The heat wave also hits Brazil. However, the tropical country is currently in winter. Temperatures are around 40 degrees these days in several parts of the country, records for the season.
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With our correspondent in Rio de Janeiro, Sarah Cozzolino
Sitting in front of the fans in a pharmacy, André struggles to cool off. Here, the thermometer reads 35 degrees on this winter afternoon. He sells clothes on the sidewalk. ” I have worked on the streets since I was seven years old. I adapt better when it’s cold. But there, this heat hurts me, my blood pressure drops. It’s more and more unbearable, it’s really hard to live “, he says.
Faced with these temperatures, the cariocas are worried about the summer that awaits them. Because this winter is hot, but also dry, with humidity levels below 30%, which is rare in this tropical country, recalls Lucia: “ It’s horrible, and we notice that every year it’s worse. It’s always drier, and you can feel it in your eyes, on your skin, it’s difficult. »
So, to be able to sleep, some have already started turning on their fan, like Edi: “ This year, we didn’t have winter, we went directly to summer. And electricity bills triple when summer comes. But in reality the culprit of all this is the Man who destroys nature, the trees, the rivers »
Warmer and warmer winters
” Future winters are likely to get warmer says Fabio Luiz Teixeira, professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Sao Paulo. According to scientists, these high temperatures are the result of climate change and the recent reappearance of the El Niño phenomenon. ” Today we have temperatures five degrees above average in some regions or cities of Brazil “, explains Cleber Souza, meteorologist at Inmet.
The southernmost part of South America recorded record high winter heat. Heat waves – like the one currently suffocating a much of Europe – start earlier, last longer. And they are becoming more and more intense under the effect of climate change, warned a UN specialist in an interview with AFP.
In a few days in Brazil, an arrival of cold air currents should tip the temperatures, and storm alerts should be triggered in Rio and in the region.
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