In Brasília, it has not rained for 130 days. In central Brazil, and in the southeast, in the densely populated states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, the climate situation is alarming. Between fires and drought, the population is suffocating. This Thursday, September 5, the humidity level is below 12%, below the threshold recommended by the World Health Organization.
In several dozen municipalities, the humidity level has even fallen below the 10% threshold, reaching even 7%. A level “as low” as in the Sahara. And a “very dangerous” situation, because it represents “a great risk of forest fires”, but also “for health”, exposing residents in particular to “pulmonary diseases” or “headaches”.
Worst drought in at least 70 years
According to Ana Paula Cunha, a researcher at the National Center for Natural Disaster Monitoring (Cemaden), Brazil is experiencing its worst drought “in at least 70 years”, due to “the lack of accumulated precipitation” since the end of last year. The country has been ravaged for months by a wave of large-scale fires, in the Amazon (north), the largest tropical forest on the planet, in the Pantanal (central-west), and more recently in the state of São Paulo (southeast).
Huge clouds of smoke from the fires have blanketed major cities like the capital Brasília, where it hasn’t rained for 130 days. And the combination of high temperatures, strong winds and low …
- ParisMatch
