Two years of severe drought in the Amazon rainforest have left nearly 500k (half a million) children facing food and water shortages, as well as reduced access to education, according to a UN report.
The climate crisis has led to unusually low rainfall and intense heat, causing rivers in the Earth’s wettest region to recede so drastically that boats can no longer navigate them, isolating many communities.
“For the most remote communities, the situation is truly life-threatening,” said UNICEF manager Antonio Marro. “Children are falling ill with dengue fever, malaria, and other serious diseases, yet they cannot access healthcare.”
Deforestation and rising temperatures, combined with El Niño, have scorched the rainforest, drying up rivers and leaving vast sandbanks where water once flowed.
In October, the Solimões and Rio Negro rivers, two major Amazon tributaries, fell to their lowest levels since records began in 1902. Riverside communities, who depend on boats to reach essential resources, have been stranded by the severe drop in water levels.
In southern Brazil’s Amazon region, half of families in 14 surveyed communities reported their children are currently out of school because of the drought. Teachers are unable to reach these areas, leaving schools closed and children vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups controlling parts of the forest, according to UNICEF.
Children under five face a heightened risk of disease, malnutrition, and other health issues, with studies showing babies born during severe droughts or floods in the Amazon are more likely to be premature or underweight.
“This is the worst drought of the last century—a clear sign that climate change is here and worsening,” said Marro. “The rivers of the Amazon are our lifelines, and now they are drying up. Neither we nor our ancestors have ever seen anything like it.”
The Amazon, which helps stabilize climate patterns and absorbs carbon, is being fundamentally altered by global warming and deforestation.
Local communities also report mass fish die-offs, with hundreds of pink river dolphins lost to the extreme heat—a worrying sign for conservationists.
Gentil Gomez, a Ticuna Indigenous resident of Lake Tarapoto in the Colombian Amazon, shared, “We depend on the river for everything, but now it rains maybe once a month. Sometimes we have to give up trying to move our boats because the water level is so low. We hope someone, maybe a politician, can help us combat climate change because we feel it deeply.”
UNICEF estimates $10 million is needed in the coming months to deliver essential supplies, medicines, and strengthen public services for Indigenous communities in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru.
“The health of the Amazon impacts us all,” said UNICEF’s executive director, Catherine Russell.
