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Global air temperature increase has caused changes in the global climate such as droughts, floods and severe events. Land cover shifts and the increase in greenhouse gas emissions can intensify these impacts. Therefore, the application of Specific Warming Level 2 (SWL2) technique has been considered to evaluate the global warming issue in various climate scales, which may induce different responses in the climate system. The objective of this study is to evaluate the impacts of a doubling of current atmospheric CO2 concentrations as well as the influence of deforestation of the Amazon Forest on the climate of South America. In this study, the CPTEC-BAM1.2 global model was used to simulate these processes. The first scenario of simulations considered doubled atmospheric CO2 concentration (2XCO2 = 776 ppm) and the second scenario is the total conversion of the Amazon Forest to pasture (DEF). In the third scenario both CO2 and deforestation are considered simultaneously (2XCO2 + DEF). A control simulation considers the natural Amazon Forest shape and a steady CO2 concentration of 388 ppm. Results suggest that the temperature increased in all scenarios, the highest increment in the 2XCO2 + DEF experiment (5.4°C in 2XCO2 + DEF, 5.1°C in DEF and 3.2°C in 2XCO2). The model simulated drastic negative rainfall anomalies in each of three scenarios (2XCO2 + DEF: −2.1 mm day−1, 2XCO2: −1.3 mm day−1 and DEF: −0.9 mm day−1). Besides less precipitation and evapotranspiration, shifts in moisture transport were identified in each of the three scenarios. The effect of doubled atmospheric CO2 produces results similar to deforestation for hydrological water budget changes, and total pasture conversion may intensify such changes.

Over 150 species of earthworms are known from the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest, but many more are expected to live in this megadiverse biome. In the present study, we evaluated earthworm species occurrence and diversity in native and reforested areas in four National Forests in three Brazilian states: Três Barras National Forest (Santa Catarina), Irati and Piraí do Sul National Forests (Paraná) and Capão Bonito National Forest (São Paulo) using formalin and hand sorting methods. A total of 13 species were found, five exotic and eight natives (of which four were new, undescribed species), belonging to six genera and five families (Rhinodrilidae, Glossoscolecidae, Ocnerodrilidae, Benhamiidae, Megascolecidae). In general, higher number of earthworms were collected in Araucaria plantations, except in Capão Bonito where Pinus sp. plantations had higher abundance. Hand sorting also collected more species in all forests, so this should be the preferred sampling method to evaluate earthworm communities. Formalin extraction was efficient only for epi-endogeic earthworms, most of them exotic species. Exotic pine species plantations tend to reduce species richness and abundance, compared with native forests and Araucaria plantations, and substitution of native vegetation for pine plantations should consider potential negative effects on soil animal populations.

Integrated agricultural systems have been greatly expanding in Brazil and currently cover over 30 million hectares. Although these land use systems help soil and environmental quality, little is known of their impacts on earthworm communities. In the present study we evaluated earthworm abundance, biomass and species richness in various integrated and conventional agricultural production systems (pasture, crops), as well as native forest and Eucalyptus plantations. The research was carried out at Fazenda Canchim (Embrapa Livestock Southeast) and at the neighboring campus of the University de São Carlos (UFSCar), in São Carlos municipality in São Paulo state, Brazil. Two earthworm sampling methods, i.e., quantitative (25 x 25 x 20 cm deep monoliths) and qualitative (holes of similar size and niche sampling), were used in three integrated production systems, three conventional systems and two forest systems, totaling 232 quantitative samples and over 160 qualitative samples. Earthworms were counted and identified using available keys. Eight earthworm species of five families (Rhinodrilidae, Ocnerodrilidae, Megascolecidae, Benhamiidae and Glossoscolecidae) were found, with most of the 2,145 individuals being exotic or peregrine species, particularly Pontoscolex corethrurus (88% of total) and various Dichogaster spp. (8% of total). Two native species were encountered in low abundance (55 individuals), both of which are new to science (Fimoscolex n.sp.7 and Glossoscolex n.sp.9) and must still be formally described. The new species were found in the agricultural systems, but not in the native forest and the Eucalyptus plantation, where P. corethrurus and Megascolecids predominated. One unidentified Ocnerodrilid sp. was found only in the intensive pasture. Species richness was highest in the intensive pasture (7 spp.), followed by the agrosilvopastoral and agropastoral systems, highlighting the importance of integrated and pastoral systems in preserving earthworm richness and native species.

Understanding the cost-effectiveness of restoration initiatives is critical for their successful implementation. In this context, this study presents a new approach to investigating the cost-effectiveness of different forest landscape restoration strategies for achieving multiple restoration goals. The approach is based on an optimization model that allocates forest restoration to maximize three environmental benefits (biodiversity conservation, carbon stock increase, and soil loss reduction) while minimizing the cost. We explore scenarios based on the Brazilian Forest Code and the National Policy for Payment for Ecosystem Services. Our optimization approach simultaneously achieves high levels of multiple environmental benefits – more than 90% of the maximum possible biodiversity, carbon, and soil in a cost-effective manner for all scenarios. Variation among the scenarios in the absolute performance concerning the three objectives was small (within 2.5%) compared to variation in costs (up to 19.4%). These results reinforce the importance of quantifying trade-offs among objectives to a better understanding of the cost-effectiveness of restoration initiatives before their implementation.

The Amazon is one of the most important tropical forests in the world because it is a key in the regulation of the global climate. It is the world’s largest rainforest, where interactions between the forest and the atmosphere are fundamental to rainfall throughout South America and have an indirect effect on all the regions around the world. Furthermore, the Amazon region may be a source of aerosol that will act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). During the rainy season over the Amazon region, in which intense convective activity associated with the South America Monsoon System (SAMS) prevents fires, the primary sources of aerosols include biogenic emissions, dust from the Sahara Desert, and emissions from burning biomass transported from Africa. Besides that, the downward transport of aerosols from the upper troposphere (UT) has been considered a source of particles to the lower troposphere. The particles in the UT over the tropics region have been one of the largest aerosol reservoirs in the atmosphere, which could be from primary aerosols, such as dust, organic carbon and black carbon or secondary aerosol formed by trace gases in the free troposphere. The existence of an aerosol layer at the tropopause level has been observed during June, July, and August in Asia and North America (Asian Tropopause Aerosol Layer – ATAL and North American Tropopause Aerosol Layer – NATAL, respectively) associated with the deep convection of the Monsoons System. Therefore, the aerosol enhancement in the UT and lower stratosphere (LS) and the formation of an aerosol layer over the Amazon region associated with the deep convection of the SAMS during the austral summer are investigated. In the past, field campaigns over South America (SA) (GoAmazon2014/5 experiment) showed aerosol enhancement in the UT. They suggested that new aerosol particles are formed in the UT from biogenic volatile organic material that goes up by upward transport associated with the deep convection. The enhancement of aerosol backscatter values over SA is observed from October to January; it gradually decreases during the following months. The aerosol backscatter inferred from MERRA-2 Reanalysis showed a maximum value of the 2.24×10-5 km-2sr-1 over the Amazon during November and December. The results showed the first evidence of the existence of the South American Tropopause Aerosol Layer (SATAL) that covers the tropical SA and vertically extends up to 80hPa (approximately 18 km), similar to ATAL, and NATAL. The aerosol backscatter inferred from MERRA-2 reanalysis was validated using the attenuated backscatter by CALIOP from CALIPSO satellite. However, field campaigns such as the CAFE-BRAZIL campaign (Chemistry of the Atmosphere: Field Experiment in Brazil), which will be during December/2022 and January/2023 using the HALO (High Altitude Long Range Aircraft) aircraft, are necessary to study the formation of SATAL.

The Land Surface Temperature (LST) obtained by remote sensing data is an essential indicator for analyzing the Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI). A factor contributing to its occurrence is the reflections of the different materials in urban and rural areas, which significantly affect the energy balance near the surface. Therefore, recent studies have increasingly used the Local Climate Zones (LCZs) classification system to discriminate those urban areas. Therefore, our study aims to perform a systematic review using the PRISMA method of LCZ classification applied to understand the LST and the SUHI phenomenon. At first, 10,403 related articles were found in the scientific literature which, after passing through filtering stages, resulted in 51 that were further analyzed. Our results showed that these articles were very recent, beginning in 2016, and present an increasing trend. Even though all articles reviewed somehow try to understand the Urban Heat Island phenomenon, in more than half of them, the SUHI calculation method was not mentioned. China was the country with the most studies. Images from Landsat and TERRA/AQUA sensors appeared in 82% of the studies. The method that appears the most to LCZ definitions is from the World Urban Database. Finally, we conclude that LCZ mapping methodologies were accurate enough for SUHI studies considering the current climatic changes. Therefore, this systematic review can help new studies on SUHI identification through LCZ in different world areas using remote sensing data to estimate the LST.

Air pollution has become one of the factors that most affect the quality of life, human health, and the environment. Gaseous pollutants from motor vehicles have a significantly harmful effect on air quality in the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo (MASP)Brazil. Motor vehicles emit large amounts of particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), the last three acting as the main tropospheric ozone (O3) precursors. In this study, we evaluated the effects of these pollutants on air quality in the MASP during the partial lockdown that was imposed to ensure the social distancing necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. We compared the monthly data for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and CO, SO2, and BC from MERRA-2 for the period between April and May 2020 (during the pandemic) with the average for the same period for the (pre-pandemic) years 2017 to 2019 in the southeast region of Brazil. The meteorological and pollutant concentration data from the CETESB air quality monitoring stations for the MASP were compared with the diurnal cycle of three previous years, with regard to the monthly averages of April and May (2017, 2018, and 2019) and the same period in 2020, when the partial lockdown was first imposed in southeast Brazil. Our findings showed that there was a decrease in NO2 concentrations ranging from 10% to more than 60% in the MASP and the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro (MARJ), whereas in the Metropolitan Area of Belo Horizonte and Vitoria (MABH and MAV, respectively), there was a reduction of around 10%. In the case of the concentrations of CO and BC from MERRA-2, there was a considerable decrease (approx. 10%) during the period of partial lockdown caused by COVID-19 throughout almost the entire state of São Paulo, particularly in the region bordering the state of Rio de Janeiro. The concentration of SO2 from MERRA-2 was 5 to 10% lower in the MASP and MARJ and the west of the MABH, and there was a decrease of 30 to 50% on the border between the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, while in the MAV region, there was an increase in pollutant levels, as this region was not significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Sharp reductions in the average hourly concentrations of CO (38.8%), NO (44.9%), NO2 (38.7%), and PM2.5 (6%) were noted at the CETESB air quality monitoring stations in the MASP during the partial lockdown in 2020 compared with the hourly average rate in the pre-pandemic period. In contrast, there was an increase of approximately 16.0% in O3 concentrations in urban areas that are seriously affected by vehicular emissions, which is probably related to a decrease in NOx.

There is an urgent need for countries to transition their national food and land-use systems toward food and nutritional security, climate stability, and environmental integrity. How can countries satisfy their demands while jointly delivering the required transformative change to achieve global sustainability targets? Here, we present a collaborative approach developed with the FABLEâFood, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land, and EnergyâConsortium to reconcile both global and national elements for developing national food and land-use system pathways. This approach includes three key features: (1) global targets, (2) country-driven multi-objective pathways, and (3) multiple iterations of pathway refinement informed by both national and international impacts. This approach strengthens policy coherence and highlights where greater national and international ambition is needed to achieve global goals (e.g., the SDGs). We discuss how this could be used to support future climate and biodiversity negotiations and what further developments would be needed.

Located in Southeast Brazil, the Paraíba do Sul River Basin is considered one of the most strategic in the country since it is the main source of fresh water for more than 14.3 million people. The population growth in recent decades, in combination with increased demand for water for industrial and agricultural activities, has generated concerns about how the combined effect of land uses and global climate change might affect water availability in the future. Once irrigation is one of the main water consumers, especially for paddy rice cultivation, in this study we used a crop simulation model to determine the water requirements of paddy rice under current and future climate conditions based on three different regionalized climate scenarios and for different land use and land cover change projections. In addition, we estimated water footprints for different irrigation and soil fertility strategies. Finally, we explored adaptation actions that can lead to more sustainable production. Projections indicate an increase in the productivity and efficiency of irrigated rice. Intermittent flooding proved to be an efficient alternative, rather than the traditional practice of continuous ponding. Most scenarios projected a gradual decrease in water footprint for rice cultivated using irrigation and soil fertility management. On the other hand, the water footprint under rainfed and non-optimum soil fertility resulted in higher water footprints. Due to changes in land use and land cover, mainly urban sprawl, the rice areas are expected to decrease in the future reducing the production in the region, which is expected to decrease by almost 10% in the period 20162035 and up to 38% in the period 20362055. This trend can be compensated by adopting sustainable practices in rice cultivation, such as rational soil fertility and water management, which can boost the current level of productivity by 50% and reduce water use by up to 15%.

O presente trabalho realiza um comparativo entre os três principais eventos de seca e crise Revista Brasileira de Climatologia, Dourados, MS, v. 32, Jan. / Jun. 2023, ISSN 2237-8642 130 hídrica ocorridos a partir do início do século XXI, nos anos 2001, 2014 e 2021. Por meio de revisão bibliográfica, realizou-se o levantamento de dados e informações que tangem aspectos físicos, políticos e socioeconômicos ambientais para cada um desses eventos no Sudeste do Brasil, com foco sobre as regiões que integram a Bacia do Rio Paraná. O aspecto físico abrange índices de precipitação, vazão e temperatura, bem como nível de intensidade da seca para cada evento; o aspecto político compreende as informações sobre políticas públicas e tomadas de decisão frente ao alerta e durante as crises; por fim, os impactos sociais, econômicos e ambientais advindos dos eventos de seca são contemplados no aspecto socioeconômico ambiental. Com base no comparativo, pôde-se concluir que a implantação ou melhoria de ferramentas auxiliares no monitoramento de seca e de seus impactos aconteceram ao longo dos anos, mas políticas de gestão dos recursos hídricos e de seus riscos, com atenção às pessoas vulnerabilizadas, ainda precisam ser efetivamente incorporadas para minimização dos efeitos de tais eventos e, maior resiliência e adaptabilidade das áreas afetadas.

O modelo de área limitada Eta foi desenvolvido na Universidade de Belgrado em conjunto com o Instituto de Hidrometeorologia da Iugoslávia e se tornou operacional no National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) (MESINGER et al., 1988; BLACK, 1994). Esse modelo foi instalado no Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE) em 1996, com finalidade de complementar a previsão numérica de tempo realizada com o Modelo Global (CHOU, 1996). Na época, o Modelo Global CPTEC/COLA e, atualmente, o Modelo BAM (Brazilian Global Atmospheric Model). O modelo Eta é designado para pesquisa e/ou uso operacional em meteorologia, seu nome deriva da letra grega eta, η, que denota a coordenada vertical (MESINGER, 1984), uma das principais características do modelo. Um modelo de área limitada se propõe a complementar e a aumentar o detalhamento das previsões geradas por um modelo global sobre uma área de interesse. A resolução espacial mais alta do modelo regional permite prever com maiores detalhes fenômenos associados às frentes, orografia, brisa marítima, tempestades severas, etc., enfim, sistemas organizados em mesoescala. O modelo Eta tem sido utilizado no INPE para produzir previsões sobre América do Sul em diferentes escalas temporais, por exemplo para previsões de curto prazo e médio prazo (BUSTAMANTE et al., 2005), previsões no prazo de clima sazonal (GOMES et al., 2022; CHOU et al., 2020; PILOTTO et al. 2012) e de várias décadas como em estudos de mudanças climáticas (CHOU et al. 2020; LYRA et al., 2016; CHOU et al., 2014a; CHOU et al., 2014b; PESQUERO et al., 2009). Atualmente, as previsões do modelo Eta são fornecidas operacionalmente sobre América do Sul (AS) em uma grade regular com resolução de 8 km e sobre parte do Sudeste com resolução de 1 km para previsão de tempo e com resolução de 40 km para previsão sazonal sobre toda a AS. As variáveis prognósticas são: temperatura do ar, umidade específica, pressão à superfície, vento horizontal, energia cinética turbulenta e a água líquida ou o gelo das nuvens.

A plataforma AdaptaBrasil MCTI publica informações sobre riscos de impactos das mudanças climáticas a partir de índices e indicadores para um setor da sociedade que possa ser impactado, denominado Setor Estratégico (SE). Este documento descreve conceitos básicos, conteúdos e formato de entrega que precisam ser entregues para incluir um novo SE no AdaptaBrasil MCTI. Os índices e indicadores de cada SE do AdaptaBrasil MCTI se interconectam a partir de uma estrutura hierárquica descrita na forma de uma pirâmide. O nível mais alto desta hierarquia, chamado de Nível 1, representa o SE, sem qualquer dado associado. O segundo Nível contém o(s) índice(s). A partir do nível 2, cada índice ou indicador é um resultado da agregação de um ou mais índices ou indicadores do nível subsequente. A Figura 1 apresenta a estrutura hierárquica do AdaptaBrasil MCTI. Qualquer conjunto de indicadores que siga esta representação hierárquica no formato de árvore pode ser disponibilizado na plataforma.