Brazil’s cities getting hotter and hotter

The South of Brazil is traditionally known for being the “least tropical” part of the country. With more amenable temperatures and even some sporadic snow in winter, it was less common to see the scorching heat felt in other parts of Brazil. One exception, however, was the city of Porto Alegre—the largest urban center of the region—which was notorious for having hot summers.

In the 1980s, middle-class inhabitants of Porto Alegre used to flee to the beach at the end of the year to escape the hot weather. Back then, the city’s average temperatures in December—the height of Brazil’s summer—reached 25 degrees celsius....