The calendar says that it is winter across South America, but in many places the thermometer is telling a different story.
The World Meteorological Organization reports that the month opened with an unusual winter heat wave across parts of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. With a massive dome of hot air settled over much of the continent, the mercury is reaching a range far beyond what is normal for this time of year.
Chile recorded its second highest winter temperature in history for a winter day with 37° Celsius in the city of Vicuña. Northern and Central Argentina experienced temperatures up to 38°, according to Argentina’s national weather service. The capital, Buenos Aires, saw an 81-year record fall on a recent day when temperatures rose to 30° (86° Fahrenheit).
“Climate change is not a distant scenario,” the U.N. weather agency said. “It is here, and it is urgent to act.”
As temperatures soared, not only in South America but across much of the globe, indigenous activists and environmentalists gathered in Belém, Brazil, one of the largest cities in the Amazon basin, for a conference on the future of the world’s largest rainforest. The two-day conference ended on Wednesday.
“I think the world needs to see this meeting in Belém as the most important landmark ever taken when it comes to discussing the climate question,” said Brazil’s new president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who organized the conference, the first Amazon Summit in 14 years.
Lula, as the president is known, has made protecting the Amazon rainforest and its Indigenous peoples a cornerstone of his presidency since he assumed power in January.
The Amazon Summit of eight nations that make up the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, or ACTO, agreed to continue regional cooperation including on a number of environmental policies.
Its members signed a Belém Declaration that represents a consensus agenda and contains 113 cross-cutting objectives and principles. The declaration says ACTO is the only intergovernmental body for the nations to jointly develop "projects and actions that produce equitable and beneficial results for the Amazonian countries."
Summit falls short of ultimate goal
Data from Brazil’s space agency shows that deforestation has hit its lowest level since 2017, a sharp reversal in the months after the defeat of Jair Bolsonaro, the former hard-right president and ex-military officer who opened much of his country’s rainforest riches to exploitation.
“The summit will be important to strengthen cooperation between Amazonian countries. It is necessary to have not only an environmental look, but also a social and economic one, since 50 million people live in the region who need basic services such as health care,” Alexandra Moreira, ACTO’s secretary general, said in advance of the gathering.
The declaration renews cooperation on issues such as climate, health and water management, and also aims to bolster efforts sustainable rights and Indigenous rights and protections. It also sets up a science body to produce reports on the Amazon rainforest.
However, the summit came up short on approving a common goal for ending deforestation. That will leave the nations to fend for themselves against the commercial exploitation of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use.
It also does not include a request from environmentalists and Indigenous groups to adopt Brazil’s pledge to end illegal deforestation by 2030, or to support Colombia’s pledge to halt new oil exploration or to set a deadline to end illegal gold mining.
ACTO consists of eight nations that share the Amazon basin: Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela, which signed the Amazon Cooperation Treaty on July 3, 1978. The treaty aims to promote the harmonious development of the Amazon territories, so that joint actions generate equitable and mutually beneficial results for the region's sustainable development.
The Amazon rainforest serves an important role in the global climate system, producing some 6% of the world’s oxygen while absorbing from the atmosphere huge amounts of carbon dioxide, a main driver of human-caused climate change.
The forest also creates its own weather while helping to stabilize regional temperatures. However, deforestation for logging, mining and farming has reduced the rainforest’s ability to act as a carbon sink while leaving areas subject to wildfires that grow quickly and pour tons of carbon into the atmosphere.
This story has been updated with additional details.
