In 1998, one hundred and twenty families from Brazil's Landless Workers Movement occupied this once fertile piece of land in Pernambuco. Since 2001, though, the Pajeú River has ceased to feed the reservoir that the settlers rely upon to irrigate their fields. Photo: Vice

8 June 2015 (VICE News) – VICE News is closely tracking global environmental change. Check out the Tipping Point blog here. The state of São Paulo is experiencing its worst drought in decades. Reservoirs that millions of people rely upon for drinking water are running dry and outbreaks of dengue fever have brought about an acute public health crisis.  But another region of Brazil is experiencing drought, although it has largely gone unnoticed compared to the crisis in the more populous southeast. The Sertão region, which includes parts of several states in the country’s northeast, is semi-arid, but typically produces millions of tons of crops and hosts millions of head of goats, sheep, and cows.  Like São Paulo, the Sertão has been devastated. And with El Niño conditions forming in the eastern Pacific Ocean, the situation could become worse. [more]

In Photos: Drought in Brazil’s Sertão Region