For years, Brazilian climatologist Núbia Beray Armond has been vocal about the urgent need for Rio de Janeiro to implement an extreme heat plan, emphasizing the importance of water distribution. However, it wasn’t until a catastrophic event at a Taylor Swift concert that her warnings began to resonate widely, leading to an inundation of calls and messages to her phone.
On a sweltering day last November, just as summer was about to dawn in the Southern Hemisphere, southeast Brazil was engulfed by an intense heat wave. Fans of Taylor Swift, numbering in the tens of thousands, endured hours of scorching heat as they queued for her concert, seeking shade under umbrellas. Inside the venue, a few dehydrated fans caught Swift’s attention, prompting her to halt her performance and request that staff provide water to them.
Tragically, not all attendees were fortunate. Ana Clara Benevides, 23, succumbed to heat exposure that led to cardiorespiratory arrest during the concert, sparking widespread outrage. Critics pointed fingers at the event organizers for not ensuring adequate water supply for the concertgoers. This incident prompted Brazil’s justice minister to label the death as unacceptable, leading to the issuance of a regulation that mandates organizers of large events to ensure water availability during heat waves.
This tragedy has galvanized efforts to legally mandate water access, highlighting its recognition as a public health issue in the face of escalating global temperatures. Rio de Janeiro is at the forefront of this movement, with nearly a third of the almost 100 bills related to water access currently making their way through municipal, state, and federal legislatures originating from Rio state. This legislative push, known as “the Taylor Swift effect,” includes many bills named in honor of Benevides.
Niteroi, a city within Rio’s metropolitan area, has become the first to pass a municipal ordinance guaranteeing water provision at large events. Beray Armond, who leads the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro’s GeoClima laboratory and is a researcher at Indiana University Bloomington, regards Benevides’ death as a pivotal moment for Rio’s public administration regarding water distribution.
Brazil’s summer of 2023 was particularly harsh, with nine heat waves recorded across the country, three of which occurred since January, according to the government’s meteorology institute. The heat index reached a record 59.3 degrees Celsius (138 Fahrenheit) on the day of Swift’s concert, a record that has since been broken four times.
In response to the heat, Rio’s residents sought solace at beaches like Copacabana and Ipanema. However, the relentless high temperatures have raised concerns about their unending nature, particularly affecting those in less privileged situations.
The inability to afford continuous air conditioning has led many, especially in favelas, to resort to multiple showers a day to stay cool, impacting water bills and depleting shared tanks. Since three private companies began managing water concessions in 2021, installing meters, many favela residents have had to pay for water for the first time. In Rocinha, Rio’s largest favela, residents like Daiane Nunes have turned to natural water sources in the forest as an alternative to the heavily chlorinated tap water.
Water scarcity, especially among poor, non-white populations, is a growing global crisis exacerbated by rising temperatures. In Rio, ahead of World Water Day, people gathered to share their struggles with water access, highlighting the intermittent water supply in areas like Jardim Gramacho.
Following Benevides’ death, the city announced designated areas within health posts for people suffering from dehydration to receive saline solutions. During Carnival, water was distributed at the Sambadrome to help participants cool down. However, challenges remain, such as the recent incident where soccer fans were barred from bringing water bottles into Maracana stadium during a heatwave.
Rio has begun installing free water dispensers, but so far, only one has been set up in the affluent neighborhood of Ipanema, with its effectiveness hampered by technical requirements. Beray Armond acknowledges these efforts as steps in the right direction but stresses the need for legislation to ensure water distribution, without which the population risks illness or death. The journey towards improved water access continues, with the hope that proposed bills will become law, marking a significant advancement from the previous status quo.