The hallmarks of climate change — extreme heat and drought; larger, more intense wildfires and supercharged hurricanes, typhoons and rainstorms that lead to catastrophic flooding — are being seen and felt around the globe.
Drought in Brazil. Wildfires in Portugal, Peru and the Western U.S. Severe flooding swamping Central Europe, Southeast Asia and Western Africa.
Multiple wildfires
Firefighters across northern Portugal are working to contain some 100 wildfires caused by hot, dry conditions, stretching crews thin. Fires have forced residents to flee their homes and are blamed for the deaths of at least six people, including four firefighters.
In Peru, wildfires have left at least 15 people dead since July and 22 of the nation’s 24 regions have active outbreaks. Peru’s National Forest and Wildlife Service, SERFOR, says the effects of climate change are intensifying conditions that help spread fire. In Brazil, flames were burning through Brasilia National Park.
And in California, more than 8,000 firefighters were battling three major fires, all ignited during a triple-digit heatwave at the start of the month. Smoke filled Los Angeles skies while fire threatened tens of thousands of homes and other structures.
Hot and dry
Brazil is enduring its worst drought since nationwide measurements began over seven decades ago, with almost 60% of the country, stretching from the north to the southeast, under stress. It’s affecting neighboring Paraguay, too.
Drought in Brazil’s Pantanal region led on Monday to the lowest water levels on the Paraguay River in more than a century, disrupting commerce on the major waterway and creating hazards for local transport. Officials say water levels on the river dipped 89 centimeters (35 inches) below a benchmark at the port of Asunción, the capital, the lowest point in 120 years.
Hot, dry conditions also are behind wildfires in Portugal.
And in Africa, severe drought prompted Zimbabwe and Namibia this month to announce plans to slaughter hundreds of wild elephants and other animals to stave off hunger in needy communities.
Too much water
Typhoon Yagi is blamed for more than 500 deaths in Southeast Asia, almost half of them in Myanmar, where the combination of that storm and seasonal monsoon rains triggered floods and landslides. The typhoon swept into Myanmar after hitting the Philippines, Vietnam, northern Thailand and Laos, killing hundreds and leaving scores of people missing.
Thousands of miles away, Central Europe is struggling to cope with heavy rains and widespread flooding that’s killed six people in Romania and one each in Austria and Poland. In the Czech Republic, four people were swept away by waters and missing, police said.
Authorities say flooding could hit Croatia, Hungary and Slovakia in the coming days.
Parts of southeastern North Carolina were under water after an unnamed tropical storm dumped more than 20 inches of rain. Highways in Brunswick County were still flooded Tuesday, a day after about 18 inches of rain fell in 12 hours in Carolina Beach. The same area has seen four other major floods in the past 25 years.
And West Africa has experienced some of the heaviest flooding in decades this year, affecting over 2.3 million people, a threefold increase from 2023, according to the United Nations. Unusually high rains caused a major dam in Nigeria to collapse, killing 30 and displacing over 1 million. Authorities also say 281 inmates escaped after floods brought down a prison’s walls in the country’s northeast.
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