Vulnerability of the amazon basin due to extreme hydroclimatic phenomena

Abstract

Given their impact and coverage area, floods and droughts are the most relevant extreme hydroclimatic phenomena in the Amazon region. After counting events with values above 2.0 (extreme excess) or below-2.0 (extreme deficit), using Standard Precipitation Index (spi) series, it was possible to establish that these phenomena are more recurrent in the Bolivian Amazon region. Socioeconomic and biophysical data were used to identify the systems exposed to these phenomena and the different degrees of threat for agricultural systems and the population. The analysis of the vulnerability of these systems made it possible to establish that droughts are greater in the high Andean area (Bolivian, Peruvian, and Ecuadorean Amazon); to the south, in the basin of the Juruena river; to the east, in a large sector between the basins of the Xingú and Tocantins rivers; as well as to the north, in a small zone corresponding to the upper Río Branco. Regarding droughts, the greatest vulnerability is found in the southeastern Amazon, in parts of the Andean piedmont and in the entire flatland zone adjacent to the Amazon river and its tributaries.