From flooding in Brazil and Houston to brutal heat in Asia, extreme weather seems almost everywhere

In Brazil’s sweltering heat, the worst floods on record have killed dozens of people and paralyzed a city of around 4 million people. Voters and politicians participating in the world’s biggest election in India are fainting in heat that reaches up to 115 degrees (46.3 degrees Celsius).

A brutal Asian heat wave closed schools in the Philippines, killed people in Thailand and set records there as well as in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Maldives and Myanmar. Record temperatures – especially at night when it’s just not cool – have hit many parts of Africa. Floods have devastated Houston and the United States as a whole has just experienced its second most tornadoes for the month of April.

In a world increasingly accustomed to extreme climate change, the past few days and weeks have seemingly taken these environmental extremes to a new level. Some climate scientists say they have trouble remembering that so much of the world saw its weather take a turn for the worse at the same time.

“Given that we have seen an unprecedented increase in global heat over the past 11 months, it is not surprising to see worsening climate extremes so early in the year,” said Jonathan Overpeck, dean of environment at the University of Michigan. “If this record rate of warming continues, 2024 will likely be a record year for climate disasters and human suffering. »

As the world warms, scientists say there are likely to be more extreme weather and climate events, including record temperatures and precipitation. And climate change is also altering weather patterns, causing rainy, warm systems to stall over some areas and the jet stream to meander, said Alvaro Silva, a climatologist at the World Meteorological Organization.

Adding to the stronger effects of human-caused climate change is a now weakening El Nino – a natural warming of parts of the central Pacific that is altering the weather around the world – which follows three years of La Nina, her cold counterpart,” Silva said.

The scientists also pointed out 13 consecutive months of record warm oceans as a potential factor.

Although several factors play a role in these extremes, “climate change is the most important,” Silva said.

The problem is that the world has adapted and built cities designed for the temperatures and precipitation of the 20th century, but climate change is bringing more heat and showers, said Andrew Dessler, a climatologist at A&M University from Texas.

“We’re currently leaving the climate of the 20th century and we just can’t handle these events,” Dessler said. “So they’re becoming slightly more extreme, but they’re beyond our ability to handle them.”

Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist at Texas Tech and chief scientist at the Nature Conservancy, said more extremes in more places are overlapping.

“Climate change is stacking the dice against us all over the world,” Hayhoe said. “This means that it not only increases the frequency and severity of many extreme weather events, but also increases the risk of compound events. »

During the first five days of May, 70 countries or territories broke heat records, said climatologist Maximiliano Herrera, who tracks temperature records around the world.

Nandyala and Kadapa in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh hit a record high of 115 degrees (46.3 degrees Celsius), Herrera said.

Nitin Gadkari, a federal minister, fainted during an election campaign in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.

“Heatwaves in India are by far the deadliest type of extreme weather event. At the same time, they constitute the type of extremes that are increasing most sharply in a warming world,” climate scientist Friederike Otto said in a statement released earlier this week.

This week in Southeast Asia, “it was the hottest May night ever,” Herrera posted on X (formerly Twitter). Parts of Thailand did not drop below 87.6 degrees (30.9 Celsius).

In late April, parts of northern Thailand reached 111 degrees (44 degrees Celsius), while Chauk township in Myanmar’s hottest region hit a record 118.8 degrees (48.2 degrees Celsius). Celsius).

Many African countries are also facing scorching heat. Herrera said it was 117.5 degrees (47.5 degrees Celsius) in Kayes, Mali. The capital of Niger experienced its hottest night in May and the capital of Burkina Faso experienced its hottest night of any month. In Chad, in north-central Africa, temperatures are expected to stay above 114 degrees (45.6 degrees Celsius) all week.

The deadly heatwave felt in West Africa last month was linked to human-caused climate change, according to scientists at World Weather Attribution.

In Ciudad Altamirano, Mexico, the temperature approached 115 degrees (46 degrees Celsius), with a heat record across Latin America, Herrera said. Bolivia had its hottest May night on record and Brazil had its hottest May day.

Brazil’s record heat that sweltered huge cities like Sao Paulo also prevented a rainstorm from moving over the country’s south, making it deadly, according to Francisco Aquino, a climatologist at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul .

There was also a massive influx of moisture from the Amazon’s so-called flying rivers or air currents that carry water vapor, Aquino said. “This caused clouds which generated extreme precipitation,” he said.

The southern state of Rio Grande do Sul is reeling from the worst floods on record, with at least 90 dead, nearly 204,000 displaced and 388 municipalities affected, according to local authorities.

In Porto Alegre, a metropolitan area of ​​more than 4.4 million inhabitants, waters invaded the city center, the international airport and several neighborhoods. Authorities said it would take several days for the water level to drop.

Houston is still trying to dry out after days of heavy rain that required the rescue of more than 600 people from flooding across Texas, including 233 people in Houston. Just northeast of Houston, about 23 inches (58 centimeters) fell.

Meanwhile, April brought the heaviest rains on record to the UAE, flooding parts of the desert kingdom’s main highways and Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest hub for international travel.

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Borenstein and Naishadham reported from Washington, Arasu from Bengaluru, India, and Maisonnave from Brasilia, Brazil.

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