From 2014 to 2023, Brazil recorded 314 flood records, 1.7 times the 182 verified in the previous decade. In relation to drought, there were 406 records, four times the number counted in the previous ten years.
The data comes from a survey by the Brazilian Geological Service (SGB) conducted for Folha.
According to Artur Matos, coordinator of the SGB's hydrological alert system, the greater concentration of these phenomena in the last decade is due to climate changes, which greatly altered the rainfall regime. "Data points to a repetition of extreme situations."
The Taquari and Caí rivers, in Rio Grande do Sul, broke the three highest records in the last two years. In Uruguaiana (RS), the Uruguay river had one of its six largest floods this year. The state also had a record drought in 2021. The situation is repeated in other regions of Brazil.
The highest level of the Amazon river was in 2021, and six of the ten largest floods occurred in the last period. Meanwhile, the Branco river, in Acre, recorded its water records in 2023 and 2024.