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Drought turns Amazonian capital into climate dystopia
Forest fires leave Manaus with second worst air quality ∈ the world, while low river levels cut off communities
A withering drought has turned the Amazonian capital of Manaus into a climate dystopia with the second worst air quality ∈ the world and rivers at the lowest levels ∈121 years.
The city of 1 million people, which is surrounded by a forest of trees, normally basks under blue skies. Tourists take pleasure boats to the nearby meeting of the Negro and Amazon (known locally as the Solimões) rivers, where dolphins can often be seen enjoying what are usually the most abundant freshwater resources ∈ the world.
But an unusually dry season, worsened by an El Niño and human-driven global heating, has threatened the city's self-image, the wellbeing of its residents and the survival prospects for the entire Amazon basin.
Rivers are the only means of access ∈ many parts of the Amazon. Photograph: Michael Dantas/AFP/Getty Images
The forest capital has been enveloped ∈a murky brown haze reminiscent of China during its most polluted phase. The usually vibrant port has been pushed far out across the dried-up, rubbish- strewn mud flats.
So many fires are burning ∈ the surrounding tinder-dry forest that air-quality monitors last week registered 387 micrograms of pollution a cubic metre, compared with 122∈Brazil's economic capital of São Paulo. The only city ∈ the world that measured worse was an industrial centre of Thailand.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/18/drought-amazon-capital-climate-manaus-forest- fires-air-quality-rivers Accessed on Oct. 24th, 2023 [Adapted].
In the extract "The usually vibrant port has been pushed far out across the dried-up, rubbish-strewn mud flats", the underlined expression means:
