Brazil Floods Leads To Its Biggest Climate Migration In History

(Photo : Getty Images/Jefferson Bernardes)

Some of the half million displaced citizens in southern Brazil are being forced to consider leaving their flooded cities behind in order to rebuild on higher ground due to the devastating and ongoing floods.

Forced To Leave

The Guaiba River, which flows past the state capital of Porto Alegre, is rising once more after surpassing its record high two weeks after the start of the intense downpour. The streets of several municipalities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul have become meandering rivers.

Researchers believe that over 3,800 square kilometers (1,500 square miles) were flooded, just around Porto Alegre, where four rivers join to form the Guaiba River. That exceeds the metropolitan area of the Washington, DC, metro region, which spans ten counties in two neighboring states.

Residents were attempting to get back to their houses near the Taquari River Valley, one of the four areas where the water is rising anew, as a new alert advised people to evacuate the region once more.

"We are removing people from risky areas. We will have another large event," said Mateus Trojan, the mayor of Mucum, one of the towns affected.

The calamity, which has killed at least 147 people and left 127 more missing, may have caused one of Brazil's largest examples of climate migration in recent history, as hundreds of thousands of families have been forced to leave the floodwaters.

Scientists claim that because of climate change, periods of increasingly intense drought and rainfall have been fueled by Southern Brazil's location at the intersection of the polar and tropical currents.

Following floods in the latter part of last year, Rio Grande do Sul has experienced unprecedented destruction, prompting many of the 538,000 people who have been forced from their homes to consider more drastic measures.

Climate Migration

In February, the International Organization for Migration advocated for increased international collaboration in tackling migration caused by climate change.

If appropriate climate action is not taken, it is anticipated that by 2050, up to 216 million people could become internal migrants due to climate change. This number might be cut by 80% with prompt, coordinated, and tangible action.

Climate-related dangers were the primary cause of over 32 million new internal displacements in 2022 alone, highlighting the growing urgency with which this issue needs to be addressed.

One strategy to address climate migration, in addition to making climate change mitigation a top priority, is to provide economic opportunities in communities that are at risk from environmental change.

Rich nations committed more than USD 700 million in total to the "Loss and Damage Fund" during COP28 in Dubai in November 2023.

This fund is intended to assist developing nations that are at risk from the negative effects of climate change. Although the financing pledge for this fund was deemed to be far short of the annual USD 400 billion that one NGO believes is needed, it could nevertheless be of assistance to those who are forced to relocate due to climate-related difficulties.