Amazonian fish have a lot to tell us about the impact of climate change

Fish have different responses to deforestation and can be indicators of climate change. While some species can adapt well to environmental degradation, others are extremely sensitive to deforestation and may disappear.

Deforestation in the southern and eastern regions of the Amazon is accelerating the evaporation of forests. This process forms moisture, which is brought south by flying rivers, interfering with rain patterns and favoring heat bubbles. These bubbles prevent the entry of cold fronts, and when they join a zone of high atmospheric pressure, they result in extreme rain events, like the one that occurred in Rio Grande do Sul.

Gabriel Brejão, professor in the Department of Biodiversity at the Biosciences Institute at Unesp in Rio Claro, explains how fish signal climate change and extreme weather events.