up to 62.3°C degrees felt in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a new temperature record

The actual temperature reached 42°C on Sunday in this city of six million inhabitants. An extreme phenomenon attributed to climate change and the El Niño phenomenon which affects Latin America.

The heat wave that has affected South America since the start of the year has caused the temperature felt to rise to a record high in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this weekend, as rain threatens in the south of the country. “Avoid prolonged exposure to the sun. Hydrate!”warned Rio’s municipal alert system on , a record since this type of measure began in 2014.

The western area of ​​Rio is made up of poor, outlying and poorly served neighborhoods, where more than 40% of the population of this city of more than six million inhabitants lives. With a maximum real temperature of 42°C on Sunday, the felt temperature rose to 57.7°C in the residential area of ​​the Botanical Garden, in the south of Rio, yet privileged with its numerous vegetation. Emblematic of Rio, the beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana were packed with people on Sunday. Many have also found refuge in Tijuca Park, a real green lung in the city.

Experts attribute these extreme phenomena and meteorological instability to climate change and the El Niño phenomenon which affects the southern cone of Latin America, in the middle of the summer period. The current climate has already warmed by around 1.2°C compared to 1850-1900, causing an increase in episodes of drought, floods and heat waves.

Since the 19th century, the Earth’s average temperature has warmed by 1.1°C. Scientists have established with certainty that this increase is due to human activities, which consume fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas). This warming, unprecedented in its speed, threatens the future of our societies and biodiversity. But solutions – renewable energies, sobriety, reduced meat consumption – exist. Discover our answers to your questions about the climate crisis.