Extreme heat and socioeconomic inequalities in the world and in Brazil

• Ano de defesa: 2024
• Autor(a) principal: Coelho, James Van Costa
• Orientador(a): Réquia Júnior, Weeberb João
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: eng
• Palavras-chave em Português: Calor extremo; Vulnerabilidade socioeconômica; Impactos das mudanças climáticas; Justiça ambiental; Brasil
• Palavras-chave em Inglês: Extreme heat; Socioeconomic vulnerability; Climate change impacts; Environmental justice; Brazil
• Link de acesso: https://hdl.handle.net/10438/36038

Extreme heat exposure is a growing concern globally, particularly in tropical regions like Brazil, where vulnerable populations may experience unequal heat exposure due to geographic and socioeconomic disparities. Extreme temperature exposure poses significant health risks, with disparities evident across different locations and populations. We investigated the disparities in temperature exposure worldwide and in Brazil. Extreme heat data were obtained from NASA’s Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center, which provide annual counts of days where the maximum Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGTmax) exceeded thresholds of 28, 30, and 32°C. This data has a spatial resolution of approximately 5 km grid-cell. Socioeconomic data were obtained from the Global Relative Deprivation Index (GRDIv1), also provided by SEDAC, which measures multidimensional deprivation with a spatial resolution of approximately 1 km. We applied Generalized Additive Models (GAMs) to assess the relationship between poverty percentiles and extreme heat exposure across different WBGTmax thresholds. Globally, we stratified the analysis by continent and rural/urban areas. for WBGTmax >28°C, the richest 10% (p1) showed a negative association with extreme heat exposure (-0.037, 95% CI: -0.041, -0.032 days per year), while the poorest 10% (p5) exhibited a strong positive association (5.712, 95% CI: 5.680, 5.744 days per year). Similar patterns were observed for WBGTmax >30°C and >32°C. Results differed by continent. In Europe, urban areas showed a minor increase in exposure while rural areas had mixed regression coefficients. North America exhibited pronounced negative slopes in both urban and rural areas. Asia had significant negative slopes in urban areas and persistent negative slopes in rural areas. Africa displayed mixed results, with both positive and negative slopes. South America showed high positive slopes in both urban and rural areas, and Central America had more pronounced negative slopes in rural areas. These findings highlight the complex nature of temperature exposure disparities and the need for targeted interventions to mitigate health risks, particularly in vulnerable regions. In Brazil, the study aims to assess disparities in extreme heat exposure across factors such region and race. The models were adjusted for socioeconomic index and regional differences to estimate the effects of extreme heat on different racial groups and geographic regions. The results revealed significant disparities in heat exposure, with Black and Indigenous populations disproportionately exposed to extreme heat, particularly at WBGTmax >28°C. The North region, characterized by higher poverty levels, exhibited the greatest exposure, while the South and Southeast regions showed lower exposure levels. Our study highlights considerable disparities in extreme heat exposure driven by geographic, socioeconomic, and racial factors in Brazil. These findings underscore the vulnerability of marginalized populations, particularly in poorer regions, and call for targeted public policies to reduce heat exposure inequalities.