Valorando tempestades: custo econômico dos eventos climáticos extremos no Brasil nos anos de 2002-2012

Abstract

This paper evaluates the economic losses caused by extreme weather events, more precisely flooding, flash floods and landslides caused by torrential rains in Brazil in the 2002-2012 period. We used data from the National Atlas of Natural Disasters for the number of people affected, frequency and locations of these events. The information was crossed with the national average estimates of economic cost per person affected, left homeless or displaced, calculated from the assessment of damages, floods and landslides, based on World Bank studies for disasters in the states of Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina, Pernambuco and Alagoas. Results show that (i) the incidence of disasters and the number of victims increased over time, and (ii) the damage value is significant, between R$ 179.9 and 355.6 billion, or from 0.44% to 0.87% of Brazil´s accumulated GDP from 2002 to 2012.