Reference: Amazon hit by chaos, Bangkok Post, May 27, 2009

It is reported that four years ago the Amazon Basin was suffering from drought conditions and this year the Amazon was deluged under a devastating flood. The rapid succession of drought and flood is described as "climate chaos" caused by carbon dioxide emissions (Amazon hit by chaos, Bangkok Post, May 27, 2009). The historical record of weather patters in the Amazon as well as Indian lore paint a very different picture for they show that floods and droughts in the Amazon are a well known feature of the region. They have been occurring for at least a hundred years for which we have weather data and water level data for the Amazon River at Manaus. These data show and Indian lore tells us that floods tend to occur every 4 or 5 years and droughts every 14 or 15 years. In some years drought in the southwest and floods in the northeast occur simultaneously. The worst floods on record occurred in the late 1940s, early 1970s and late 1990s. The worst drought recorded occurred in 1926 following in the heels of the floods of 1912. These weather patterns correspond roughly with the El Nino and La Nina events. They are not related to atmospheric carbon dioxide content or to carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels.

Cha-am Jamal

Thailand