Fala, pessoal! What’s up, you guys? Como está o clima onde vocês estão? What’s the weather like where you are? Fevereiro (February) means freezing cold temperatures in the northern hemisphere, but scorching quente (hot) weather for those down south, like us Brazilians. At least it’s a break from the raging tempestades (storms) we saw in janeiro (January). And sadly, as far as extreme weather is concerned, the event that influenced me to write this text was an unfortunate one.

Desastres naturais acontecem no mundo todo (Image by Keli Black from Pixabay)

You might have heard about the tragic desabamento de rochas (rockfall) in the touristic city of Capitólio last month. The incident made the international headlines, featuring a striking video where you can see a large cliffside rock formation collapsing onto three barcos (boats). Ten people were mortas (killed) and 32 others left feridas (injured) as a result of the impact. Firefighters believe that the continuously heavy chuva (rain) affecting the area might be largely responsible. If you want to read more about it, find further information in Portuguese here or in English here.

Although recent climatic adversities have been linked to the effects aquecimento global (global warming), desastres naturais (natural disasters) have always been a part of history. Today’s post will expand on this one from 2012 with a few different phenomena and other examples. Vamos nessa!

drought – seca

• Israel has been suffering from its longest drought on record | Israel está passando pela sua seca mais longa já registrada.

Terremotos podem ser devastadores (Image by Angelo Giordano from Pixabay)

hurricane – furacão

• Hurricane Katrina is said to be one of the worst catastrophes of the century | O furacão Katrina é considerado uma das piores catástrofes do século.

blizzard – nevasca

• Over 12 people were killed in the avalanche, caused by a blizzard | Mais de 12 pessoas morreram na avalanche, causada por uma nevasca.

heatwave – onda de calor

• The heatwave sweeping across Europe is predicted to reach France next week | A onda de calor passando pela Europa está prevista para chegar à França na próxima semana.

flood – enchente

Secas ocorrem em climas quentes (Image by Sven Lachmann from Pixabay)

•  All meteorologists agree that heavy rain and floods can be expected this season | Todos meteorologistas concordam que chuvas fortes e enchentes podem ser esperadas nesta estação.

earthquake – terremoto

• The 2011 earthquake in Japan claimed tens of thousands of lives and over 300 billion in property damage | O terremoto de 2011 no Japão custou dezenas de milhares de vidas e mais de 300 bilhões em danos materiais.

landslide – deslizamento de terra

• The school’s roof caved in during the landslide | O telhado da escola desabou durante o deslizamento de terra.
  

  Chuvas intensas causam enchentes (Image by LucyKaef from Pixabay)

volcanic eruption – erupção vulcânica

• A volcanic eruption warning has been issued in Iceland | Um alerta de erupção vulcânica foi emitido na Islândia.

wildfire – incêndio florestal, queimada

• A large portion of the area’s native greenery was destroyed in the wildfire | Uma grande parte da vegetação nativa da área foi destruída na queimada.

hailstorm – tempestade de granizo

• The southern provinces of Chine were hit by a severe hailstorm, which brought serious losses | As províncias do sul da China foram atingidas por uma forte tempestade de granizo, que trouxe sérias perdas.

Do you know how to falar sobre o tempo (talk about the weather) in Portuguese? Don’t miss out on these previous posts:

Talking about the weather in Portuguese

Weather in Portuguese