Research project

Extreme atmospheric events are those that deviate from the average climate pattern of a given period of time, and can occur on different time scales. To date, only a few studies have been able to demonstrate that specific extreme events are directly associated with climate change resulting from global warming (SIPPEL OTTO, 2014). However, these studies are insufficient to identify increasing trends in the occurrence of short-term extreme events in recent decades as a result of global warming, partly due to limitations in existing data, partly due to the difficulty of distinguishing them from events resulting from so-called natural causes. In this regard, it is known that the construction and expansion of cities alter the local environment, affecting the energy balance, humidity and atmospheric circulation regimes near the surface (OKE, 1985). Some of the differences between urban and rural climates include air quality, wind circulation, changes in precipitation patterns, heat island effect and increased incidence of lightning strikes (HAN et al. 2014; NACCARATO et al. 2003) . Most of these modifications are related to pollution emissions, anthropogenic heat sources, surface waterproofing, thermal properties of materials, vegetation suppression and urban morphology (spacing, height, orientation of buildings). Secondary factors are topography, proximity to bodies of water, size of the city, population density and the form of land use.