Climate crisis blamed for rains and floods that have killed 150 in Brazil
By Dom Phillips
About 150 people have been killed or are missing following record-breaking heavy rains, landslides and flooding in three Brazilian states this year.
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Scientists say global heating is contributing to more “extreme rainfall” events in the country, and warned that such disasters could become “the new normal”.
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Official data sent to the Guardian showed “extreme rainfall events” – when more than 80mm or 100mm falls within 24 hours – have soared over the past 30 years in the capitals of the south-eastern states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte, where the deadly rains happened.
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Not all scientists hold global warming responsible. Brazil’s Space Research Institute said the rains were “meteorological phenomena typical of summer”, and blamed them on the South Atlantic convergence zone – “a band of clouds that channels moisture from the Amazon and the tropical Atlantic Ocean” for three days or more, producing heavy rain and cold fronts. Nor has the rain increased everywhere: the north-east has seen more extreme droughts, it said.
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