‘Alarming’ rise in climate disasters in Brazil: study

Brazil has seen a dramatic rise of climate disasters in recent years, compared to two previous decades, a new study says.

“Climate disasters have become more frequent and intense in recent decades, reflecting the impacts of climate change,” said the report produced by the Brazilian Alliance for Ocean Literacy with the backing of Brazil’s government and Unesco.

The study, done by the research arm of the Federal University of Sao Paulo and released on Friday, said that in the four years between 2020 and 2023, Brazil government data showed an annual average of 4,077 climate-related disasters.

That was nearly double the 2,073 disasters registered annually, on average, in the two decades spanning 2000 to 2019.

The report called that an “alarming scenario.”

Disasters so categorised include droughts, flooding, violent storms, extreme temperatures, cyclones, landslides, earthquakes and tsunamis.

The study showed a correlation between climate disasters suffered in the country and a warming of ocean surface temperatures.

It also said that a record-breaking drought and flooding in Brazil in 2024 added to the climate challenges the South American nation was facing.

“The economic losses caused by climate disasters in Brazil have increased significantly over the last few decades, reflecting the growing impacts of climate change,” the study said.

It estimated the cost of such damage in Brazil between 1995 and 2023 at $88.4 billion.

The researchers stressed “the urgency of measures to mitigate the impacts of climate change,” by having the world strive for goals set in the landmark Paris accord to curb global warming.

In addition, “it is essential to strengthen the resilience of natural and human systems to face the impacts already underway,” they said.

In November 2025, Brazil is to host the COP30, the UN climate conference aimed at improved international coordination to address climate change and its impact.