Climate flutuactions and environmental refugees from floods in the semiarid region

a case study for the city of Granja (Ceará, Brazil)

Abstract

Climate fluctuations are phenomena that can intensify extreme events, such as droughts or floods, forcing vulnerable populations to involuntarily move. This population dynamic characterizes the so-called environmental refugees. In the semiarid region, the most common cause is related to droughts, however, floods can also be one of the reasons. In order to characterize this population affected by extreme rainfall, its causes and impacts, this research adopted as a methodology the use of rainfall data to identify the habitualness of extreme rainfall, local media to identify urban and rural impacts, destination of the affected population and analysis of political support regarding assistance to these people. It was found that the area, in addition to already suffering habitually from climate risk, has been observing a trend of increasing rates of extreme events. Furthermore, the research demonstrated the existence of environmental refugees; however, it was found that federal support is sufficient to solve the problem, making international intervention for humanitarian purposes unnecessary, even in years of high rainfall, such as 2009, or in cities with the worst socioeconomic indicators. This conclusion is in line with discussions in the literature on the subject.