Brazil's record drought was interrupted by deadly storms last week, leaving more than a million people in blackout conditions.
What's happening?
Intense storms swept through the central and southeast parts of the country Oct. 11, as the BBC reported. Rainfall up to four inches and winds of 60 mph killed at least eight people.
Power outages and water supply issues were reported after the storms, and 1.3 million homes and businesses were without electricity days later.
Brazil is in the midst of its worst drought in recorded history, with 165 days between rain events, and experts have said it's because of the rapid warming of the planet and El Niño, which is characterized by above-average sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
The dry spell has sparked wildfires in the Amazon rainforest and Pantanal wetlands, raising concerns about further ecological devastation.
Why is this important?
The Amazon is the world's largest rainforest, famously home to millions of species and much of the world's natural landscape. The Pantanal is one of the world's largest wetlands, also known for its biodiversity and water regulation.
They are both threatened by deforestation and development, problems that could have catastrophic consequences around the world, not to mention for the people of South America.
Because these areas are so large, they play a role in climates all over. Their destruction unbalances the ecosystem and also releases stored carbon into the atmosphere while decreasing future sequestration capacity.
What's being done about extreme weather events?
The short-term solution to make Brazil safer is to protect the Amazon and Pantanal. People, organizations, and the government are taking steps to do just that, as deforestation rates have dropped in recent years. Still, more can always be done, and even the lauded President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has had missteps.
In the long term, it's all about divesting from dirty energy sources, which are the cause of rising global temperatures. Using public transportation, eating plant-based meals, and even bypassing plastic means burning less coal, gas, and oil and reducing the heat-trapping polluting gases in the atmosphere. All this lowers the risk of extreme weather events, which are exacerbated by the warmer climate.
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