Overview
- Researchers from Brazil’s Mamirauá Institute combined satellite records with field measurements to document extreme heating in 10 central Amazon lakes during the 2023 drought.
- Half of the lakes logged daytime temperatures above 37°C, with Lake Tefé reaching about 41°C and heat detected through the full two‑meter water column, leaving no thermal refuge for aquatic life.
- The study reports unprecedented mortality of Amazon river and tucuxi dolphins, including more than 200 carcasses recorded at Lake Tefé in late September and October 2023, alongside widespread fish kills.
- Lake surfaces shrank dramatically during back‑to‑back droughts, with Lake Tefé losing about 75% of its area and Lake Badajós contracting by roughly 90–92% in 2024.
- Long‑term satellite records indicate Amazon lakes have warmed by roughly 0.3–0.8°C per decade over about 30 years, a rate above global inland‑water averages, and the disruptions left thousands in river communities isolated without adequate supplies.