Análise da vulnerabilidade ambiental na Zona Costeira do município de Galinhos - Rio Grande do Norte

Abstract

Studying and understanding the dynamics occurring in the coastal zone is one of the main challenges of contemporary society, especially when these dynamics affect the natural process of these areas. Environmental vulnerability is seen as a paradigm in the sense of understanding the interactions between society and nature, since studying vulnerability starts from the conjuncture of understanding the links of environmental elements, such as geology, geomorphology, pedology, vegetation cover, hydrography, climate, and anthropic elements, such as land use and land cover. The natural characteristics of the coastal zones, make this space, a unique and strategic area, for various fields, such as social and economic, due to the variety of ecosystems present, especially economic factors associated with natural resources. In this context, this work aims to characterize the environmental vulnerability of the coastal zone of the Galinhos municipality, located on the northern coast of Rio Grande do Norte, using the methodology of Crepani (2001), for composition of this methodology, it was used the variables geology, pedology, vegetation and land use and occupation for classification of the degree of vulnerability of the area. Taking into consideration that the profuse utilities of natural resources, and the use and occupation of the land, intend the modification of the coastal zone, depriving the appropriation of the support capacity, the municipality has a high degree of vulnerability according to the methodology used, in which the zone with the highest degree of vulnerability consists of the interaction zone between the Atlantic Ocean and the Galinhos peninsula.