This year, the impacts of El Niño have been particularly dramatic, with a historic drought in the Amazon. Scientists say extreme weather is happening more frequently due to human-caused climate change. “These tragedies will continue to happen, increasingly worse and more frequent,” Suely Araújo, a public policy coordinator at the Climate Observatory, a network of dozens of environmental and social groups, said. Brazil needs to adjust to the effects of climate change, she added. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visited Rio Grande do Sul for a second time on Sunday, accompanied by Defense Minister José Múcio, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad and Environment Minister Marina Silva, among others. The leader and his team surveyed the flooded streets of Porto Alegre from a helicopter. “We need to stop running behind disasters. We need to see in advance what calamities might happen and we need to work,” Lula told journalists afterwards.
