Insights from Al Jazeera, the Financial Times, Reuters and The Guardian
The news
More than half a million people have been forced to flee their homes due to flooding in southern Brazil, which officials have described as “the worst disaster” in the area’s history.
The floods, which have killed at least 160 people, are the latest example of an extreme weather event that scientists say will increase due to climate change.
SIGNALS
Disinformation distorts the perception of the catastrophe
The floods have fueled a “coordinated, industrial disinformation campaign designed to delegitimize the government,” Brian Mier, editor at Brasilwire, told Al Jazeera. “In many cases it actually sabotages some of the relief efforts.” Some articles falsely claim that Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has blocked aid from reaching the region, while social media posts have attempted to discredit the government’s $10 billion pledge to help affected areas to bring. Other sources have cast doubt on the extent of the rainfall: it could deter people from donating or volunteering to help, media professor Rogerio Christofoletti told the newspaper.
Extreme weather events are a hallmark of the climate crisis
The nature of the intense rainfall in southern Brazil is “typical of the climate crisis,” Anderson Ruhoff, a professor specializing in hydrology, told The Guardian. The rains were “very intense, with a large amount of water concentrated in a short period.” Brazil must adapt to the “new reality” of these extreme events, wrote Cristiane Fontes of the World Resources Institute, as regions around the world have been similarly affected. Some of the most recent deadly flash floods – in which rain falls so quickly that the ground cannot properly absorb the water – have hit Afghanistan, Oman and Indonesia, according to FloodList.
The worsening effects of the weather will affect Brazil for years to come
Brazil’s deteriorating weather conditions are impacting people in several ways. In the flood-hit southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, livestock have been decimated, soy crops disrupted and locals facing food and water shortages. Elsewhere in the country, heat, lack of rain and disease have damaged the vital orange sector: the drop in orange production is likely to increase costs for consumers, industry experts told the Financial Times.
