Climate Emergency and El Niño

Resilience Strategies in the North East Semiarid

Abstract

Part of the Nordeste region of Brazil, it is called semi-arid due to its biophysical characteristic, droughts and a predominance of shrub and herbaceous tree species that classify it as the Caatinga biome. According to data from the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística - IBGE, the semi-arid region of the country contains a total area of 982,563.3 km², 89.5% of which is in the Nordeste region, extending to states such as Maranhão, and the State of Minas Gerais, located in the Southeast Region. The Nordeste has a long history of major droughts, according to Melo (1999) over the years and with the creation of new technologies, it became known that the occurrence of droughts in the Nordeste was linked to the El Niño phenomenon. El Niño and La Niña are climate phenomena that occur in the Pacific Ocean and affect the global climate. El Niño involves warming sea waters, while La Niña involves cooling. Both have significant impacts on weather conditions around the world and are closely monitored by scientists and climate experts. El Niño is a meteorological phenomenon on a global scale, resulting from the differentiated warming of the Pacific Ocean, causing changes in the atmospheric precipitation regime in various parts of the earth. In Brazil, there is a reduction in rainfall in the North and Nordeste regions, and an increase in the South region, in general, El Niño, although weak, in the year 1992-93, affected the lives of 8 million and 500 thousand people (DE MELO, 1999).

This research's main methodology is the bibliographical review of texts that report the effects of El Niño in the Nordeste, reaching the conclusion that the climate emergency is a completely red and dangerous sign in El Niño years. Finally, actions and projects that are operating in the Nordeste and that are thinking about how to adapt to the effects that El Niño may cause in the future are mapped. Furthermore, the main actors operating in the region are listed, aiming at the adaptation and safety of local communities in relation to climate change.