Introduction
Floods and droughts are natural phenomena that occur with frequency in water courses,
usually triggered by heavy and rapid rains or long-term rains. These natural events have been
intensified, mainly in urban areas, due to anthropic changes. Disasters related to floods and
floods are very significant worldwide, because, according to Christ (2002, p. 211), many cities
developed their networks urban areas along riverbeds, endangering populations that
periodically, as a result of intense and concentrated rains, suffer problems with floods and / or
with the accumulation of rainwater on roads urban areas. There is a small difference between
drought and drought because drought is the phenomenon that occurs over a period of time,
that is, drought is not permanent, drought is permanent. This phenomenon causes important
hydrological imbalances. Usually the occurrence of drought occurs when the
evapotranspiration exceeds for a period of time excluding rain. The decrease in the volume of
water in the Aral Sea is considered one of the greatest environmental and human disasters in
history, which produced a drought situation.
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Flood
Floods, in turn, are divided into two types by Tucci (2001), floods due to urbanization and
floods in riverside areas: [...] the first is characterized by an increase in its frequency and
magnitude due to the occupation of the soil with surfaces waterproofing and drainage
network. Additionally the urban development can produce runoff obstructions such as landfills
and bridges, inadequate drainage and obstructions to flow along conduits and silting. Floods in
riverside areas are natural, reaching the population that occupies the largest riverbed. These
floods occur, mainly, by the natural process in which the river occupies its largest bed,
according to extreme events, with an average turnaround time of around 2 years old.
The concept of flooding has already been addressed by a greater number of authors and is the
most used nomenclature to classify events in areas urban areas. Authors like Tucci () say that
the occurrence of floods in urban centers urban is as old as cities or any urban agglomeration.
THE Flooding occurs when the waters of rivers, streams, pluvial galleries leave the bed flow
due to the lack of transport capacity of one of these systems and occupies areas where the
population uses it for housing, transportation, recreation, commerce, industry, among others.
Floods are also conceptualized as natural phenomena, which occur periodically in
watercourses due to high magnitude rains. These, in urban areas, can be due to intense rains
of wide return period or due to overflow of watercourses caused by changes in the balance in
the hydrological cycle in regions upstream of the areas urban; or still, due to the urbanization
itself. (POMPÊO, 2000) 1.1.4 Flooding According to the analyzes of Grilo (1992), flooding
occurs, generally in flat areas or with depressions and valley bottoms, with the runoff
compromised by the topography and lack or insufficiency of a rainwater system in the urban
environment. Yet, the smaller the extent of areas green, less water infiltration into the soil,
which feeds the suspended aquifers, causing less aid for runoff, which could attenuate their
causes. (TEODORO; NUNES, 2007) COBRADE, in turn, classifies floods as the extrapolation of
drainage capacity of urban drainage systems and consequent accumulation of water on
streets, sidewalks or other urban infrastructure, in due to intense rainfall. The terms
annotated to classify the events of this work will be those of flooding and flooding, due to the
fact that conceptualizations are considered the best suited to the type of event, in urban
environments and caused by rains extreme.
Extreme rains and maximum precipitation
The discussion involving extreme precipitation events is of essential value within this research.
For Tucci (1993), precipitation is all water coming from the middle atmospheric that reaches
the surface, being like rain, hail, frost or snow. O author also points out that the volume,
duration and spatial and temporal distribution of rain are its main characteristics.
As the rain does not distribute evenly in space, it is necessary to determine its intensity,
duration and frequency, based on statistics through historical measurement series. (PEREZ,
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2013, p. 11) Still according to Tucci (1993), the maximum precipitation is understood as the
extreme occurrence, with duration, temporal and spatial distribution, essential for a certain
catchment area. Thus, it is stated that the occurrence of flooding occurs, in its majority, by
events of extreme rain and maximum precipitation.
Flooding is a natural phenomenon, but it can be intensified by human practices in the space of
cities. The problem of flooding has become something common in the lives of the populations
of some cities. Unfortunately, the whole year is the same thing: between the months of
December and February, the news is filled with problems related to the elevation of
watercourses and the flooding of houses and streets, triggering a series of tragedies, which,
almost they could always be avoided. Causes of floods For educational purposes, we divided
the occurrence of floods into two types of main causes: natural and anthropic, since we are
talking about a phenomenon common in nature, but which is intensified by human action. •
Natural causes of flooding In general, perennial rivers - that is, those that never dry out during
the year - tend to have two types of bed: a smaller and a main one, where the water flows
most of the time, and a larger and complementary one, which is flooded only in periods of
floods. This manifestation is more common in flat areas, also called flood plains. Observe the
following scheme:
Scheme of a river, with its largest and smallest bed represented.
In the representation above, we have a cross section of the course of a river in which its major
and minor beds are represented. Eventually, depending on the watercourse and local and
meteorological conditions, the largest bed is flooded, causing floods in your area. The period
in which this occurs varies from river to river and, when it is not very common, the riverbed
can occupy some houses, towns and even cities, which are surprised by the eventual natural
floods. In some cases, entire cities are under water.
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Anthropic causes of flooding
Human interference with watercourses, causing floods and floods, occurs in many different
ways. In extreme cases, however less common, these situations can be related to the rupture
of dikes and dams, which can cause serious damage to society. But, almost always, this issue is
linked to the misuse of urban space.
A problem that does not seem to have a quick solution is the high level of pollution, caused
both by the lack of awareness on the part of the population and by inefficient systems for
garbage collection or distribution of garbage dumps throughout the city. Furthermore, there
are problems caused by pollution generated by companies and other agencies. This causes the
clogging of the manholes, which would be responsible for containing part of the water that
raises the level of the rivers. In addition, the waste generated is washed away by the floods
and further contributes to raising the volume of the water.
The occurrence of flooding in cities can also be related to problems in drainage systems.
Sometimes, there are no culverts or other constructions that would be responsible for the
containment or diversion of the water that flows into the rivers, causing them to flood. In
addition, only the construction of manholes and drainage systems may not be enough,
because the other anthropic actions can gradually increase the flow of runoffs over the years,
making the existing drainages unable to meet all demand.
Another issue is the irregular or disordered occupation of the geographical space. As we
explained, some areas correspond to the largest bed of a river that, sporadically, floods. With
the irregular occupation of these areas - often caused by the lack of adequate planning -,
people are subject to the occurrence of floods. In addition, the removal of vegetation that
makes up the river's surroundings can intensify the process, since it would have the function
of retaining part of the sediments that go to the bed and increase the water level.
Despite all the problems mentioned above, the main reason for flooding is undoubtedly the
waterproofing of the soil. With the paving of the streets and the cementing of backyards and
sidewalks, most of the water, which should have infiltrated into the soil, flows on the surface,
causing the increase of runoff and the elevation of rivers. In addition, waterproofing
contributes to increasing the speed of this flow, causing erosion and causing other types of
urban environmental disasters.
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Drought
drought is a climatic phenomenon caused by insufficient rainfall, or rain, in a given region for a
very long period of time. This phenomenon causes important hydrological imbalances. Usually the
occurrence of drought occurs when evapotranspiration exceeds the precipitation of rain for a
period of time. The decrease in the volume of water in the Aral Sea is considered one of the
greatest environmental and human disasters in history, which produced a drought situation.
Types of droughts
Droughts can be generated by the most diverse climatological phenomena, as a result of this,
a typology of drought was created: • Permanent drought: It is characterized by a desert
climate, where the vegetation has adapted to arid conditions, with no water courses. These
only appear after the rains, which are usually very strong storms. This type of drought makes
agriculture impossible without permanent irrigation. • Seasonal drought: Seasonal drought is a
particular feature of regions where the climate is semi-arid. In these, the vegetation
reproduces because the adapted vegetables generate seeds and then die, or keep life in a
latent state during the drought. In these regions, rivers only survive if their water comes from
other regions where the climate is humid. But this type of drought makes it possible to plant in
periods of rain, or by irrigation. • Irregular and variable drought: Irregular drought can occur in
any region where the climate is humid or sub-humid and is characterized by presenting
climatic variability from a statistical point of view. These are dry and the return period is brief
and uncertain. The summer season is believed to favor droughts as there is a large increase in
evapotranspiration due to the increase in incident solar irradiance, especially when
precipitation rates are below the dry or very dry quantile. • "Invisible" drought: Of all, this type
of drought is the worst, as precipitation is not interrupted, however, the evapotranspiration
rate is higher than the rainfall rate, causing an imbalance in regional humidity. This imbalance
generates a reduction in the humidity of the air, which in turn increases the
evapotranspiration index, which results in the loss of underground moisture to the
atmosphere, which returns it in the form of rain, but it is not enough to increase the humidity
of the soil. Guns, Germs, and Steel author Jared Diamond sees dramatically the impact of
ENSO multi-year cycles on Australian weather patterns as one of the main reasons that
Australian aborigines have remained a hunter-gatherer society, rather than adopting
agriculture.
Causes of Droughts
Human activity can trigger serious events, such as agriculture, excessive irrigation,
deforestation and erosion, which negatively affect the land's ability to capture and retain
water. While these tend to be relatively isolated in scope, these activities result in global
climate change. They are expected to cause droughts with a substantial impact on agriculture
worldwide, and especially in developing countries. Overall, global warming will result in
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greater rainfall. Along with drought in some areas, flooding and erosion will increase in others.
Paradoxically, some proposals for solutions for global warming with a focus on more active
techniques, management of solar radiation through the use of a space umbrella for one, can
also lead to an increase in the chances of drought.
How to fight floods?
There are numerous measures to combat flooding. The city of Belo Horizonte, for example,
hired, in October 2013, some “scouts”, who are employees in charge of detecting the onset of
floods in areas at risk. They would have the function of minimizing the effects of the “lightning
flood”, the one that occurs in a very short period of time. Other actions involve the
construction of dams and the silting up of the riverbed, in which all the sediments existing at
the bottom of the water courses are removed, increasing their depth.
But all these measures are palliative, that is, they are only to minimize or combat an existing
situation. The best way to deal with this problem, in fact, is to carry out proper prevention,
which can occur through measures like these:
Construction of efficient drainage systems;
Disposal of risk areas;
Creation of forest reserves on the banks of rivers;
Decrease in pollution and waste generation rates;
More consistent urban planning.
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Conclusion
Naturally, the soil has a great water absorption capacity However, in urbanized soil, rainfall is
difficult due to the large waterproofed areas. According to Oliveira (2006, p. 8) the process of
urbanization also includes the streets, which interfere and alter the natural dynamics.
Human interference with watercourses, causing floods and floods, occurs in many different
ways. In extreme cases, however less common, these situations can be related to the rupture
of dikes and dams, which can cause serious damage to society. But, almost always, this issue is
linked to the misuse of urban space.
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Bibliographic references
https://notapositiva.com/as-secas/
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1517-106X2019000300081
Livro da Julia oliveira 2016
And google.com
