Twenty million residents in São Paulo state, Brazil, are experiencing the worst drought in living memory.

For the last nine months or so, São Paulo has been drained of its water reserves with rainfall at 12 to 16 inches below normal. It is the region’s worst drought in more than 80 years.

The unusually dry spell began during the southern hemisphere’s summer late last year, when São Paulo state received roughly one third to a half of the rain it normally gets. Summer is its wettest season, while winter is its driest.

In the months since, rainfall has been approximately 40 per cent of its normal levels and has caused mayhem among its agricultural production.

Parts of the Cantareira System – home to five reservoirs supplying water to about half of São Paulo’s residents – have been reduced to between three and five per cent of storage capacity, Nasa says.

In pictures: São Paulo ravaged by worst drought in 80 years Show all 16 1 /16 In pictures: São Paulo ravaged by worst drought in 80 years In pictures: São Paulo ravaged by worst drought in 80 years Sao Paulo drought View of graffiti at the Jaguari dam, part of the hydrological Cantareira System, which presents a low level of water, in city of Vargem, 54.5 miles from city of Sao Paulo, Brazil on 24 October 2014 EPA In pictures: São Paulo ravaged by worst drought in 80 years Sao Paulo drought The Jaguari dam, part of the hydrological Cantareira System, which is at a low level of water, in city of Vargem, 54.5 miles from city of Sao Paulo, Brazil on 24 October 2014 EPA In pictures: São Paulo ravaged by worst drought in 80 years Sao Paulo drought A group of people makes a line to collect water from a public fountain in Itu, 62 miles from the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil on 22 October 2014 EPA In pictures: São Paulo ravaged by worst drought in 80 years Sao Paulo drought People fishing at the Jaguari dam, part of the hydrological Cantareira System, which presents a low level of water, in city of Vargem, 54.5 miles from city of Sao Paulo, Brazil on 24 October 2014 EPA In pictures: São Paulo ravaged by worst drought in 80 years Sao Paulo drought The Jaguari Reservoir in the Cantareira System pictured in August 2013 Nasa Earth Observatory In pictures: São Paulo ravaged by worst drought in 80 years Sao Paulo drought The Jaguari Reservoir in the Cantareira System pictured in August 2014 - with levels having decreased from 12 per cent to four per cent since, Nasa says Nasa Earth Observatory In pictures: São Paulo ravaged by worst drought in 80 years Sao Paulo drought Residents of the region of Sao Paulo state that depend on the Cantareira water system carry containers to draw water from a well in Itu on 18 October 2014 Reuters In pictures: São Paulo ravaged by worst drought in 80 years Sao Paulo drought View of the Jaguari dam, part of the hydrological Cantareira System, which is at a low level of water, in city of Vargem, 54.5 miles from the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil on 24 October 2014 EPA In pictures: São Paulo ravaged by worst drought in 80 years Sao Paulo drought A man stands on the cracked ground of the Atibainha dam as it dries up due to a prolonged drought in Nazare Paulista, Sao Paulo state on 17 October 2014 Reuters In pictures: São Paulo ravaged by worst drought in 80 years Sao Paulo drought Residents of the region of Sao Paulo state that depend on the Cantareira water system draw water from a well in Itu on 18 October 2014 Reuters In pictures: São Paulo ravaged by worst drought in 80 years Sao Paulo drought A man stands on the cracked ground of the Atibainha dam as it dries up due to a prolonged drought in Nazare Paulista, Sao Paulo state on 17 October 2014 Reuters In pictures: São Paulo ravaged by worst drought in 80 years Sao Paulo drought A car is seen on the cracked ground of Atibainha dam as the lake dries up due to a prolonged drought in Nazare Paulista, Sao Paulo State on 17 October 2014 Reuters In pictures: São Paulo ravaged by worst drought in 80 years Sao Paulo drought Men fish next to cracked ground as the Atibainha dam lake dries up due to a prolonged drought in Nazare Paulista, Sao Paulo state on 17 October 2014 Reuters In pictures: São Paulo ravaged by worst drought in 80 years Sao Paulo drought Cars, that the police suspect were stolen and dumped in the lake behind the Jaguari dam, appear on dry ground as the lake dries up due to a prolonged drought in Braganca Paulista, Sao Paulo state on 2 October 2014 Reuters In pictures: São Paulo ravaged by worst drought in 80 years Sao Paulo drought A resident of the region of Sao Paulo state that depends on the Cantareira water system receives water from a public spout due to rationing in their homes as a result of a record drought, in Itu on 29 September 2014 Reuters In pictures: São Paulo ravaged by worst drought in 80 years Sao Paulo drought Residents of the region of Sao Paulo state that depends on the Cantareira water system protest over the rationing of water as a result of a record drought, outside City Hall in Itu on 29 September 2014 Reuters

As reservoirs run dry, tensions have been running high: Citizens have taken to burning buses in protest and hijacking water tankers in the nearby city of Itu, The Weather Network reports.

One resident in Itu, which has been subjected to conservation measures unlike nearby São Paulo city, said on one day they had just three hours to wash their clothes and dishes before the taps were turned off again.

Reuters says the city may run completely dry by mid-November if it doesn’t rain, and says the blame could partly be placed on the deforestation of the Amazon.

“Humidity that comes from the Amazon in the form of vapor clouds - what we call ‘flying rivers’ - has dropped dramatically, contributing to this devastating situation we are living today,” Antonio Nobre, a Climate Scientist at INPE, Brazil’s National Space Research Institute, said.

If the drought continues, Paulistanos and Paulistas will experience a “collapse like we’ve never seen before”, Vicente Andreu, President of Brazil’s Water Regulatory Agency, also told Reuters.

A satellite image taken of the Jaguari Reservoir in August 2013 (right) and a year later in 2014 (left) (Nasa Earth Observatory)

Extraordinary satellite images released by Nasa show the extent of the drought at the Jaguari Reservoir, which is one of the five at Cantareira.

In the first image was taken on 3 August 2013, while the second image was taken a year later on 16 August 2014.