Justice & Paix

As the climate crisis causes heavier and more frequent floods across the US, one in four small businesses are one disaster away from shutting down

The floods displaced more than 80,000 people, led to over 150,000 being injured and, on the 29th of May, to 169 fatalities with 44 people still missing (Governo do Estado de Rio Grande do Sul, 2024). Essential services were also disrupted, leaving 418,200 households without electricity and over a million consumer units without water. Dozens of municipalities lost telephone and internet services.

Heatwaves, wildfires and floods are just the ‘tip of the iceberg’, leading climate scientists say

Many are still missing after this month’s floods. Extreme weather is becoming more frequent, and it can be devastating

The annual "adaptation gap" report — which published Thursday amid the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow — found that the estimated costs to adapt to the worst effects of warming temperatures such as droughts, floods and rising seas in low-income countries are five to 10 times higher than how much money is currently flowing into those regions.

With global warming intensifying the water cycle, floods and droughts are increasing, and many countries are unprepared.

As floods increase in frequency and intensity, chemicals buried in river sediments become “ticking time bombs” waiting to activate.

It was a slogan that cut to the chase: “Everybody is talking about Germany. We talk about the weather.”

A Belgian climatologist surveys the wreckage of his hometown. Pierre Ozer has been expecting these floods for decades.