With one Brazilian official decrying it as "the worst disaster" in his state's history, the recent floods in Rio Grande do Sul have claimed 83 lives at the time of this writing and scientists agree climate change was a culprit. The death toll is expected to rise.
The torrential downpour — which bombarded Rio Grande do Sul in just four days with more than 70 percent of all the rain it would normally get in the month of April — destroyed roads, left thousands without water and power and destroyed key infrastructure. Brazilian climatologist Francisco Eliseu Aquino said the devastating storms were the result of a “disastrous cocktail” including global warming and the usual El Niño-La Niña weather pattern. These two factors, when combined, have caused intensified storms from Indonesia and Kenya to the United Arab Emirates.
