Record of natural disasters

Extreme weather phenomena are increasingly present all over the globe. There are also regions where negative expectations are exceeded. Brazil recorded for the first time in 2023 more than 1,000 natural disasters, respectively an average of more than three per day, a record directly associated with climate change, according to experts. The National Center for Natural Disaster Monitoring (Cemaden) last year recorded a total of 1,161 such events, including floods and landslides, for the first time since the beginning of these records in 2011. According to this public body, events associated with precipitation extremes caused at least 132 deaths and more than 9,000 injuries, and at least 74,000 people were left homeless. Material damage was estimated at over five billion Brazilian reals (approximately 925 million euros). "Climate change has had a direct impact on increasing the frequency and intensity of disasters," explained Francisco Eliseu Aquino, climatologist from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). According to the expert, to these was added an intensification of the El Nino weather phenomenon, synonymous with additional global warming. "We had an exceptional year in terms of temperature records, with heat waves, drought-related problems and rainfall that caused floods," Aquino added. In this regard, the specialist mentioned in particular the devastating floods caused by a cyclone that left behind more than 50 dead, in September, in the south of the country. About 60 people also died in landslides on the coast of Sao Paulo state in February. Other regions of the country were, on the contrary, affected by a historic drought, especially Amazonia (north).

"The year 2023 was atypical from a climatic point of view, with a rapid transition from La Nina to El Nino (two opposite phenomena). Recorded rainfall volumes were well above normal in the south and lower in the north and north- the east of the country," said Regina Alvala, director of Cemaden. "Climate change has also contributed - a warmer ocean produces more vapor in the atmosphere and therefore intense and concentrated rain," she explained. The year 2023, marked worldwide by a series of climate disasters, was the warmest on record, approaching the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit above pre-industrial levels set by the Paris Agreement for the first time, according to the European Copernicus observatory.