0:00

This message comes from NPR

0:02

sponsor, The Nature Conservancy. By

0:04

working across communities, oceans, and

0:07

aisles, The Nature Conservancy is

0:09

delivering solutions for the planet

0:11

and building a future where

0:14

people and nature thrive. Learn

0:16

more at nature.org/solutions. Today

0:20

on State of the World, the consequences

0:22

of climate change in Brazil. You're

0:28

listening to State of the World from

0:30

NPR. The day's most vital international stories

0:32

up close where they're happening. I'm Greg

0:34

Dixon. Brazil is dealing

0:36

with one of the wettest rainy seasons on

0:38

record. Last month, in one

0:41

state along Brazil's southern coast, five

0:43

months of rain fell in just 15 days. Cities

0:47

flooded, thousands of homes were destroyed, and more

0:49

than 400,000 people were displaced. With

0:53

warnings of more extreme weather coming due

0:55

to climate change, officials in

0:57

Brazil are talking about relocating whole

0:59

towns. It's part of

1:02

a growing phenomenon worldwide of

1:04

people becoming climate refugees. NPR's

1:07

Keri Kahn introduces us to some of

1:09

them in southern Brazil. Maicon

1:12

Andrei Machis and his wife Ana Paula

1:15

Habuske didn't wait for officials to tell

1:17

them they can't rebuild their small home

1:19

here on the banks of the Taquari

1:22

River in Rio Grande do Sul state.

1:25

They already moved. Looking

1:31

at piles of drenched rubble, Habuske

1:34

says they have nothing to come

1:36

back to. Everything's lost. This is

1:38

the third time in nine months

1:40

the river filled their house with

1:42

water. With their two kids,

1:44

they've moved 30 miles away, far from

1:46

this river that has been both the

1:49

life and curse of this verdant farm

1:51

community. I

1:54

thought about the pictures, the

1:56

schoolwork. This

2:00

time before she rushed out, Khabouski

2:02

says she turned around and thought,

2:04

oh, our photos, the kids' school

2:06

project, she says. As the

2:09

water was rising, she found a plastic

2:11

box, shoved everything she could inside. And

2:19

stuck it high on top of a tall dresser

2:22

she thought was safe from the water. Every

2:30

time we come back here, I just keep

2:32

thinking I'll find the box. But

2:38

she says she never does. Diego,

2:40

Alejandro Dutra says he can't

2:42

picture living anywhere else. I

2:50

was born here, lived here for 40 years, my

2:52

parents for 50. They died here,

2:54

he says. His neighborhood

2:56

of Paso di Strela, just

2:59

around the river's Big Bend

3:01

is obliterated. As

3:07

the water rose, he ran up a hill

3:09

and says he watched as house after house

3:11

was ripped off the ground and washed away.

3:14

600 of the 800 homes here are gone. We

3:23

lost everything, he says. All his tools

3:25

he used to work as a handyman,

3:27

he has no money to go anywhere

3:29

and waits for the government to rebuild.

3:32

The disaster is being called Brazil's

3:34

Hurricane Katrina. But Brazil

3:36

doesn't get hurricanes and isn't plagued

3:39

by other natural disasters like earthquakes

3:41

its neighbors routinely deal with. Its

3:44

emergency systems are not very

3:46

robust, especially for such a

3:48

widespread natural disaster. Christopher

3:50

Cunningham Castro, a meteorologist

3:52

with Brazil's National Weather Monitoring

3:55

Agency, says 90% of

3:57

cities in the state were affected

3:59

with COVID-19. some cities breaking world

4:01

records. At some days, we rank

4:03

it five or six

4:06

positions in most rainy days in

4:08

the world. An abundant water supply

4:10

has long fueled the state's rich

4:12

soy, tobacco, and rice crops, generating

4:14

about 6% of

4:16

the nation's economic output, says

4:19

geologist Huolda Menigache with Rio

4:21

Grande de Soule's Federal University.

4:23

I'm interested in a very interesting,

4:26

very interesting for the region

4:28

and the delta. For

4:30

hundreds of years, this has been a

4:32

beautiful place with all its rivers, lakes,

4:35

and delta. But the waterways

4:37

are now a huge liability with climate

4:39

change, he says. We

4:41

are now very vulnerable. The

4:44

state and the capital, Puerto Allegra,

4:46

with 4.5 million residents in the

4:48

metro area, is the latest city

4:51

worldwide battling extreme rains and floods,

4:53

from Afghanistan and Australia to China

4:56

and Kenya. According to the

4:58

World Bank, in the next 25 years, more

5:01

than 200 million people will

5:03

be forced from their homes due

5:05

to global warming, earning many the

5:08

moniker climate change refugees. In a

5:10

local situation like this, it

5:12

wouldn't be the most accurate

5:15

way to call. Lorena Floria,

5:18

a sociologist at the Federal University

5:20

in Rio Grande de Soule, says

5:22

Brazil's flood victims technically aren't refugees,

5:24

since they don't have to leave

5:26

their country. But she

5:29

says the term is catching

5:31

on in Brazilian media. That's

5:33

especially because it evokes this

5:35

anxiety and this

5:37

fear of losing

5:39

someone's roots. She

5:41

too was uprooted until floodwaters were seated

5:44

from her neighborhood in the capital. The

5:46

international airport remains shuttered, and

5:49

reconstruction estimates for the state

5:51

easily top $4 billion. It's

5:54

unclear how much of that total

5:56

includes relocating hard-hit towns. At

6:01

Cruzero de Sous's tiny gymnasium,

6:03

volunteers are putting up 23

6:06

temporary plywood cubicles. Hundreds

6:08

are still living in three shelters in

6:10

town. City Works

6:12

Manager Paolo Donasimiento says businesses,

6:14

city hall, everything has to

6:17

move to higher ground. But

6:23

he says it's hard to get through to

6:25

some people, especially those who have lived here

6:27

for generations. The 49-year-old has

6:29

been in local government for years. I

6:32

asked him if his stance is making

6:34

him unpopular. At first he

6:36

chuckled. But

6:42

then his face turns red and tears

6:44

start streaming down his cheeks. I

6:54

live for this place. This is my home too,

6:56

he says. But he says it

6:58

will flood again. Ana

7:01

Paola Chabuski, who already left for

7:03

higher ground with her family, agrees.

7:11

People can't live here anymore, she says.

7:13

This area belongs to the river. And

7:19

she says, Mother Nature has come

7:21

back to reclaim her place. Carrie

7:24

Khan, NPR News, Cruzero do

7:26

Sul, Brazil. That's

7:33

the State of the World from NPR. If

7:36

you like hearing how real people

7:38

are experiencing global phenomena like climate

7:40

change in Brazil, consider

7:42

joining State of the World Plus. It

7:45

helps make the reporting of our journalists around

7:47

the world possible. You can

7:49

sign up at plus.npr.org or on

7:52

our show page in Apple Podcasts.

7:55

Thanks for your support and thanks for listening. comes

8:01

from NPR sponsor, Mint Mobile. From the

8:03

gas pump to the grocery store, inflation

8:05

is everywhere. So Mint Mobile is offering

8:08

premium wireless starting at just $15 a

8:10

month. To get your new

8:12

phone plan for just $15, go

8:15

to mintmobile.com/switch. This

8:17

message comes from NPR sponsor Warby Parker.

8:20

Their glasses start at $95, including anti-reflective,

8:24

scratch-resistant prescription lenses that block 100% of UV

8:26

rays. Try

8:29

five pairs of frames at home

8:31

for free. Go to warbyparker.com/covered. This

8:36

is my voice. It can tell you

8:38

a lot about me. And I'm

8:40

not changing it for anyone. In

8:43

NPR's Black Stories, Black Truths,

8:45

you'll find a collection of

8:47

NPR episodes centered on the

8:49

Black experience. Search NPR

8:52

Black Stories, Black Truths, wherever

8:54

you get podcasts.