Extreme temperature trends in the equatorial region of Brazil: Case study of the state of Ceará

Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor(a) principal: Andrade,Eunice Maia de
Data de Publicação: 2012
Outros Autores: Silva,Bernardo Barbosa da, Rodrigues,Meilla Marielle Araújo, Mendonça,Marcos Amauri Bezerra, Chaves,Luiz Carlos Guerreiro
Tipo de documento: Artigo
Idioma: eng
Título da fonte: Revista ciência agronômica (Online)
Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1806-66902012000200008
Resumo: Despite uncertainties as to the real causes, there is a large amount of evidence of climatic change on Earth. With the objective of investigating changes in extreme air temperatures, as well as the local effects of these changes, eight data sets, collected throughout the State of Ceará in Brazil, were analyzed. Four series of data were obtained from the semi-arid region, three from the coastal zone, and one from a mountainous region. To quantify the changes that occurred during the study period, variations in maximum and minimum temperatures were calculated in relation to the mean of each data series. The annual rates of temperature increase were estimated from the angular coefficients of the best-fit lines. The results showed that although there are differences in trends between stations, there was a systematic increase in the maximum and minimum temperature in the nineties, which was especially evident in the following decade. The highest rates of increase were recorded for the minimum temperatures (from 9.0 to 8.3 °C per century) for the stations at Guaramiranga and Crateús respectively. These data provide evidence for a greater retention of energy in the form of sensible heat during the night, possibly due to a more difficult energy exchange between the surface and the atmosphere.