In Brazil, almost 3,000 towns and cities have received red alerts as a result of an unbearable heat wave.
Brazil is currently experiencing unusually warm winter temperatures, with heat-waves defying seasonal norms. Temperatures in Sao Paulo are nearly 10 degrees above average, affecting over 11.5 million people. This is part of a larger trend in Latin America, where record-breaking heat-waves are occurring even in areas where winter should be. Meteorologists found the occurrence relating to El Niño patterns as well as the effects of global warming.
Earlier this year, scientists from the American Meteorological Society (AMS) published a report on the confirmed frequency of extreme weather. To make matters worse, El Niño, a climate-heating phenomenon, has returned, bringing with it record breaking hikes in temperatures. El Niño, a weather pattern that occurs every two to seven years in the Pacific Ocean, is known to cause temperatures to skyrocket. Climate change caused by El Niño means more natural disasters for climate-vulnerable countries to deal with in the midst of a climate crisis that is already claiming lives.
Previous records have been broken in places such as Rio de Janeiro, where temperatures reached 52.5 degrees Celsius. The heat-waves affected over a hundred million people and are expected to last until at least this Friday. Officials blamed it on the El Niño phenomenon and climate change. The National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet) reported the average temperature of 37.3 degrees Celsius in Sao Paulo on Tuesday afternoon.
According to Inmet research released last week, the average temperature in the country was higher than the historical average from July to October. Extreme weather is becoming more common and intense in many parts of the world as a result of climate change.
The Effect on the Population
Red alerts have been issued for a large portion of the country by Inmet. Temperatures could be 5 degrees Celsius above average for more than five days, posing a hazardous health risk. The heat-wave, before the start of summer, has caused Brazil’s energy consumption to reach new heights and people trying to stay dehydrated.
Extreme temperatures have made it difficult for people to work and sleep. Heat-waves are becoming longer and more intense in many places, according to scientists, and this trend is expected to continue as long as humans continue to emit global-warming greenhouse gasses. Meanwhile, the Earth is currently in an El Niño weather phase, which causes global temperatures to rise.
Source: BBC
Climate Change and Health Concerns
This heat-wave, which occurs more than a month before the start of summer in the southern hemisphere, emphasizes the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather as a result of climate change. So far in 2023, the climate crisis has been hard at work, with extreme weather events making headlines by suing many lives and livelihoods all over the world.
World environment has been changing a lot and it had shown us a record-breaking cyclone in southern Africa, wildfires in Chile and Canada, unbearable heat-waves across Asia, powerful ice storms in the southern United States, and a slew of other events that highlight what we all already know: Dramatic climate change is happening right now.
Source: NASA
Furthermore, things are only going to get worse. Environmental experts predict that at our current rate of collective delay against the climate crisis, the world could face a 1.5 degree Celsius temperature rise by the beginning of the 2030s, according to the most recent report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published in March. As a result, extreme weather events would become more frequent and stronger.
