20232024 South American drought

The 2023–2024 South American drought refers to an ongoing drought across several states of Brazil in addition to Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia. The drought has primarily impacted the Amazon rainforest and basin, while also impacting the Pantanal wetlands causing record levels of wildfires in the latter. The World Food Programme determined that up to ~1.3 million people suffered from severe drought conditions in 2023. The resulting increase in temperatures combined with a marked decrease in rainfall caused widespread evaporation of moisture from soil and plants, which in turn significantly exacerbated drought conditions and resulting wildfires. In the state of Amazonas, 42 of 62 of its municipalities declared drought emergencies, and roughly 250,000 people were impacted by drought conditions. In November 2023, Bolivia announced a state of emergency in fifty-one municipalities due to environmental damage and resulting economic and material losses. In June 2024, the Amazon state of Cerrado suffered from its worst drought in over 700 years based on geological research of stalagmites in the open cave of Onça Cave. In May 2024, Colombia faced six droughts, 323 wildfires, water scarcity in sixty-nine municipalities, and about 45,000People who were directly affected by adverse environmental conditions.