Brazil government considers declaring permanent climate emergency for over 1,000 cities

Brazil’s government announced Sunday it may declare a state of climate emergency in 1,038 cities that are considered “vulnerable”.

“There is a suggestion that is being debated within the government to declare a permanent state of climate emergency in municipalities that are proven to be vulnerable so that there is continued action,” said Brazil's Minister of Environment and Climate Change Marina Silva.  “We are living under the effect of climate change that is getting worse every day,” she added, suggesting that public resources be allocated to “fight climate change”.

The consideration comes after heavy rains flooded several areas, affecting thousands of people. In Manaus, rainstorms have caused mudslides which reportedly left eight people dead and displaced 170 families, according to MercoPress.

But according to several environmental groups, Brazil’s government under socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is incorrect to blame the rains on climate change.

“There is not a single natural disaster, nor trend in any type of natural disaster that can be credibly linked with emissions or whatever gradual ‘climate change’ may be occurring for whatever reason, including natural climate change,” says a report by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), the Heartland Institute, Energy & Environment Legal Institute, Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), and the International Climate Science Coalition (ICSC). “Attributing natural disaster damages to emissions and climate change is without a factual or scientific basis.” 

The Sao Paolo government says that this has been one of the worst precipitations ever in Brazil, surpassing 600 millimeters (23.6 inches). However, reports from last year suggest that over 700 mm of rain fell (27.55 inches), raising questions about whether so-called “man-made climate change” is getting worse.

The report by environmental groups also fact-checked climate change alarmist claims made by the media about Hurricane Ian, low water levels in Nevada’s Lake Mead, the Yellowstone River flooding, famine on the Horn of Africa, the China drought, and the European drought. 

“Regardless of one’s view of what passes as ‘climate science,’ the good news is that even researchers who believe that ‘climate change’ is a problem acknowledge that the number of weather-related deaths and the cost of weather-related damage are actually on the decline — despite ever-increasing emissions and whatever slight warming may be occurring,” the report concluded.