A importância da posição geográfica e do metabolismo urbano no agravamento de episódios extremos de calor - estudo de caso no Porto e na Corunha

Abstract

The Iberian Peninsula has been identified as a hotspot in climate change evidence and as one of the areas contributing most to global warming. The signs of climate change in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, although theoretically less expected, have been increasingly eloquent in all climate variables. In this article we assess the relative contribute of local specificities and zonal and global conditions in explaining the magnitude and frequency of extreme heat events in Porto and A Coruña. We analyzed the secular trends in temperature and precipitation, the frequency and magnitude of extreme heat episodes and the potential local impact of the geographical context and the urban metabolism in amplifying the effects of extreme heat episodes. The outcomes clearly showed the relative importance of certain stimulus-response relations in the climate system, confirming the need to encourage the inclusion of more spatial elasticity in the multiple ongoing attempts to achieve most effective and efficient ways of implementing adaptation measures to climate threats.