Climate services in Brazil: Past, present and future perspectives

Abstract

From the devastating effects of the 1877–1879 Great Drought in the Northeast region to the creation of the Center for Weather Forecast and Climate Studies (CPTEC) at the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) in the early 1990s, Brazil went from a total absence of meteorological expertise to becoming a member of a select group of nations with the infrastructure and technical expertise to build and run a global general circulation model. This article reviews the most important moments in the development of climate services in Brazil, addressing the development of its infrastructure for observation, monitoring, modelling and prediction, the still incipient efforts in systematically understanding users’ perspectives and needs, and the work needed to incorporate the usable science and co-production paradigms into the main Centres of production of climate information. Advances and challenges are analysed, and actions for the strengthening of the climate services framework are proposed.

Keywords

• Climate services
• Co-production
• Social sciences
• Climate science
• Brazil