Vulnerabilidades e riscos socioambientais provocados pela mudança climática na cidade de Natal-RN

Abstract

The present research investigates the environmental crisis context and its consequences for costal cities’ population, analyzing climate change impacts which can lead to sea level rise, forcing the withdrawal/retreat of coastal dwellings, local infrastructures’ destruction, the consequent coastal erosion and flooding by waves’ transpositions and tsunamis. These changes can lead to obstruction of channel outlets and saline intrusion into fresh water hydrous bodies resulting in scarcity. In addition, it investigates the mechanisms for confronting the resolution of this problem by the State, the industry and civil society. The general objective is to analyze how the climate change phenomenon is felt by the population of the urban beaches in Natal/RN. The specific objectives are: a) to carry out the diagnosis of the vulnerabilities derived from climate change in urban beaches in Natal-RN; b) understand how social actors are adapting to climate change in the beach; and c) verify if strategies are being implemented for mitigation and adaptation on beaches in Natal-RN. The research approach is qualitative and exploratory, being carried out through direct observations, documentary and field research, with semi-structured interviews. The case study covered two beaches in Natal / RN (Ponta Negra and Redinha), chosen because they have above-allowed balneability indexes, suffer from the climate change process and they are strategically used by several socioeconomic actors as a source of income. Nowadays, the main coastal socioenvironmental problems detected in Rio Grande do Norte are the lack of preparation for climate change events due to sea level rise and coastal erosion, creating a scenario of vulnerabilities and, consequently, risk to families living or carry out economic activities in coastal cities.