According to Bloomberg:
Well before it became Brazil’s financial capital, São Paulo was known as terra da garoa, or the land of drizzle. An explosion of concrete and people in the second half of the 20th century—residents now total about 12 million—raised urban temperatures, and as the atmosphere has warmed, a local climate once characterized by light rains has shifted. Powerful storms ripped through the region in March and last November, pounding it with rain and causing blackouts and several deaths.
The number of days of rainfall in São Paulo is expected to double by the end of the century if, as projected, global temperatures increase by 2C or more from preindustrial times. Rainfall of about 30 millimeters per square meter per day can lead to flooding. Before 1950 there was no record of rainfall of 50mm or more in a single day, according to Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research; now that happens two to five times a year. “This is how climate change manifests in São Paulo,” says Lincoln Alves, a researcher at the institute.
Taking a cue from New York City, which has installed thousands of rain gardens, São Paulo’s city hall launched its own official program and turbocharged it. There were just 23 gardens in 2017; now the number has risen to 337, and it’s expected to reach 400 by yearend.
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