{"id":24972,"date":"2015-10-28T08:21:30","date_gmt":"2015-10-28T11:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=24972"},"modified":"2015-10-28T09:30:45","modified_gmt":"2015-10-28T12:30:45","slug":"rio-will-be-the-city-worst-affected-by-climate-change-in-south-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=24972","title":{"rendered":"Rio Will Be the City Worst Affected by Climate Change in South America"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas\"\"<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

For the original article in Portuguese by Maria Luisa Barros published in O Dia\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The average temperature will rise one degree Celsius by 2020. Heat waves and floods will cause more diseases.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

This summer is set to be Rio’s\u00a0hottest in years. And this is only the beginning. Thermometers in the state capital will show an average temperature increase of one degree Celsius over the next five years, according to a global warning released on October 13 by the Urban Climate Change Research Network<\/a>, which brings together 600 scientists from 150 different cities. <\/span><\/p>\n

Over the same period, sea levels will increase by up to 14cm in the region, one centimeter more than in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Lima, Peru. The climate scenario projected for the city of Rio is the worst in Latin America. <\/span><\/p>\n

The climate predictions will directly affect the health<\/a> of Rio de Janeiro residents. The principal risk is the spread of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, gastroenteritis and other infectious diseases such as dengue and leptospirosis. This conclusion was reached by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (known as Fiocruz, one of the world\u2019s main public health research institutions), which is spearheading the first Latin American nucleus of the Urban Climate Change Network, alongside COPPE, a postgraduate engineering department of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Summer<\/a>
The risk of summer flooding aggravates the spread of infectious diseases among the population. The main concern is leptospirosis, which is transmitted by rat urine. Photo by Thiago Lara \/ O Dia archive<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMany diseases can be aggravated by climate. The city needs to be prepared to face these changes, which primarily affect the lower income population<\/a>,\u201d stated Martha Barata, Fiocruz researcher, emphasizing that climate issues needs to be taken into account in urban planning. \u201cWe cannot continue to build houses and factories in areas which face\u00a0a high\u00a0risk of flooding in the future,\u201d she said. Those most vulnerable to heat<\/a> are the elderly and infants, whose organs are less able to adapt and defend themselves. The projections show that, by 2080, temperatures in Rio will increase by 3.4 degrees, the same increase predicted for the city of <\/span>Cubat\u00e3o in the state of S\u00e3o Paulo. The sea level is set to rise\u00a0by between 37cm and 82cm over the next 65 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

The research calls attention to problems that affect the day to day lives of people living in metropolitan areas, such as urban heat islands<\/a>\u2014neighborhoods with higher than average temperatures, such as Bangu<\/a> in Rio\u2014water shortages<\/a> and floods<\/a> in coastal areas.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The temperature rise in Rio will be\u00a0the highest among\u00a0the region’s metropolises. Photo by Saulo Stefano \/ O Dia archive<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The situation in Rio is worsened by disorganized hillside house building and by the lack of basic sanitation<\/a> in low-income communities. The researcher recommended that governments adopt public policies to avoid tragedies caused by environmental catastrophes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs well as this, society as a whole has to assume its share of the responsibility. Blame cannot be placed solely on the government. Public transport<\/a> needs to be prioritized and deforestation must not be exacerbated,\u201d said Martha Barata.<\/span><\/p>\n

Higher sea levels cause flooding<\/b><\/h3>\n

Of the 92 municipalities in Rio de Janeiro State, the city of Rio de Janeiro is the most vulnerable to the climatic changes predicted over the course of the next three decades. This warning is part of the Vulnerability Map for the Population of the Municipalities of Rio de Janeiro State<\/a>, completed by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. <\/span><\/p>\n

Among the dangers that threaten Rio de Janeiro, the\u00a0capital city in Rio de Janeiro state, are a local greenhouse effect\u00a0and flooding made worse by an increase in sea level. On a scale from 0 to 1, the city of Rio is rated as 1, due to its vulnerability in the area of health and environment. <\/span><\/p>\n

The vulnerability index rates municipalities according to the level of attention that will have to be given in the face of predicted climate changes. The closer to 1 on the index, the larger the chance of a city being affected. According to the study, the cities of Angra dos Reis and Paraty, on Rio\u2019s Green Coast<\/a>, and Teres\u00f3polis and Petr\u00f3polis, in a mountainous region of the state known as the \u201cRegi\u00e3o Serrana,\u201d are all at high environmental risk.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Rio<\/a>
Rio de Janeiro State Vulnerability Map, by Fiocruz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas For the original article in Portuguese by Maria Luisa Barros published in O Dia\u00a0click here. The average temperature will rise one degree Celsius by 2020. Heat waves and floods will cause […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":24977,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1288,1282,452,1330,328],"tags":[317,472,1795,474,803,78,107,473,203,409,740,1798,535,471,727,370],"writer":[1858],"translator":[1401],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24972","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-highlight","8":"category-research-analysis","9":"category-rio20","10":"category-translation","11":"category-understanding-rio","12":"tag-bangu","13":"tag-climate-change","14":"tag-costa-verde","15":"tag-environment","16":"tag-flood-risk","17":"tag-floods","18":"tag-health","19":"tag-heat-island","20":"tag-inequality","21":"tag-public-transportation","22":"tag-research-findings","23":"tag-rio-state","24":"tag-sanitation","25":"tag-sustainability","26":"tag-temperature","27":"tag-water","28":"writer-maria-luisa-barros","29":"translator-sarah-jacobs"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24972\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24972"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=24972"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=24972"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=24972"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=24972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}