PROGRAMA DE PS-GRADUAO EM CINCIAS AMBIENTAIS

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MESTRADO INTERINSTITUCIONAL EM CINCIAS AMBIENTAIS

PROVA DE INGLS Seleo do Mestrado PPGCA 2007

Nome: _______________________________________________ N de
inscrio:____

Data: _____________ rea de concentrao: ( ) Fsica Ambiental

( ) Ecossistemas e Uso da Terra

How vegetation changes affect climate

Deforestation will probably have serious long-term irreversible effects on the climate of
the Amazon Basin. Assuming that current trends in human habitat alteration continue, the
tropical Amazon rainforest will be completely replaced by pastureland in a few decades.
Researchers applied a climate model to describe the temperature, wind, and humidity of
the Amazon at 18 elevations between the ground surface and 30-km altitude. The
horizontal resolution was 1.8 by 2.8 km (Shulka et al. 1990). Within each grid, the
vegetation was defined as 1 of 12 different vegetation types. They first ran the model
under the present conditions of vegetation distribution and then, with the forest converted
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to pasture. Compared to the forest system, the pasture has a much greater stomatal
resistance, that is, less capacity for transporting water from the soil to the atmosphere
through plants and their leaves. A shallower, sparser root system results in a greatly
reduced soil-water storage capacity. The surface and soil temperatures will be 1 to 3C
warmer after deforestation. Less evapotranspiration leads to a reduction in atmospheric
moisture, cloud formation, and precipitation over the entire Amazon region. The overall
disruption of the hydrologic cycle will have negative impacts on plant-animal
relationships. Once removed, the Amazon forest will be unable to reestablish itself.
Deforestation of tropical rainforests elsewhere will probably have similar effects on
regional climates.

Fonte: J. Hardy (2003), Climate Change causes, effects and solutions, Wiley &
Sons Ltd: Chichester, 247p.

1- Por que importante considerar as atuais tendncias de alterao dos

ambientes naturais amaznicos ?

2- Considerando tipos de vegetao e parmetros atmosfricos quais as

caractersticas do modelo climtico empregado?

3- Quais as implicaes, segundo o modelo, da substituio de floresta por

pastagem nas relaes ecofisiolgicas entre solo, gua e planta?

4- Quais as conseqncias meteorolgicas desta converso de floresta em

pastagem, conforme a simulao realizada?
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5- A qual concluso chega o autor em funo dos resultados do modelo climtico

utilizado?

texto 2

Physicians' statement on global c1imate change and human health

More than 1,100 individual physicians and health professionals from 25

countries, including eight Nobel Laureates in Medicine, have signed the following
statement:

As physicians and health professionals, we are concerned about the

potentially devastating and possible irreversible effects of climate change on
human health and the environment. We urge the U.S. and other nations of the
world to take prompt and effective actions - both domestically and internationally -
to achieve significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

There is mounting evidence that climate change, of the scale currently

projected, would have pervasive adverse impacts on human health and result in
significant loss of life. Potential impacts include increased mortality and illness due
to heat stress and worsened air pollution, and increased incidence of vector-borne
infectious diseases, such as malaria, schistosomiasis and dengue, diseases
related to water supply and sanitation, and foodborne illnesses. Expanding
populations of pest species, impaired food production and nutrition, and extreme
weather events such as floods, droughts, forest fires and windstorms would pose
additional risks to human health. Infants, children, and other vulnerable populations
especially in already-stressed regions of the world would likely probably suffer
disproportionately from these impacts.

As public health professionals who believe firmly in the wisdom of preventive action, we
endorse strong policy measures to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the
atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the
climate system, as called for in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change.
The time has come for the nations of the world to act. The science is
credible, and the potential impacts profound. Prudence - and a commitment to act
responsibly on the behalf of the world's children and all future generations - dictate
a prompt and effective response to climate change.
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Fonte: J. Hardy (2003), Climate Change causes, effects and solutions, Wiley &
Sons Ltd: Chichester, 247p.

6 - O texto intitulado Physicians' statement on global climate change and human

health apresenta um documento sobre mudanas climticas globais. Quem
subscreve tal documento e a quem ele dirigido?

7- Segundo o texto qual a principal preocupao dos profissionais em questo?

8- Como os relatores deste documento relacionam as mudanas climticas e seus

efeitos no ambiente com os possveis impactos na sade humana ?

9- Que medidas preventivas so endossadas por estes relatores?

10- Na concluso do texto como os relatores recomendam que se enfrente efetivamente a

questo das mudanas climticas?