Shrinking Rivers, Shrinking Lakes equal a Shrinking Future

In the summer of 2022, the Yangtze river experienced an extreme drought, with more than fifty percent of its main trunk below the average of the previous five years, the water level in the city of Chongqing for instance dropping to reveal previously submerged Buddhist statues thought to be about 600 years old.

A few months ago, reports emerged about River Niger, West Africa’s largest river at 4,280 kilometers, that it could be drying up, with decline estimates at nearly two third of its potential flow at some of its sections, the quantity of water entering Nigeria through it at 13.5 cubic kilometers in 1989, from 25 cubic kilometers a year during the 1980s, and much lower today.

This year, the Amazon river, the largest in the world, experienced an abnormal condition of drought, with the phenomenon driving a major tributary to its lowest level in over 122 years, the level of the tributary put at 12.66 meters last week, compared with a normal level of about 21 meters.

Fifty percent of global river catchment areas showed abnormal conditions last year, with the Mississippi and Amazon river basins for instance experiencing record-low water levels, a similar situation seen across major river basins in Asia and Oceania, including the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Mekong.

Rainfall in 2022 reached record low levels at around 45 percent lower than normal on the Yangtze, entire sections and dozens of tributaries drying up, unable to cope with precipitation of less than 154.5 millimeters, just as the mean daily maximum temperature came at 3.4 degrees Celsius higher than the average for the period between 1981 and 2010.

Rainfall over the years shrunk to record levels on the River Niger, with drought  between 1985 and 1990 causing entire parts of the river to shrink completely, a situation compounded by the Sahara Desert taking over 70 percent of its territory.

Rainfall this year also reached record low levels at 100 to 350 millimeters below average on the Amazon, the rainfall between July and September the lowest amount in over 40 years, just as heat blanketed 60 percent of the river, its temperature two to five degrees Celsius above normal levels.

With other rivers on a worldwide basis suffering more or less the same thing, it’s not surprising that 50 percent of global river catchment areas showed abnormal conditions last year, major river basins in Asia and Oceania, including the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and the Mekong experiencing the same thing.

Unfortunately, the drying-up of the Yangtze river can accelerate the release of stored carbon into the atmosphere, leading to greater greenhouse gas emissions and worsening climate change, especially as the concentration of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide come at sometimes 4.5 times higher than atmospheric conditions.

The drying-up of rivers such as the River Niger could disrupt the crucial role they play in the water cycle, create changes in precipitation patterns and water availability, exacerbating the effects of climate change.

The drying-up of rivers such as the Amazon means an increase in wildfires, which contribute to climate change through the emissions of greenhouse gases, a frightening situation considering the fact that extreme wildfires are forecast to increase 14 percent by 2030 and 30 percent by 2050.

So while 50 percent of global river catchment areas showed abnormal conditions last year, it doesn't tell the entire situation, as the retreat of the Mississippi, the Amazon, and the others worsened the situation with climate change.

To halt the shrinkage of rivers, the transition to renewable energies must be accelerated, sustainable agricultural policies must be implemented, while groundwater pumping must be controlled, or humans face the possibility of extinction with the disappearance of rivers.

What to Eat

Vegan food from South Africa, Credit, Taste.co.za