Amazon deforestation could leave 11 million Brazilians living in extreme heat

Welcome to the “Number of the Week,” where we choose a single figure that helps understand what’s going on in Brazil. This week, climate change and Amazon deforestation could leave 11 million Brazilians living in extreme heat conditions by the end of the century. 

11 mn

set to live under extreme heat due to climate change

In the lead-up to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), to be held next month in Glasgow, Brazilian researchers focused on the relationship between global warming and Amazon deforestation in an article published this Friday in scientific journal Communications Earth & Environment. 

According to the study, the continued destruction of the Amazon region — combined with climatic factors affecting the entire world — could leave 11 million Brazilians suffering from extreme heat conditions, with temperatures of approximately 34 degrees Celsius in the shade.

‘Savannization.’ In the article, the researchers based themselves on two scenarios created by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) — one intermediate projection and another worst-case...