Brazil Climate Change and Disaster Risks
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Brazil Climate Background
Brazil’s huge land is home to a remarkable patchwork of ecosystems that mirror the country’s climatic and geographical variety. Brazil has climates that are equatorial, tropical, and sub-tropical. The Amazon forest regulates rainfall over the continent of South America and is vital to the planet’s energy balance.
Forests cover the majority of Brazil’s land, and include humid and seasonal forests, which are most widespread in the Amazon and Atlantic Forests. Savannas are common in the Cerrado, but they can also be found in other parts of Brazil, including the Amazon. Steppe savannah formations are mostly found in the Northeastern Caatinga, as well as the plateaus and prairies of Brazil’s far south, in the Pampa biome.
The Amazon and the Rio Negro Watershed are the best places to look for campinaranas. Northern and central Brazil, which are dominated by equatorial and tropical climates, sees a lot of rain and has hotter temperatures. Southern Brazil, on the other hand, has a humid subtropical climate.
Northeast Brazil, in particular, has a semi-arid climate, with less than 700 mm of rain each year. The South American Monsoon System (SAMS), the El Nio Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone all influence climate variability in the country (ITCZ).
In tropical Brazil, the monsoon season usually begins in early October. The Amazon Basin receives a large increase in precipitation throughout the country’s austral summer (December to February). Rainfall is distributed across the country in a gradient from northwest to south and east.
Temperature
Brazil Climate Change, The hottest parts of Brazil are in the north, with high temperatures also occuring around the northeastern coast.
Temperatures have risen by 0.5°C across the Amazon Basin since 1980, with higher rates of warming reported during the dry season (August to November). Winter temperatures are rising, but the number of chilly evenings has reduced across the country.
The number of warm days and nights increased dramatically, especially during the dry season, with a modest rise in the number of warm days also occurring during the winter months.
Because of the country’s high humidity, rising temperatures have exacerbated critical heat index values, particularly in low-lying places and the most humid northern and central regions. Extremely low temperatures have also been documented in southern Brazil, with extreme low temperatures occurring on a less frequent basis over the past half-century.
Precipitation
Brazil’s precipitation patterns are quite varied. From January to March, Brazil receives the most average monthly precipitation, while from July to September, it receives the least. Although average annual rainfall declines from north to south, the country’s monsoon regime continues to have a significant impact on this pattern. Inter-annual climate variability has a significant impact on the seasonal precipitation cycle.
Due to growing environmental degradation, increased frequency and intensity of heavy rainfall events have frequently resulted in strong soil run-off, flash flooding, and landslides over the previous three decades. During El Nio events, the northern region receives less summer rainfall than typical, while the southern part receives more during La Nia events, the opposite occurs.
An average annual rise in precipitation has been reported since 1960. Over the last 30 years, rainfall in the Amazon’s tropical wet area, which comprises the majority of the Amazon, has increased by 5%.
Amazon rainforest
The climate is equatorial, hot and humid throughout the year, with continual rainfall across a huge portion of northern Brazil covered by the Amazon rainforest. The rains arrive in the afternoon or evening as heavy showers and thunderstorms. The yearly rainfall ranges between 2,000 and 3,000 millimeters (80 to 120 inches). From December through May, the rains are heavier, with monthly totals typically exceeding 200 mm (8 in), and in some cases even 300 mm (12 in).
Even during the day, the temperature in the forest remains below 30 °C (86 °F), but relative humidity is consistently near to 100 percent. After eliminating a portion of the forest, the cities created in the vicinity are a little warmer since the sun’s rays can clearly reach the ground.
Brazil Climate Change
Brazil Climate change is defined as a significant change in average weather conditions over several decades or longer, such as growing warmer, wetter, or drier. Climate change is distinguished from natural weather fluctuation by its longer-term trend.
Increases in global air and ocean temperatures, rising global sea levels, long-term sustained widespread reductions in snow and ice cover, and changes in atmospheric and ocean circulation as well as regional weather patterns, which influence seasonal precipitation and temperature conditions, have all been observed during the twentieth century.
Brazil Climate Change, Extra heat in the climate system owing to the addition of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere causes these changes.
Human activities like as the combustion of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas), agriculture, and land clearing are the primary sources of these additional greenhouse gases. These activities increase the amount of greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere.
An increasing greenhouse effect is consistent with the pattern of observed changes in the climate system. Volcanoes, the sun, and natural variability, among other climatic factors, cannot explain the time and magnitude of the observed changes. Climates are changing today.
Brazil Climate change science is backed up by considerable scientific study conducted and reported all over the world. Climate data is gathered from environmental observations and measurements in the past and present. Climate models are used to figure out what causes climate change.
Brazil Climate Risks due to the Global Climate Change
Brazil Climate change has a particularly negative impact on the Amazon region. The Amazon is the world’s largest rainforest, accounting for 40% of all remaining rainforest on the planet. Brazil accounts for about 65 percent of the Amazon region. The remaining funds are split among eight additional countries. Both the global and local climates rely on the Amazon region.
Climate change has a particularly negative impact on the Amazon region. The Amazon is the world’s largest rainforest, accounting for 40% of all remaining rainforest on the planet. Brazil accounts for about 65 percent of the Amazon region. The remaining funds are split among eight additional countries. Both the global and local climates rely on the Amazon region.
Massive clear-cutting activities have long been recognized as a severe threat to the Amazon rainforest. The notion that climate change is also threatening the tropical rainforest is less well known. In the future, temperatures and rainfall levels are predicted to grow more unpredictable. Furthermore, a 2°C increase in global average temperature might result in local temperature increases of up to 4°C.
This challenge, combined with the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, may overburden the rainforest’s natural adaptive capability, causing parts of it to be turned into savannahs.
Brazil Climate Change and Disaster Riks
Ecosystems and ecosystem services are critical for Brazil, but they are under threat from climate change and unpredictability. Long-term drought and flooding in Amazonian regions, combined with other factors such as deforestation, will alter ecosystems already in place. In general, higher temperatures make it easier for vector-borne and other infectious diseases to thrive.
Increased flooding is also linked to an increase in the prevalence of waterborne diseases like cholera. Sea level rise and storm surge will have a significant influence on the Amazon delta’s lowlands..Between 1900 and 2016, the country saw a total of 142 flood events, including both flash and riverine floods. According to data, Brazil is more vulnerable to riverine flooding, which has resulted in a total economic loss of over $6.1 billion over the last decade. Flash floods, on average, cause more damage to infrastructure and human lives.
During the same time span, the country saw 18 droughts, resulting in 20 deaths and $11.2 billion in damages. Furthermore, the events had an impact on nearly 80 million people. Droughts or water scarcity, it is clear, are a major cause of economic loss.
Tropical cyclones and extratropical storms rarely affect the country in general. Convective storms, on the other hand, have been a regular occurrence. By 2016, there has been one extratropical storm, one tropical cyclone, and ten convective storms, with 77 deaths and $0.5 billion in damages. Landslides claimed the lives of 1730 people between 1900 and 2016, affecting a total of 4.2 million people.
Brazil Climate Change and Disaster Impacts
Agriculture
Total agricultural output in Brazil has more than doubled since the early 1990s, accounting for 5.5 percent of GDP in 2016 and employing over 18 million people, or 15 percent of the formally employed population in 2017. Climate change threatens land availability and encourages agricultural intensification, which leads to more deforestation and soil erosion and degradation.
Increased drought and warmth are also threatening the Brazilian livestock business, particularly the beef sector, which produces 14 percent of the world’s beef. Increased ocean temperatures and potentially altering currents are also threatening Brazil’s thriving fishing industry.
Water
The Amazon River basin as a whole, which includes several nations other than Brazil, supplies 70% of the world’s fresh water supply, while Brazil alone contributes 20%. Local evapotranspiration processes account for a considerable amount of annual precipitation in the Amazon (34 percent). This is particularly true in the southern half of the jungle, which receives little precipitation from other locations, but the northern Amazon receives plenty of rain from the equatorial Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ).
Drier conditions as a result of protracted drought, along with increasing evapotranspiration as a result of rising temperatures, will likely have an influence on the Amazon’s global freshwater supply. Because of flooding, agricultural runoff, and pollution linked with mining, overall water quality is anticipated to deteriorate.
Brazil Coastal Disaster Risk
Brazil Climate Change, The warming of the earth is driving global mean sea level to rise in two ways: mountain glaciers and polar ice sheets are melting and adding water to the ocean, and the warmth of the ocean water causes expansion and therefore greater volume. Since 1880, the global mean sea level has risen roughly 210–240 millimeters (mm), with about a third of it occurring in the previous two and a half decades. The annual growth is currently around 3mm each year.
Natural variability in area winds and ocean currents causes regional fluctuations, which can last for days, months, or even decades. However, additional factors such as ground uplift (e.g., ongoing rebound from Ice Age glacier weight), changes in water tables owing to water extraction or other water management, and even the effects of local erosion can all play a role locally.
Brazil Climate Change, Rising sea levels put a strain on both the physical coastline and coastal ecosystems. Freshwater aquifers, which support municipal and agricultural water supplies as well as natural ecosystems, can be contaminated by saltwater incursions. Because there is a significant lag between attaining equilibrium and global temperatures continuing to rise, sea level will continue to rise for a long time.
The magnitude of the rise will be heavily influenced by future carbon dioxide emissions and global warming, and the speed of the rise may be progressively influenced by glacier and ice sheet melting.
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Final concern
Brazil will be impacted by climate change in a variety of ways. Global warming’s repercussions may already be seen now. Precipitation patterns have shifted dramatically in recent decades, while temperatures have climbed by 0.5°C.
reference –Â world bank Climate knowledge,UNDP Climate Adoption
recentclimate – Brazil Climate Change and Disaster Risks