Environment

Extreme weather puts Brazil on alert in 2022

Intense floods in Bahia have caused deaths and displacements, while other parts of the country face severe droughts. Such extreme weather patterns are rapidly becoming the norm in Brazil

central bank weather events extreme climate change
Cities in Bahia had to deal with floods at the turn of the year. Photo: Joa Souza/Shutterstock

It has taken less than a week for extreme weather to leave its mark on Brazil this year. Some regions of the country are wrestling with massive rainfall and floods, while others have placed themselves under a state of emergency due to harsh drought conditions. 

If it seems as if extreme weather in Brazil is becoming more common, it’s because it is. A World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report from 2021 shows that Brazil has endured an average of four extreme events per year since 1970. And while the country tallied 711 such occurrences in the 1970s, the number jumped five-fold to 3,165 in the 2010s.

Bahia, a traditional hot weather destination in Brazil’s Northeast, didn’t look anything like the postcards during this summer season. Intense rains have affected over 815,000 people in the southern portion of the state, and a total of 163 municipalities were placed under a state of emergency. 

“Summer rain is not rare here,” explains Roger Sarmento, a journalist covering the rains and floods in Bahia. “But they’ve never been like they are this year.”

“The rains were the most severe natural disaster this region has ever seen,” he adds. 

In Minas Gerais, which borders Bahia to the south, 124 municipalities...

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