THE VULNERABILITY OF THE BAIA MARE URBAN SYSTEM (ROMANIA) TO EXTREME CLIMATE PHENOMENA DURING THE WARM SEMESTER OF THE YEAR

Abstract

The geographical position of the Baia Mare Urban System (intra-hilly depression) favours the occurrence of a wide range of extreme climate phenomena which, coupled with the industrial profile of the city (non-ferrous mining and metallurgical industry) triggering typical emissions (CO2, SOX, particulate matters and Pb), might pose a significant threat to human health. The article is aiming to assess the occurrence, frequency and amplitude of these extreme climate phenomena based on monthly and daily extreme climatic values from Baia Mare weather station in order to identify the areas more exposed. A GIS-based qualitative-heuristic method was used, each extreme climatic hazard being evaluated on a 1 to 3 scale according to its significance/impact in the study area and assigned with a weight (w) and a rank (r), resulting the climate hazard map for the warm semester of the year. The authors further relate the areas exposed to the selected extreme climatic events to socio-economic aspects: demographic and economic in order to delineate the spatial distribution of the environmental vulnerability in the Baia Mare Urban System.

Keywords

• Baia Mare Urban System
• socio-economic vulnerability
• extreme climate phenomena
• warm semester of the year
• natural and technological hazards
• Romania.