People in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest again reel from floods

By EDMAR BARROS and FABIANO MAISONNAVE
Associated Press

IRANDUBA, Brazil (AP) — For the second straight year, inhabitants of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest are being overwhelmed by flooding, with hundreds of thousands of people already affected by waters that are still rising. Heavy rainfall in the Amazon over the past two years is associated with the La Nina phenomenon, when Pacific Ocean currents affect global climate patterns, and which scientists say is intensified by climate change. Manaus is the Amazon’s largest city and has been tracking flood levels since 1902. It has seen seven of its worst floods over the past decade, including this year’s. In Brazil’s Amazonas state alone, an estimated 367,000 people have been affected by rising waters and  35 municipalities have declared states of emergency.