Captured by local photographer Gerson Turelly, this image shows the centre of Porto Alegre, Brazil, during the devastating Rio Grande do Sul floods in Spring 2024. In this image, a road has turned into a waterway down which a young man paddles his kayak. Gerson notes that the kayaker was headed towards the worst affected areas to help rescue stranded people.  

The composition and lighting of the photo were praised by the judging panel, as well as the powerful combination of weather and climate impacts portrayed in the scene. Judges commented how the picture shows “past, present and future”; flooding has always been something that we must deal with and adapt to, however as climate change increases the intensity of heavy rainfall, flooding will become even more common.  

Looking at the most intense ten-day period during this event, World Weather Attribution showed that climate change made the flooding at least twice as likely, and six to nine per cent more intense. The El Niño Southern Oscillation was also shown to play a large role in increasing the likelihood and intensity of this event, demonstrating how natural variability of the ocean and atmosphere can combine with climate change to produce particularly extreme events.

Until this event, Porto Alegre had generally been spared from significant flooding, meaning that maintenance of its flood defences had been neglected. Urban sprawl into flood-prone areas had also increased vulnerability. This event acts as a reminder that, under climate change, extreme events will occur in new places or with greater intensity or higher frequency than before. Communities must adapt and increase their resilience to avoid disaster. 
 

Photo location: Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil 

Photographer based: Brazil

Camera: Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF 50mm F/1.8 STM