In Brazil's Amazon, rivers rise to record levels

Rivers around the biggest city in Brazil's Amazon rainforest are swelling to levels unseen in over a century of record-keeping

MANAUS, Brazil -- Rivers around the biggest city in Brazil's Amazon rainforest have swelled to levels unseen in over a century of record-keeping, according to data published Tuesday by Manaus' port authorities, straining a society that has grown weary of increasingly frequent flooding. The Rio Negro was at its highest level since records began in 1902, with a depth of 29.98 meters (98 feet) at the port's measuring station. The nearby Solimoes and Amazon rivers were also nearing all-time highs, flooding streets and houses in dozens of municipalities and affecting some 450,000 people in the region. Higher-than-usual precipitation is associated with the La Nina phenomenon, when currents in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean affect global climate patterns. Environmental experts and organizations including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say there is strong evidence that human activity and global warming are altering the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, including La Nina. Seven of the 10 biggest floods in the Amazon basin have occurred in the past 13 years, data from Brazil's state-owned Geological Survey shows.