GEO Brasil - UNEP

There is a great need for a governmental
effort aimed at strengthening the
municipal organisation in order for it
to perform its mission of global security
for the population, in addition to
avoiding improvisation in disaster
circumstances (Chart 1)
4
Major disasters and
consequences
Disaster-related data were collected
through two forms approved by the
Brazilian National Council for Civil
Defence – CONDEC (Conselho
Nacional de Defesa Civil), the Disaster
Preliminary Notification – NOPRED
(Notificação Preliminar de Desastres)
(APPENDIX III) and Damage
Assessment – AVADAN (Avaliação de
Danos) (APPENDIX IV) The Brazilian
Information System on Disasters –
SINDESB (Sistema de Informações
sobre Desastres no Brasil) is being
developed; therefore, it does not allow
global consolidation of the
information on disasters at national
level
the state of the environment in Brazil
As may be observed, in a ten-year
period – 1991/2001, most disasters of
levels III and IV are of natural origin,
and are related to climatic factors
In 2000 and 2001, the trend of major
disasters was confirmed During that
period, 992 percent of all Recognition
Decrees for Disasters of levels III and
IV – emergency and state of public
calamity – refer to dry seasons and
sudden floods
Thus, the following items can be
mentioned as major disasters:
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Droughts
From the meteorological point of view,
drought is a long dry season,
characterised by causing a sustained
reduction in existing water reserves
The droughts, which happen periodically in the Brazilian Northeast Region, are
related to multiple factors driven by global geodynamics in its climatic and
meteorological aspects
It is important to emphasise that the Brazilian Northeast area is the most populated
semi-arid region on Earth The droughts severely strike the Northeast and part of
the Southeast Region, comprised by 11 states: east of Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará,
Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia and north of
the States of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, in an area of 18 million square
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