"The city of Juiz de Fora was among the hardest hit, experiencing its wettest February on record, with more than 750mm of rainfall three times the expected amount for that period and 65% more than the previous record of 456mm set in 1988, according to the latest study by the World Weather Attribution group."
"The international team of scientists said a primary cause of the deaths was inequality and inadequate urban planning, which created landslide vulnerabilities for poor communities dwelling on steep, deforested and poorly drained hill slopes."
"They found that downpours in the area would be expected to become 7% more severe if the planet reached 2.6C of heating above preindustrial levels, up from the current level of about 1.3C. The authors of the paper said the priority should be to phase out planet-heating gases from oil, gas and coal use as rapidly as possible."
Severe flooding in Brazil's Minas Gerais state, particularly in Juiz de Fora, killed dozens through landslides and swept away residents over the past month. The city received over 750mm of rainfall in February—three times the expected amount and 65% more than the previous 1988 record. Scientists identified inequality and inadequate urban planning as primary causes of deaths, with poor communities vulnerable on steep, deforested hillsides. While unable to definitively link this specific event to human-caused climate change, researchers calculated rainfall intensity as a one-in-several-hundred-year occurrence. Projections indicate downpours could intensify 7% if global heating reaches 2.6°C above preindustrial levels. The analysis emphasizes urgent need to phase out fossil fuels to prevent such extreme weather from becoming routine.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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