Amazon lakes hit ‘unbearable’ hot-tub temperatures amid mass die-offs of pink river dolphins – study

An Amazon river dolphin in the Rio Negro, in Brazil’s Amazonas state, where more than 150 dolphins died in a heatwave in 2023. Photograph: Gabrielle Therin-Weise/Getty Images

Amazonian lakes are being transformed into simmering basins hotter than spa baths as severe heatwaves and drought grip the region, research shows.

The temperature of one lake exceeded 40C (104F) as water levels plummeted under intense sunlight and cloudless skies. The extreme heat triggered mass die-offs among endangered Amazon river dolphins and fish, which cannot survive in such high temperatures.