Climate change brings extreme, early impact to South America

By DIANE JEANTET, MAURICIO SAVARESE and DEBORA REY
Associated Press

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Scientists have long been warning that extreme weather would cause calamity in the future. But in Latin America — which in just the last month has had deadly landslides in Brazil, wildfire in Argentine wetlands and flooding in the Amazon so severe  it ruined harvests — that future is already here. A report published Monday by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change corroborates what many on the ground are witnessing with their own eyes. Global warming is altering the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, which have become more difficult to predict, causing additional damage, the report said.