Eventos climáticos extremos em Belém-PA (1990-2023): frequência, intensidade e impactos socioambientais

Abstract

This master's degree study in Geography entitled "Extreme climate events in Belém-PA (1990-2023): frequency, intensity and socio-environmental impacts" has as its main objective to identify and characterize extreme climate events in the municipality of Belém-PA between 1990 and 2023, analyzing their frequency, intensity and socio-environmental impacts, and discussing possible relationships with regional and local climate changes. The municipality of Belém, as one of the main metropolises in the Amazon, faces particular challenges arising from extreme climate events, such as floods, droughts, extreme heat and intense storms. These events have direct implications for urban life, infrastructure, public health and the environment, affecting both the local population and the socioeconomic dynamics of the region. The methodology of this study is based on the qualitative-quantitative method, with the collection and discussion of data, daily precipitation and maximum temperature indices, CHIRPS and MODIS satellite images, as well as data from the conventional station of the National Institute of Meteorology (INMET). A bibliographic review of a report by Embrapa (2002) will also be conducted. The data will then be transformed into graphs and tables that identify major deviations in the climate state and will be compared with the climatological norms established by INMET. In addition, the research was based on Bertalanffy's General System Theory and Monteiro's Urban Climate Theory (1975). The results obtained provide an understanding of the impacts of climate change in Belém, considering the change in the city's climate, which is rainier and has heavy daily rainfall, most of the time above 100 mm, and is becoming hotter, with an increase in average temperature and daily highs reaching 38°C. Thus, one of the main impacts of climate change is the presence of more frequent and intense climate extremes over the period 1990-2023, and this is related to factors that contribute to the occurrence of these events, such as changes in land use, urbanization, deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions and global climate phenomena, such as El Niño and La Niña.