wildfires together, said Sulliván.

Words in This Story

data - n. facts or information used usually to calculate²¹, analyze²², or plan something

drought - n. a long period of time during which there is very little or no rain

artificial intelligence - n. an area of computer science that deals with giving machines the ability to seem like they have human intelligence

evaporation - n. the act of changing from a liquid to a gas

pattern - n. the regular and repeated way in which something happens or is done

ecology - n. a science that deals with the relationships between groups of living things and their environments

reservoir¹⁴ - n. a usually artificial lake that is used to store a large supply of water for use in people's homes and in businesses

blackout - n. a period when lights are off because of an electrical power failure

1 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

2 findings   

n.发现物( finding的名词复数 )；调查（或研究）的结果；（陪审团的）裁决

参考例句：

• It behoves us to study these findings carefully. 我们理应认真研究这些发现。
• Their findings have been widely disseminated . 他们的研究成果已经广为传播。

3 drought   

n.旱灾，干旱，久旱

参考例句：

• The plants are growing in again,despite the drought.尽管干旱，植物又长出来了。
• The ground is as hard as stone after the drought.长期干旱后土地硬得就像石头一样。

4 artificial   

adj.人工的，人造的，人为的；做作的，假装的

参考例句：

• The new dam will form a large artificial lake behind it.新筑的水坝将会在后面形成一个人工湖。
• We don't use any artificial flavourings in our products.我们的产品不使用任何人工调味剂。

5 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

6 shortages   

n.不足( shortage的名词复数 )；缺少；缺少量；不足额

参考例句：

• Food shortages often occur in time of war. 在战争期间常常发生粮食短缺的情形。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• At the same time, worldwide food and fuel shortages eased. 同时，世界性粮食和石油短缺的现象终止了。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

7 evaporation   

n.蒸发，消失

参考例句：

• Be careful not to lose too much liquid by evaporation.小心不要因蒸发失去太多水分。
• Our bodies can sweat,thereby losing heat by evaporation.我们的身体能出汗，由此可以蒸发散热。

8 lessen   

vt.减少，减轻；缩小

参考例句：

• Regular exercise can help to lessen the pain.经常运动有助于减轻痛感。
• They've made great effort to lessen the noise of planes.他们尽力减小飞机的噪音。

9 droughts   

n.干旱（时期）( drought的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some of these droughts must have been severe. 有一些旱灾想必是严重的。 来自辞典例句
• Farmers' problems continued, and their suffering was compounded by serious droughts in 1986 and 1988. １９８６年和１９８８年的干旱使农民的处境更是雪上加霜。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

10 estimated   

adj．根据估计的

参考例句：

• She estimated the breadth of the lake to be 500 metres. 她估计湖面大约有500米宽。
• The man estimated for the repair of the car. 那人估算了修理汽车的费用。

11 release   

vt.发布，发表，发行；释放，放开

参考例句：

• After my examination I had a feeling of release.考完试后我有如释重负之感。
• This medicine will give you release from pain.这药吃后会解除你的疼痛。

12 evaporates   

v.（使某物）蒸发掉( evaporate的第三人称单数 )；消失，不复存在；使脱水

参考例句：

• Heat evaporates water into steam. 水受热变成水蒸气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As the water evaporates, a crust of salt is left on the surface of the soil. 随着水分的蒸发，地面上留下了一层结晶盐。 来自辞典例句

13 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

14 reservoir   

n.水库，蓄水池；(人才等的)储藏，汇集

参考例句：

• The town is supplied with water from a reservoir.该城镇由小山中的一座水库供水。
• A large quantity of water is stored in the reservoir.水库存了大量的水。

15 reservoirs   

n.水库( reservoir的名词复数 )；储藏；大量的储备；储液槽

参考例句：

• We must make use of our untapped reservoirs of talent. 我们必须利用我们尚未利用的人才。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The big storms in August refilled the reservoirs. 八月的暴雨又使水库积满了水。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 usage   

n.惯用法，使用，用法

参考例句：

• I am clear about the usage of this word at last.这个词的用法我算是弄明白了。
• The usage is now firmly established.这种用法现已得到确认。

17 federal   

adj.联盟的；联邦的；(美国)联邦政府的

参考例句：

• Switzerland is a federal republic.瑞士是一个联邦共和国。
• The schools are screaming for federal aid.那些学校强烈要求联邦政府的援助。

18 yearly   

adj.每年的，一年一度的；adv.一年一次地

参考例句：

• The flower show is a yearly event in our town.我们镇上的花展一年举行一次。
• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。

19 restore   

vt.把…恢复原状；归还，交还

参考例句：

• A good rest will restore you to health.好好休息一下可使你恢复健康。
• His recent success has helped to restore his faith in his own ability.他最近取得的成功使他恢复了对自己能力的信任。

20 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

21 calculate   

vt.计算，核算；估计，推测；计划，打算

参考例句：

• He must calculate the probability of failure.他必须计算一下失败的概率。
• I'll calculate what it will cost.我要估计一下那要花多少钱。

22 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。