Solar power helps Amazon communities ditch diesel and prepare for El Niño drought

SANTAREM, Brazil -- For the riverine community of Nova Sociedade, deep inside a protected area of Brazil's Amazon rainforest, the Arapiuns River is the only route to the outside world.The Arapiuns flows into the Tapajos, one of the Amazon River’s major tributaries, across waterways so vast that navigating them can feel like crossing the open sea. Yet during a historic drought in 2024, Nova Sociedade’s residents had to walk as far as 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) in search of water.“At daybreak, our struggle would begin,” said Tiago Silva, an Arapium Indigenous community leader in Nova Sociedade. “Children carrying water, elderly people carrying water. We all suffered.”Two years later, the community is better prepared for this year’s El Niño, the naturally occurring climate phenomenon that raises global temperatures and can worsen drought in the Amazon.In June, Nova Sociedade installed solar panels to power water pumps that fill storage tanks and provide clean water to all 36 families in the village. The Amazon-based nonprofit Saude e Alegria provided the system and has equipped 29 other communities with similar technology ahead of another possible severe drought.Before solar power arr...