A study carried out by Brazilian researchers showed that 53% of the São Francisco River basin has high and very high vulnerability and that the area with socio-environmental weaknesses totals 337,569 square kilometers (km2). In Parnaíba, the proportion was 37% (121,990 km2). In the study, a combination of indicators was used. When analyzing the adaptive capacity, it was noted that 549,830 km2 of the area, which corresponds to 57%, are in the low and very low levels. The São Francisco basin had a high and very high exposure area greater than that of the Parnaíba (62.8% and 30.7%). The sensitivity area is also larger. According to the Socio-environmental Vulnerability Index (Sevi), which intends to expose different levels of socio-environmental vulnerabilities according to the characteristics of the region, the main limitation to reduce socio-environmental weaknesses in the Parnaíba region is the adaptive capacity, with infrastructure problems, of income and conditions for human development. In the São Francisco region, such weaknesses are linked to population density, soil degradation, land use and climate indicators, such as temperature and precipitation. According to one of the authors of the work, Rita Marcia da Silva Pinto Vieira, who was at the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) when she developed the study, the analyzed area was 962 thousand km2 , where 20 million people live, predominantly in urban area. Of these, 16 million live in the São Francisco basin and 4 million in the Parnaíba basin. The biologist explained that Sevi resulted from a combination of indicators related to adaptation (human development, infrastructure and income), sensitivity (number of days without rain, land use and cover, temperature and type of soil) and exposure (density population, soil degradation and desertification). The results were classified as very high, high, moderate, low and very low. Rita Marcia highlighted that climate change should worsen the scenario in the coming decades with the flow of the two rivers decreasing by 46% and 26%, due to global warming, and that the populations in poverty in these areas will be affected more frequently by events extreme climates. “The research is important because, knowing which are the most vulnerable places, it is possible to analyze the necessary public policies for that area. This is the major contribution of the study. With the results, we have a socio-environmental vulnerability map and, with that, several things can be done, because the data can serve to make quick decisions”, said the researcher. The conclusions are in an article published in Sustainability magazine by scientists from Inpe and the National Center for Monitoring and Alerts on Natural Disasters (Cemaden). The study was carried out with support from the State of São Paulo Research Support Fund (Fapesp) and the Forests 2020 project, which is part of the International Academic Partnership Program (IAPP), of the United Kingdom Space Agency, and brings together specialists in monitoring forestry in several countries. Jean Pierre Ometto, senior researcher from the Division of Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerabilities of the General Coordination of Earth Sciences at Inpe, also participated in the work.
Agência Brasil
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