The Amazon River, known as the world’s largest by volume is struggling with a historic drought that is really aggravating challenges for millions who rely on this lifeline. In this region, roads are not quite common, and the means of transport include boats, ferries, and canoes, but climate change has led to water levels increasingly being at an all-time low, making navigation particularly unstable.

How Is the drought affecting the Amazon?

Cilene Santos, a local tour guide in Brazil, shared her fears about navigating the river under these conditions. “There are sandbanks everywhere, and the boat could hit one and break its propeller,” she told CNN. This statement depicts the fear of the majority of people in the region.

But the drought also has its impact on travel. It has closed over 1,700 schools in the Brazilian Amazon because of sharp declines in water levels, affecting more than 400,000 children, according to UNICEF.

What is the future for Amazon?

Even from the sky, the harsh impact of climate change is visible. On Sunday, former US President Joe Biden flew over the Amazon, witnessing an unsettling transformation of lush rainforest into a landscape spoiled by dunes—looking more like a desert than the world's largest tropical rainforest.

Bram Ebus, an Amazon analyst, pointed out that this is a critical moment for the region. “It is a very important time for the Amazon because, for the first time, there are two progressive presidents in the largest Amazonian economies—Colombia and Brazil,” he told CNN. “There is a small window of opportunity for both leaders to come up with concrete proposals to conserve biodiversity.”

As the Amazon faces one of its greatest challenges, there can be no denying the need for urgent action. The world is watching and hopes that leaders will take this moment to pass solid measures toward the betterment of the biodiversity of this region and those communities who rely directly on it.

The Amazon is more than a river or rainforest; it's about the vital ecosystem for the planet. The current crisis again reminds us of the tangible implications of climate change and the collective responsibility to act swiftly.