SAO PAULO ¨C In May and June, heavy rain pushed Brazil¡¯s sprawling Negro River to its highest level in more than a century, causing flooding in Manaus, the Amazon rainforest¡¯s largest city.
At the same time, parts of southern and west-central Brazil in the Parana River basin ¡ª including Brazil¡¯s largest city of Sao Paulo ¡ª have suffered unprecedented drought due to low rainfall.
The disastrous mix of floods, drought and intense downpours could be a glimpse of a potentially dire future as a heating planet and surging deforestation alter long-standing weather patterns throughout Brazil and South America, scientists warn.
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