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Japan Today
18-05-2025
- Science
- Japan Today
As the Amazon's waves weaken, a surfer fights to protect them
Brazilian surfer Sergio Laus rides the thunderous pororoca tidal bore wave on the Mearim River, in the Amazon jungle, near the northern Brazilian city of Arari of Maranhao state, Brazil April 29, 2025. REUTERS/Adriano Machado By Sergio Queiroz, Adriano Machado and Manuela Andreoni Deep in the Amazon rainforest, the power of mighty rivers combines with the pull of the moon's gravity to form waves that run for dozens of miles. Record-breaking Brazilian surfer Sergio Laus fears that climate change and environmental degradation mean their days may be numbered. One early morning in late April, with a supermoon still in the sky, he trekked dozens of miles through the mud up the Mearim River, at the eastern tip of the Amazon, to surf the country's biggest remaining 'pororoca' and highlight the risk. The two-meter-high muddy waves that formed as the river narrowed between the lush mangroves at the margins amazed him, as they always did. "A wave breaks and dissolves," he said, of ocean waves. "This one just keeps gaining intensity. It's an Amazonian tsunami." Yet the waves were about half the size of what he saw here years ago - and even smaller than the five-meter waves he says he used to ride in the Araguari River further west before erosion caused by agriculture and nearby dams dried up Brazil's mightiest pororocas. "Looking through older pictures, I said wow, look at the size of these waves," he said. "Sometimes I cry," he added, explaining how he missed the huge waves. Laus, who twice broke records for surfing the world's longest waves, fears that sea level rise and droughts fueled by climate change, as well as erosion from farming and dams, are upsetting the balance that unleashes the force of nature he spent years learning to ride. "Nature is very alive, it feels every movement, every interference from humans," he said, adding that he hoped the global climate summit that will take place in the Amazonian city of Belem in November "would bring new hope". The name pororoca means great roar in the Tupi Indigenous language - the thunderous clash between the ocean and the river that generates a tidal bore. As the moon approaches the earth, some rivers are pushed back by ocean water lifted by its gravitational pull. The wave grows bigger as a deep river becomes shallow. Research shows climate change has made parts of the Amazon hotter and disturbed rain patterns that keep the water volume in its rivers steady. Communities near the Mearim River have also noticed the sea reach further inland, creating sandbanks and forming new mangrove areas that block the ocean tide, said Denilson Bezerra, an oceanographer at the Federal University of Maranhao. "We have felt the impact in the occurrence of the pororoca," he said. "But we still lack studies to establish the cause-and-effect relationship." Laus has surfed pororocas all over the world, in Indonesia, China, and Alaska, and he plans to continue searching for new tidal bores around the Amazon, as well as Papua New Guinea and Canada. "There are many pororocas that no one has ever seen," he said, adding that he still dreams of surfing "all the pororocas in the world." © Thomson Reuters 2025.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
As the Amazon's waves weaken, a surfer fights to protect them
By Sergio Queiroz, Adriano Machado and Manuela Andreoni ARARI, Brazil (Reuters) -Deep in the Amazon rainforest, the power of mighty rivers combines with the pull of the moon's gravity to form waves that run for dozens of miles. Record-breaking Brazilian surfer Sergio Laus fears that climate change and environmental degradation mean their days may be numbered. One early morning in late April, with a supermoon still in the sky, he trekked dozens of miles through the mud up the Mearim River, at the eastern tip of the Amazon, to surf the country's biggest remaining 'pororoca' and highlight the risk. The two-meter-high muddy waves that formed as the river narrowed between the lush mangroves at the margins amazed him, as they always did. "A wave breaks and dissolves," he said, of ocean waves. "This one just keeps gaining intensity. It's an Amazonian tsunami." Yet the waves were about half the size of what he saw here years ago - and even smaller than the five-meter waves he says he used to ride in the Araguari River further west before erosion caused by agriculture and nearby dams dried up Brazil's mightiest pororocas. "Looking through older pictures, I said wow, look at the size of these waves," he said. "Sometimes I cry," he added, explaining how he missed the huge waves. Laus, who twice broke records for surfing the world's longest waves, fears that sea level rise and droughts fueled by climate change, as well as erosion from farming and dams, are upsetting the balance that unleashes the force of nature he spent years learning to ride. "Nature is very alive, it feels every movement, every interference from humans," he said, adding that he hoped the global climate summit that will take place in the Amazonian city of Belem in November "would bring new hope". The name pororoca means great roar in the Tupi Indigenous language - the thunderous clash between the ocean and the river that generates a tidal bore. As the moon approaches the earth, some rivers are pushed back by ocean water lifted by its gravitational pull. The wave grows bigger as a deep river becomes shallow. Research shows climate change has made parts of the Amazon hotter and disturbed rain patterns that keep the water volume in its rivers steady. Communities near the Mearim River have also noticed the sea reach further inland, creating sandbanks and forming new mangrove areas that block the ocean tide, said Denilson Bezerra, an oceanographer at the Federal University of Maranhao. "We have felt the impact in the occurrence of the pororoca," he said. "But we still lack studies to establish the cause-and-effect relationship." Laus has surfed pororocas all over the world, in Indonesia, China, and Alaska, and he plans to continue searching for new tidal bores around the Amazon, as well as Papua New Guinea and Canada. "There are many pororocas that no one has ever seen," he said, adding that he still dreams of surfing "all the pororocas in the world."
Reuters
12-05-2025
- Climate
- Reuters
As the Amazon's waves weaken, a surfer fights to protect them
ARARI, Brazil, May 12 (Reuters) - Deep in the Amazon rainforest, the power of mighty rivers combines with the pull of the moon's gravity to form waves that run for dozens of miles. Record-breaking Brazilian surfer Sergio Laus fears that climate change and environmental degradation mean their days may be numbered. One early morning in late April, with a supermoon still in the sky, he trekked dozens of miles through the mud up the Mearim River, at the eastern tip of the Amazon, to surf the country's biggest remaining 'pororoca' and highlight the risk. The two-meter-high muddy waves that formed as the river narrowed between the lush mangroves at the margins amazed him, as they always did. "A wave breaks and dissolves," he said, of ocean waves. "This one just keeps gaining intensity. It's an Amazonian tsunami." Yet the waves were about half the size of what he saw here years ago - and even smaller than the five-meter waves he says he used to ride in the Araguari River further west before erosion caused by agriculture and nearby dams dried up Brazil's mightiest pororocas. "Looking through older pictures, I said wow, look at the size of these waves," he said. "Sometimes I cry," he added, explaining how he missed the huge waves. Laus, who twice broke records for surfing the world's longest waves, fears that sea level rise and droughts fueled by climate change, as well as erosion from farming and dams, are upsetting the balance that unleashes the force of nature he spent years learning to ride. "Nature is very alive, it feels every movement, every interference from humans," he said, adding that he hoped the global climate summit that will take place in the Amazonian city of Belem in November "would bring new hope". The name pororoca means great roar in the Tupi Indigenous language - the thunderous clash between the ocean and the river that generates a tidal bore. As the moon approaches the earth, some rivers are pushed back by ocean water lifted by its gravitational pull. The wave grows bigger as a deep river becomes shallow. Research shows climate change has made parts of the Amazon hotter and disturbed rain patterns that keep the water volume in its rivers steady. Communities near the Mearim River have also noticed the sea reach further inland, creating sandbanks and forming new mangrove areas that block the ocean tide, said Denilson Bezerra, an oceanographer at the Federal University of Maranhao. "We have felt the impact in the occurrence of the pororoca," he said. "But we still lack studies to establish the cause-and-effect relationship." Laus has surfed pororocas all over the world, in Indonesia, China, and Alaska, and he plans to continue searching for new tidal bores around the Amazon, as well as Papua New Guinea and Canada. "There are many pororocas that no one has ever seen," he said, adding that he still dreams of surfing "all the pororocas in the world."
Ammon
23-02-2025
- Science
- Ammon
Brazilian city in Amazon declares emergency after huge sinkholes appear
Ammon News - Authorities in a city in the Brazilian Amazon have declared a state of emergency after huge sinkholes opened up, threatening hundreds of homes. Several buildings in Buriticupu, in Maranhão state, have already been destroyed, and about 1,200 people of a population of 55,000 risk losing their homes into a widening abyss. 'In the space of the last few months, the dimensions have expanded exponentially, approaching substantially closer to the residences,' an emergency decree issued by the city government earlier this month said about the sinkholes. The recent sinkholes are an escalation of a problem that residents of Buriticupu have been watching unfold for the last 30 years, as rains slowly erode soils made vulnerable by their sandy nature, plus a combination of poorly planned building work and deforestation. The large soil erosions are known in Brazil as 'voçoroca', a word of Indigenous origins that means 'to tear the earth' and is the equivalent of sinkholes. The problem becomes worse in periods of heavy rain such as the current one, says Marcelino Farias, a geographer and professor at the Federal University of Maranhao. Antonia dos Anjos, who has lived in Buriticupu for 22 years, fears more sinkholes will soon appear. 'There's this danger right in front of us, and nobody knows where this hole has been opening up underneath,' the 65-year-old said. Buriticupu secretary of public works, and an engineer, Lucas Conceiçao said the municipality clearly does not have the capacity to find solutions for the complex sinkhole situation.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Massive sinkholes put hundreds in Amazonian town at risk
BURITICUPU, Brazil (Reuters) - The city of Buriticupu, in the northeastern tip of the Brazilian Amazon, is being slowly swallowed by the earth. In recent weeks, huge sinkholes, several meters (feet) deep, have led the municipal government to declare a state of emergency. Some 1,200 people of total 55,000 population are at risk of having their homes tip into the widening abyss. "In the space of the last few months, the dimensions have expanded exponentially, approaching substantially closer to the residences," an emergency decree issued by the city government earlier this month said about the sinkholes. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Several buildings have already been destroyed, the decree said. The recent sinkholes are an escalation of a problem that residents of Buriticupu, in Maranhao state, have been watching unfold for the last 30 years, as rains slowly erode soils made vulnerable by their sandy nature, plus a combination of poorly planned building work and deforestation. The large soil erosions are known in Brazil as "voçoroca", a word of indigenous origins that means "to tear the earth" and is the equivalent of sinkholes. The problem becomes worse in periods of heavy rain such as the current one, says Marcelino Farias, a geographer and professor at the Federal University of Maranhao. Antonia dos Anjos, who has lived in Buriticupu for 22 years, fears more sinkholes will soon appear. "There's this danger right in front of us, and nobody knows where this hole has been opening up underneath," the 65 year old said. Buriticupu secretary of public works, and an engineer, Lucas Conceicao said the municipality clearly does not have the capacity to find solutions for the complex sinkhole situation. "These problems range from the erosion processes to the removal of people who are in the risk area," he said. (Reporting Mauricio Marinho and Sergio Queiroz; Writing by Isabel Teles; Editing by Sandra Maler)
