Highlights: In Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, and soon in Brazil, temperatures are reaching records. The phenomenon is also not without consequences on health and crops throughout the region. Linked to the El Niño climatic phenomenon, aggravated by human-caused global warming, this heat wave puts States on alert due to the fires it encourages, themselves fanned by the winds. At least 46 people have been killed in forest fires ravaging central and southern Chile, Chilean President Gabriel Boric announced on Saturday.

Southern Latin America is suffocating. In Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, and soon in Brazil, temperatures are reaching records, in many places exceeding 40°C in the shade...

Latin America's southern cone plagued by extreme heat and fires

Southern Latin America is suffocating. In Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, and soon in Brazil, temperatures are reaching records, in many places exceeding 40°C in the shade and triggering deadly fires. The phenomenon is also not without consequences on health and crops throughout the region.

Thick black smoke covers Viña del Mar, a seaside resort in Chile, February 2, 2024. REUTERS - RODRIGO GARRIDO

By: RFI Follow

We are certainly in the middle of the austral summer but the heat that the southern cone of the Americas is currently experiencing is extraordinary and these peaks are recurring more and more. “

Over the last twenty years, we started experiencing maximum temperatures periodically, but it was not frequent. For five years, however, we have reached historic maximums almost every day

,” notes Eduardo Mingo, from the Paraguay meteorology and hydrology directorate.

41 degrees in the shade in the Chaco province of Paraguay means 50 degrees in feeling, particularly due to humidity and hot winds. Linked to the El Niño climatic phenomenon, aggravated by human-caused global warming, this heat wave puts States on alert due to the fires it encourages, themselves fanned by the winds. This is the case in Colombia, but especially in Chile, where forest fires have been

particularly deadly in recent hours

. At least 46 people have been killed in forest fires ravaging central and southern Chile, Chilean President Gabriel Boric announced on Saturday after flying over the region by helicopter, adding that this toll was only provisional. After a lull, fires have resumed in the tourist region of Valparaiso, where the famous seaside resort of Viña del Mar is located, whose beaches are popular at this time of summer. The flames ravaged nearly 43,000 hectares on Saturday, particularly on the Pacific coast, according to the Minister of the Interior, Carolina Toha. “

This is an unprecedented disaster, the Valparaiso region has never experienced a situation of this magnitude

,” said Macarena Ripamonti, mayor of Viña del Mar, which was particularly affected.

A truck entirely consumed by flames, in Vña del Mar, February 2, 2024. REUTERS - RODRIGO GARRIDO

Across the South American region, this is also worrying farmers. José Colombatto, vice-president of the Argentine Rural Confederations, takes the example of cattle: “

At the moment many cows are with the bulls for reproduction. But excess heat causes the death of certain embryos and this prevents certain animals from going into heat. We could therefore have a drop in calf production due to the heat

,” he explains.

The corn and soybean harvest, key crops for Argentina and Brazil in particular, could also be affected.

Latin America's southern cone plagued by extreme heat and fires

Latin America's southern cone plagued by extreme heat and fires

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