A double blow caused by El Niño and climate change will hit Latin America and the Caribbean in 2023, according to a report from the World Meteorological Organization, WMO, released this Wednesday.
In Brazil, 12 extreme weather events were recorded, nine of which were considered unusual and two were unprecedented. Five heat waves, three intense rains, one cold wave, one flood, one drought and one extratropical cyclone were reported to the WMO.
Record climate risks
WMO Secretary General Celeste Saulo stated that “unfortunately, 2023 was a year of record climate risks in Latin America and the Caribbean”.
According to the agency, El Niño and human-induced climate change have exacerbated many extreme events, causing major impacts on health, food and energy security, and economic development.
Many intense heat waves affected the central region of South America from late August to December, causing scorching temperatures in the middle of winter. During the second half of August, temperatures in parts of Brazil exceeded 41 °C. The heat wave hit Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, the most populous cities in the country.
Intense heat and drought in the Amazon
The heat wave that hit the Amazon in July 2023 was considered unprecedented and contributed to one of the worst droughts on record. According to authorities at the Port of Manaus, the level of the Rio Negro fell to 12.70 m on October 26, the lowest ever recorded since observations began in 1902.
Other important rivers in the Amazon, including Solimões, Purus, Acre and Branco, have suffered extreme drops in some regions and completely dried up in others.
The intense heat also affected wildlife. In Lake Tefé, more than 150 pink dolphins were found dead in late September, with the water temperature reaching a record 39.1°C.
Large forest fires occurred in heat-affected regions of Paraguay, Brazil and Bolivia. In the Amazon, 22,061 fires were recorded in October, the worst record for the month since 2008, resulting in intense smoke impacting the entire population of Manaus, estimated at 2 million people.
Brazil Agency/Rovena Rosa
São Sebastião (SP), 02/22/2023, Houses destroyed in landslides in Barra do Sahy after storms on the north coast of São Paulo
Extratropical cyclone and torrential rain
The second unprecedented event recorded in Brazil in 2023 was an extratropical cyclone in Rio Grande do Sul, which generated heavy rain, strong gusts of wind and caused severe impacts in many cities.
According to Civil Defense, 46 deaths were recorded, 46 missing and 340,000 people were affected. As the rivers flooded, homes and people were swept away by the current. The most affected cities are in the Vale do Taquari region, such as Muçum and Roca Sales. A total of 92 municipalities declared a state of public calamity.
The report also mentions that at least 65 people lost their lives after torrential rains caused floods and landslides in the city of São Sebastião, on the coast of the state of São Paulo. From February 18 to 19, 683 mm of rain fell in 15 hours in the city.
In the state of Acre, in the Brazilian Amazon, heavy rains and the overflow of the Acre River flooded vast areas of the capital Rio Branco on March 23. The city recorded 124.4 mm of rain in 24 hours.
Economic impacts
In Brazil, both excessive rain and drought, linked to El Niño, delayed soybean planting. Furthermore, more than a thousand head of cattle died in a cold wave in Mato Grosso do Sul, causing an estimated loss of R$3 million.
The WMO report on the State of the Climate in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2023 confirmed that that was the hottest year on record. Sea levels continued to rise at a rate higher than the global average around the Atlantic part of the region, threatening coastal areas and Small Island Developing States.
The Latin America and Caribbean region is surrounded by the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and the climate in the region is, to a large extent, influenced by prevailing sea surface temperatures and interferences in the interaction between the atmosphere and the ocean, such as El Niño.
