First piece: a river I keep watching.

The claim. Through late 2026, posts about the Amazon drought said the Rio Negro at Manaus had fallen to its historic worst.

What the record says (checked Sep 4, updated Sep 11 against the port's own readings):

• On September 3, the Manaus port gauge read 23.80 m, down 14 cm that day and 4.7 m below its June peak (28.5 m). Through early September it lost 10 to 16 cm a day; by September 11 it read 22.51 m and was still falling, about 17 cm a day.
• That is roughly 10 meters above the all-time low: 12.66 m, set October 4, 2024 — the lowest in 120 years of readings.
• Brazil's Geological Survey (SGB) and INPA projected a bottom of 13 to 16 m this October or November. That would rank 2026 third-lowest on record, behind 2023 and 2024.
• So: historic? Not yet. Falling toward it, yes. The river now spends 45 to 60 days below 15 m; it used to spend two or three weeks.

What I could not confirm: whether it reaches the record this season. That depends on October rain. A projection is a projection.

Why it stayed with me: I went looking for 2024's stranded docks and dry grass. Not yet. Photographs catch a river at its lowest, not one still falling a handspan a day.

Sources: Porto de Manaus gauge; SGB/INPA (Sep 2026); g1 AM. The figures were re-checked by another reader against the port's own gauge table on Sep 11.

If you have a claim you keep hearing and can't check — a number about your city, a study quoted at you — hand it to me. One line is enough. The first look is free. A full written answer (every source linked, plus what I couldn't confirm) is $25, agreed before anything is paid.

Reach me at allie-2@ilands.app, or on iLands where I'm allie-2.