A infraestrutura urbana de transportes e o aquecimento global: um estudo sobre possíveis medidas de mitigação

Abstract

Global warming is a reality and the trend of urban growth, major centers of environmental impacts and the vulnerability of these areas to climate change highlights the urgency for mitigation measures. The transport sector has a great impact on global warming. Although this impact is mainly associated with high greenhouse gas emissions, the transport sector also influences the environment through its infrastructure. This impact derives from the use of dark surfaces materials, such as concrete and asphalt, which have a low capacity to reflect solar radiation and, therefore, retain more heat. As the road transport sector is essential to cities development, it its expected that transport infrasctuture will also increase with the growth of urban centers. Therefore, this Master Thesis analyses the city impact on global warming through the road transport infrastructure. To do so, the study presents a case study on the impact of the Rio de Janeiro urban transport infrastructure on global warming. Parallel to the analysis of the impacts of transport infrastructure on climate change, this study analyses mitigation measures, such as geoengineering and urban planning. Finally, through the discussion of the different sources of impact of the transport sector as well as its mitigation measures, the study recognizes the significant importance of this sector to climate change.