Amazon River levels drop to near record lows

The water levels in the Amazon River in the northern jungles of Peru have dipped to near record lows this month.

River levels have fallen to 107.3 meters above sea level, according to the Hydrograpic and Navigation Service of the Peruvian Navy. Two years ago, the river reached it's lowest point in 30 years of record keeping - 106.8 meters above sea level.

The severely shallow river creates problems for the shipping industry which many of the urban areas rely on almost exclusively for provisions. There is no road to access Iquitos, the largest city in the region and it relies on river traffic for survival. When river levels plummet the 600 km Iquitos-Pucallpa route on the Amazon and Ucayali river can stretch to 25 days for a 500-barrel barge, instead of the usual 4 to 6 during normal low water conditions.

Meteorologists say the severe drought in the region is likely due to the a natural weather cycle swinging from one extreme to another rather than climate change. Although the river levels are unusually low this year, they are not expected to surpass the record lows of 2005.

Despite those assurances many blame deforestation which has accelerated in many jungle areas over this period due to logging concessions and development. According to a Stanford University report, forest degradation for the 2004-05 year - including 1,174 square kilometers of forest cleared and 1,070 disturbed - was about 175 percent of the mean for the six-year period examined.

Ironically, the deforestation warning comes as Peruvian officials have earned praise for their efforts to reduce the amount of destruction in protected areas. A recent study found that only 1 to 2 percent of the forest destruction occurred in the protected areas.

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Technorati Tags: Peru, river levels, Amazon, deforestation, climate change