Brazil's coastal cities more vulnerable to climate change

Brazilian cities in coastal areas are more vulnerable to climate change, especially to the sea level rise, but also to such events as heavy rain, storms, floods, and coastal erosion, all of which cause destruction and adversely affect infrastructure in these municipalities.

Brazil's coastal cities more vulnerable to climate change. Image credit: chensiyuan/Wikipedia (GFDL)

These were the findings of a special report titled Impacto, vulnerabilidade e adaptação das cidades costeiras brasileiras às mudanças climáticas.

he special report looks at the climate change scenario for Brazil and how coastal cities could be impacted by global warming. According to the study, 18 of Brazil's 42 metropolitan areas are located in coastal regions or within their influence zone. The report covered coastal municipalities in the Northeast, Southeast, and South regions of the country.

In the gloomier scenarios discussed in the report, sea levels could rise 40 centimeters by 2050, causing losses of up to $1.2 billion in the 22 largest coastal cities in Latin America. The cost of climate change has not been measured for Brazil specifically.

The impact of the sea level and temperature rise is much greater in Brazil, because the country has a significant portion of its cities located along a long coastline.

In addition to the sea level, extreme rainfall events are also among the causes for environmental problems in coastal regions, leading to landslides, torrents, and flooding.

Some of the most vulnerable cities include Rio de Janeiro, Santos (São Paulo), Fortaleza (Ceará), Recife (Pernambuco), Salvador (Bahia) and, in Brazil's South region, the Vale do Itajaí region of Santa Catarina, which in addition to the rising sea level, is at risk of becoming a hurricane route.

The report recommends carrying out new risk analyses that look into associated disasters, increasingly extreme weather, and rising sea level in coastal cities, particularly in the North and Northeast of the country, to help find out which risks the cities and populations are prepared to deal with. (Agência Brasil)

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