Choking fires, deadly heat and devastating floods: 2026 in extreme weather

Ver imagem em tela cheia Incêndios sufocantes, calor mortal e inundações devastadoras: 2026 em clima extremo Pessoas ao redor do mundo têm enfrentado eventos climáticos sem precedentes e seus efeitos fatais causados pela catástrofe climática.

Prefer the Guardian on GoogleAfter the world’s hottest summer since records began in 1850, the death toll from extreme weather in 2026 is already in the high tens of thousands.

Isso é uma estimativa conservadora e certamente vai subir muito mais.

As Cop31 continues and scientists warn that climate breakdown may be accelerating, the Guardian looks back at a year of droughts, fires and floods as a reminder that, unless the world takes urgent action to cut emissions, this disastrous year will be one of the best of the rest of our lives.

4 de janeiro: o janeiro mais quente já registrado.

View image in fullscreenA fire in Longwood, a town in Victoria, Australia, in early January. Photograph: Michael Currie/AAPExtreme heat fuels wildfires in Australia As temperatures jump nearly 20C (68F) above average, Victoria and other southern states register new heat records, including 50C in Port Augusta and the tiny opal mining town of Andamooka.

Melbourne hospitals report a 25% increase in heat-related illnesses, while authorities in many areas struggle with wildfires. Scientists say the supercharged climate has made the heatwave five times more likely.

Heatwaves already cause more deaths in Australia than all other natural hazards combined.

February Fourth-hottest February on record.

Ver imagem em tela cheia Pessoas removem lama e detritos fora das casas após uma tempestade, em Juiz de Fora, Brasil. Fotografia: Andre Coelho/EPAMudslides Deslizamentos de terra matam 72 no Brasil após chuva recorde A cidade de Juiz de Fora, em Minas Gerais, registra seu mês mais úmido de todos os tempos, desencadeando deslizamentos que varrem centenas de casas em comunidades pobres em encostas instáveis.

Floods also disrupt Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. More than 10,000 people are displaced.

Março: Quarto - o março mais quente já registrado

View image in fullscreenMotorists drive through heavy rains in the Kibera slums in Nairobi, Kenya. Photograph: Donwilson Odhiambo/Getty ImagesDevastating floods across much of the world In Ethiopia, at least 131 people are killed in floods and mudslides that bury entire villages.

Eighty die in Kenya and 18 in Tanzania. The Arabian peninsula is battered by fierce winds and heavy downpours that flood the streets of the desert kingdom. Hailstones the size of tennis balls fall in Oman and lightning storms leave cities in the UAE inundated with water.

Many areas report record rainfall. At least 30 die in Afghanistan as heavy rains trigger landslides. Hong Kong is soaked in twice the usual monthly precipitation.

Flood waters in southern Russia submerge homes and leave more than 300,000 without electricity. Huge tracts of farmland are left underwater in Argentina and Chile.

Desequilíbrio energético mundial acelera rapidamente A Organização Meteorológica Mundial revela um acúmulo alarmante de energia no sistema terrestre. Mais de 90% está armazenado nos oceanos, onde o aquecimento mais do que dobrou nas últimas duas décadas em comparação com a média dos 45 anos anteriores.

Isso torna o clima mais extremo e ameaça a saúde e os suprimentos de alimentos. António Guterres, secretário‑geral da ONU, diz: “O clima global está em estado de emergência.

Planet Earth is being pushed beyond its limits. Every key climate indicator is flashing red.” Guterres urges the world to cut fossil fuel emissions as rapidly as possible to minimise future risks.

However, CO2 in the atmosphere continues to rise.

Abril: Segundo abril mais quente da história.

View image in fullscreenA utility pole blocks a road in Saipan after a super typhoon with ferocious winds and relentless rains shredded tin roofs and forced people to take cover from flying tree limbs.

Photograph: APSuper typhoon tears through Micronesia, Guam and Saipan At peak intensity on 12 April, Sinlaku registers a wind speed of 295km/h (183mph) – roughly the same as a Shinkansen bullet train and the joint highest recorded by a storm in the western Pacific basin so early in the year.

Ver imagem em tela cheia Um homem busca alívio do calor enquanto as temperaturas sobem em Nova Deli, Índia. Fotografia: Rajat Gupta/EPA Centenas de milhões suportam calor mortal no sul da Ásia.

Ao menos 47 mortes relacionadas ao calor foram registradas no sul da Ásia, enquanto as temperaturas sobem acima de 45°C em várias cidades indianas e bangladesas, atingindo um pico de 52°C na província sul do Paquistão, Sindh.

Scientists warn that the climate crisis is exposing hundreds of millions of people in south Asia to longer, deadlier pre-monsoon heat.

View image in fullscreenPeople assess the aftermath of landslides and flooding next to houses damaged in Attécoubé, a suburb of Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Photograph: Chris Boli/AFP/Getty ImagesOcean heat enters uncharted territory Sea surface temperature graphs begin to jag upwards and away from all previous highs on 21 June, starting a trend that will worsen over the rest of the year.

This alarms scientists because oceans absorb more than 90% of the excess energy in Earth’s system. If the seas start to release that heat then the land and air will get warmer more quickly.

This coincides with the emergence of the latest El Niño, which is confirmed on 2 June.

Arctic e Antártica sofrem calor sem precedentes. Em vez da típica neve e gelo de inverno, cientistas da base Esperanza, na península Trinity da Antártica, ficaram surpresos ao ver chuva e sujeira fora das janelas após uma onda de calor de oito dias que atingiu temperatura recorde de 15°C em 6 de junho.

At the other end of the planet, the Arctic experiences its warmest ever June. Beliy Island, Siberia, registers 28. 3C on 25 June, the highest temperature ever recorded that far north in the Eurasian Arctic.

West African deluge takes heavy toll Relentless rains claim almost 100 lives in west Africa from May to June. Record downpours of up to 140mm (5. 5in) in a single day are made five times more likely and 23% more intense by the human-caused climate crisis.

Floods and mudslides kill 59 in Côte d’Ivoire, 35 in Ghana and five in Togo.

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1:51Europe hit by wildfires and severe drought – videoFires choke Canada and Europe Almost 1,000 wildfires sweep across Canada, charring 3m hectares (7. 4m acres) and sending a haze of smoke as far as New York.

Em 15 de julho, Toronto registra a pior qualidade do ar do mundo como resultado da neblina. Fumaça mata 4. 000 pessoas no Canadá a cada ano, quase quatro vezes mais do que no início do século.

Meanwhile, in Europe, prolonged droughts create tinderbox conditions for wildfires in Greece, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Germany, Spain and France. They burn 686,000 hectares in Europe, twice the average of the past 20 years.

Extreme weather disrupts US 250th birthday festivities and the World Cup Half of the US population is under a heat alert before 4 July independence celebrations, disrupting Donald Trump’s Great American State Fair on the National Mall in Washington and other events.

Dezenas de mortes relacionadas ao calor são registradas e milhares sofrem cortes de energia.

At least nine World Cup games are played in potentially dangerous heat and humidity, while fierce storms delay three matches by more than an hour, including Mexico v England.

1:24Drone footage shows scale of destruction after Nepal floods – videoNepal glacier collapse kills at least 1,300 Lhende Khola river valley communities are swept away after a 2 sq km (0.

Um bloco de rocha e gelo glacial de 8 milhas quadradas cai 1. 400 metros (4. 600 pés) nos Himalaias, desencadeando uma inundação de água e detritos. Mais de 5. 000 pessoas estão desaparecidas e 8.

Cientistas afirmam que temperaturas anormalmente quentes e a degradação de longo prazo do permafrost, causada pela crise climática, foram entre as causas prováveis da catástrofe.

Europe’s murderous heat forces reactor shutdown The UK and France are among a host of nations that swelter through the warmest summer (June to August) in European history.

The heat kills an estimated 50,000 people in cities across the continent. Two-thirds of those excess deaths are attributable to the climate crisis. Many more are likely to have died in rural areas.

À medida que as secas se espalham, a Romênia é forçada a fechar sua única usina nuclear porque o sistema de refrigeração não pode ser reabastecido pelos baixos níveis de água no Rio Danúbio.

September Second-hottest September on record.

0:49Typhoon Dujuan triggers deadly flooding and landslides in Japan – videoRecord heat and deadly storms lash Asia Hundreds are killed and millions evacuated as the world’s most populous continent experiences its hottest September and severe storms.

Typhoon Dujuan kills at least 10 people in Japan, with violent winds of 144km/h and 832mm of rain in only 48 hours on the island of Izu Oshima. Three die in a mudslide in eastern China during Typhoon Saudel.

Ao menos 102 pessoas foram mortas na Índia e no Nepal, em meio a chuvas que são nove vezes a média em alguns lugares. Oito morreram e meio milhão de pessoas foram afetadas por inundações em Bangkok, Tailândia.

View image in fullscreenProtesters clash with police officers in Jakarta, Indonesia, during a demonstration against President Prabowo Subianto’s handling of forest fires.

Fotografia: Willy Kurniawan/Reuters Governos alertados a se prepararem para o pico do El Niño A agência de socorro de desastres da ONU exorta os países a se prepararem para um El Niño sem precedentes, chamado de “bala de destruição”, que se prevê atingir seu pico por volta do final do ano.

UK authorities advise households to stockpile a few days of basic supplies. Climate scientists project more than 450,000 people globally will die by February as a result of the additional heat brought by the super El Niño.

Protests in Indonesia after deadly fires Demonstrators in Jakarta protest against Indonesia’s worst fire season in a decade, which has scorched almost 2m hectares of forest – more than twice as big an area as last year.

The choking haze is estimated to have killed 3,560 people in one month alone.

Roads turn to rivers in Chile After the heaviest October rainfall in 76 years, the Chilean government declares the Santiago district of Las Condes a “disaster zone”, with more than 1,000 people evacuated from their homes, some by helicopter.

Seca e incêndio na floresta amazônica. Meses de seca deixam alguns dos rios mais poderosos do mundo, incluindo o Rio Negro, Madeira e Tapajós, próximos a níveis recordes baixos, restringindo o transporte aquático de bens essenciais.

This coincides with a sharp rise in fire activity in the central and eastern Amazon region, releasing so much smoke that the city of Manaus registers the second-worst air quality in the world on 12 October.

Ver imagem em tela cheia As emissões globais de combustíveis fósseis provavelmente cairão este ano graças a uma mudança para longe do petróleo e gás devido aos altos preços após o ataque dos EUA-Israel ao Irã, e às alternativas renováveis cada vez mais baratas.

Photograph: Jesús Vargas/Getty Images2026 is forecast to be one of the hottest years in history.

Global temperatures tie an all-time record of 2. 04C above preindustrial levels, which was set in 2023. This year is forecast to be one of the four warmest years in history, along with 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Sea surface temperatures are so high that the climate scientist Eliot Jacobson calculates the odds of being this far above the norm at 33tn to one. Meanwhile, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere reaches a peak not seen in 2m years.

Em números

• They burn 686,000 hectares in Europe, twice the average of the past 20 years
• Typhoon Dujuan kills at least 10 people in Japan, with violent winds of 144km/h and 832mm of rain in only 48 hours on the islan
• Ao menos 102 pessoas foram mortas na Índia e no Nepal, em meio a chuva