Drought slows Iguazu falls, Brazil's most famous, to a trickle.

[NNadir]

FOZ DO IGUACU, Brazil (Reuters) - The worst drought in 20 years has reduced South America's Iguazu falls to a trickle and tourists may have to wait until October to see water gushing over the cliffs again, officials said.

Considered one of the world's natural wonders, the huge thundering Iguazu Falls dwarf North America's Niagara Falls and rival in size Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River in southern Africa.

But the river feeding the falls is parched. Only about 80,000 U.S. gallons per second are tumbling over the fall's jagged rocks, far below the normal flow of 350,000 to 400,000 gallons (1.3 million to 1.5 million liters)...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060725/sc_nm/weather_iguazufalls_dc

Just in case you were wondering...

[gula]

1. What a difference from this January when I was there

I was on the Argentinian side and these falls are really something else. I walked around for a good 8 hours and could easily have stayed longer. I also saw some gorgeous birds and butterflies and weird-looking critters.

Thanks for posting this.

[NNadir]

2. Supposedly these falls usually pour more water than Niagara.

One of the more telling remarks in this new story is the claim that recent weather events are generating "debate" about global climate change.

If one is listening to a crazy person talk, is that really "debate?"

[gulfcoastliberal]

3. Those who remember what these wonders usedto look like should

treasure the memory of what once was. I doubt many of these wonders will recover to their previous state barring some unforseen miracle. Like the reversal of climate change.

[NNadir]

4. Here's what they used to look like.

In the old days, this would have been an excellent site for a hydroelectric dam. Just think of the megawatts.

[gulfcoastliberal]

5. They considered it but opted to buld Itaipu instead to preserve the falls

And Itaipu turned out to be one hell of an expensive battery! The massive amount of silt clogs the turbines and the bugs in the water pose a problem for the drinking water. However, Itaipu powers most of Brazil and Paraguay. Used to be the largest dam in the world until China constructed the 3 Gorges monstrosity.

Itaipu:

[NNadir]

6. Where is it in relation to the falls?

Does the dam effect the flow of the falls?

[gulfcoastliberal]

8. 6 miles upstream of the falls on the Rio Parana

The dams spillways release 40times the flow of the falls (per Wikipedia).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itaipu#Flow

[NNadir]

9. It would seem that the drought would reduce the power output.

[gula]

7. They sure did. Water everywhere you looked and the most

amazing double rainbows.