Climate impacts in the maré favela complex

Abstract

Anthropogenic actions have caused increasing and alarming climate impacts in different regions of the planet. In a predominantly urban world, global warming does not distinguish between natural or hybrid environments nor formal or informal urban settlements. Rio de Janeiro is representative of the social inequalities in the country that affect the poorest strata of society more strongly. Paying attention to favelas and their populations is an important and original objective. It brings predictability to be local and regional actions related to vulnerable groups and raises awareness of environmental problems. Currently, there are about 1,000 favelas in the city, and approximately 45% of the population lives in favelas in the Planning Area (AP-3). This study focuses on one of the 16 communities that comprise the huge and emblematic Maré Favela Complex, which has about 140,000 residents. This community is called Nova Holanda and comprises approximately 14,000 residents. It is a settlement originally planned (1962) and emerged due to removal policies. The study highlights how careless human actions can result in environmental impacts in precarious settlements, particularly in favelas. The adopted methodology is based on computer simulations related to the microclimate, carried out mainly through the ENVI-met 3.1 program. This study, which has emerged from the fields of environmental sciences and urbanism, is important in developing diagnoses to provide subsidies for future proposals for upgrading slums based on concepts and guidelines normally adopted for the so-called formal areas of the city, even with possible adaptations.