Extreme Weather: Heat wave envelops Brazil with temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius

World
Europe

02:32

Meanwhile, in the southern hemisphere, heat waves have been affecting not only Australia, but also southeastern Brazil. Temperatures have sky-rocketed above 40 degrees Celsius. In Rio de Janeiro, special measures have been taken to help cool humans and animals in the hottest summer in almost a century. Lucrecia Franco, in Rio, reports.

Rio's beaches have never been so crowded. It is the only outdoor space for locals and tourists to find some relief from an unusual heat wave that started in late December.

RUSS FRANKEN US TOURIST "I am definitely happy that I am not in the snow, but it's also very hot here. It's easy on vacation, but if I had to go, like, in public transportation to work every day, it would be terrible."

And it is. Rio's Court of Justice, for example, relaxed its dress codes, allowing lawyers to ditch suits to cope with the heat.

RICARDO LIRA LAWYER "I think it's a healthy measure, because coming to work with a coat and a tie is impossible. Not inside the court, that has air conditioning, but to come and go with some 42 degrees is horrible."

For countries that use Fahrenheit, that's 42 Celsius converts to nearly 108 degrees.

And, it's not just humans who are suffering from the sweltering heat. At the Rio Zoo, lions are getting frozen meat. Bears are getting giant fruit popsicles to avoid dehydration.

LUCRECIA FRANCO RIO DE JANEIRO "There is a famous joke in Brazil that Rio has two seasons: summer and hell and according to weather experts, this year's hell season is hotter than ever, setting records for scorching temperatures."

Thiago Sousa and expert at the National Institute of Meteorology says a mix of factors have made Rio surpass historic maximums.

THIAGO SOUZA METEOROLOGIST, INMET "It has been 97 years since Rio didn't have such a hot January, until this year of 2019, when a warm air mass is hitting the state and the El Nino event is not allowing cold fronts to reach us."

While the heat wave keeps breaking records-a happy few can cool off at the beach, but not without concerns. Many beach-goers and climate scientists alike say something is wrong with the weather here and everywhere. Lucrecia Franco, CGTN, Rio de Janeiro.