Abstract
Climate change would increase the risk of floods or droughts. So far, only a few studies have projected changes in extremes on a regional or local scale. None of these studies relied on multiple climate proxies. Only some studies have started to estimate the exposure to flooding or drought as a proxy of risk; so, here, we present an exercise in risk analysis. Studies of climate change and its impacts rarely yield consensus on the distribution of exposure, vulnerability or possible outcomes. In addition, Northeast Brazil (NEB) is known for its temporal and spatial variability of rainfall and several studies have investigated this variability in order to understand damaging episodes such as droughts and floods. In NEB, the phenomenon of drought is a complex issue because millions of people are affected, and so, it is an important object of study in various fields of knowledge. One way of trying to argue about this phenomenon is through the concept of vulnerability. In this preliminary study, one will determine the risk or exposure factor to drought, which is one component of vulnerability, mainly concerning agricultural activities. The drought risk/exposure indicator was constructed based on three indices: the standardized precipitation index (SPI), the precipitation concentration period (PCP) and the precipitation concentration degree (PCD). The exposure indices showed an increase in high values from 1979 to 2008. On the contrary, the period from 1967 to 1996 showed that the risk factor in some micro-regions had low indices in a larger number; one can note that the dynamics of the factor is in an evolution between high and extremes.
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Silva, B.K.N., Lucio, P.S. Characterization of risk/exposure to climate extremes for the Brazilian Northeast—case study: Rio Grande do Norte . Theor Appl Climatol 122, 59–67 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-014-1275-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-014-1275-z