Amazon deforestation and irregular rainfall in southern Brazil: a warning to society

Abstract

Through the exhibition of scientific materials at public events, the project 'Resilience in socio-environmental riverine systems in the Amazon' of the Amazônia+10 Program has successfully disseminated information about the correlation between the conservation of the Amazon biome and Paraná ecosystems. The project involves the collaborative participation of professors and students from the Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Universidade Federal de Alagoas and the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia. In May 2024, it took part in the Agricultural, Industrial, and Commercial Fair of Maringá (Expoingá) with a display of materials about flying rivers and traditional communities. Over the 10 days of the event, around 200,000 people visited the pavilion where the project was exhibited. During the visits, the fair's audience could observe the materials and ask questions to the volunteers. Among the interactions, a small portion of the audience showed prior knowledge of the concepts related to the communities, mostly those native to Brazil’s Northern region. Additionally, most of the interested audience was slightly older, above 30 years of age. Scientific dissemination actions like this, when carried out during major events, provide valuable information to the visiting public, who can take this knowledge back to their cities, encouraging the creation of similar initiatives and expanding the reach of practices of environmental education and environmental conservation actions.