Forest fires, agricultural burning, and industrial activities all contribute to harmful levels of PM2. 5 pollution in the Amazon. These flames are getting more common and deadly as climate change and deforestation intensify, posing an increasing hazard to species hundreds of miles away.

The Amazon River is currently facing a multi-front environmental crisis driven primarily by illegal gold mining and agricultural runoff. Small-scale gold miners (garimpeiros) use mercury to separate gold from river sediment; this toxic metal is then dumped directly into the water, where it enters the food chain and causes neurological damage in indigenous communities and wildlife like the pink river dolphin. Furthermore, massive deforestation for cattle ranching and soy farming leads to significant soil erosion and the runoff of pesticides and fertilizers, which causes "eutrophication" or oxygen depletion in the water. In 2026, increased urbanization along the river banks has also led to a surge in untreated sewage and plastic waste being discharged into the basin. These pollutants don't just affect local water quality; they disrupt the "river's pulse," threatening the most biodiverse freshwater ecosystem on Earth and impacting the global carbon cycle by degrading the health of the surrounding rainforest.