Tough Time In Manaus: The Dry Season Mario Cohn-Haft - November 4, 1997 |
Here its the dry season, and everyone who clears forest for whatever reason is taking
advantage of the climate to burn. This year is the worst Ive seen. This is the least
devastated region of the Brazilian Amazon, yet, to judge from the smoke that has
enveloped the city, limiting the view to just a few hundred meters and turning the full
moon orange, the whole Amazon is on fire. Its an extremely disturbing sight.
Its already hard to believe that I was in the woods taping and collecting Hemitriccus in
far eastern Amazonia a few weeks ago. Back in Manaus, its not just the usual
"manausea" setting in: things are weirder than ever. Between the heat, the smoke, the
drought, the energy crisis, the infernal traffic, and El Nino, its "Manaus, o caos" (that
means "Manaus, the chaos"only in Portuguese it rhymes).
Its hot. Like every other summer, there are lots of real hot days. The temperature is in
the mid-nineties in the shade. At night it cools off considerably and theres often a nice
breeze. But by 8 am the suns already starting to cook. Unlike most summers, however,
its like this virtually every day. It just doesnt rain at all it seems. Constant heat like this
drains everybodys energy and makes people cranky and irrational. And of course the
drought facilitates burning.
Several people back home have asked if the smoke is really that bad, or if its still going
on. The smoke had eased up a bit. For over a month it was so smoky in town that you
couldnt see to the end of the street, that the sun started to set orange at 4 in the
afternoon, that boats heading up and down the big rivers were cruising right by Manaus
without knowing it, that it smelled of smoke everywhere and at times seemed to be
snowing ashes (in the house!), that little kids and folks with respiratory troubles were
getting sick. Then, for about a week last week, the sky was mostly blue overhead and it
felt more like typical summer weather (blazing, unobstructed sun).
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