Racial and Economic Disparities in High-Temperature Exposure in Brazil

Hosana Gomes da Silva and Weeberb J. Requia ()
Additional contact information
Hosana Gomes da Silva: Center for Environment and Public Health Studies, School of Public Policy and Government, Fundação Getulio Vargas, Brasilia 72125590, Brazil
Weeberb J. Requia: Center for Environment and Public Health Studies, School of Public Policy and Government, Fundação Getulio Vargas, Brasilia 72125590, Brazil

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 2, 1-15

Abstract: Primary studies analyzing the distribution of exposure to the consequences of climate change among different vulnerable groups are scarce. This study addresses this gap by investigating racial and economic disparities in high-temperature exposure in Brazil, focusing on the impact on vulnerable subpopulations. We utilized georeferenced temperature data from the Global High-Resolution Estimates of Extreme Heat (GEHE) and population data from the 2010 Census. The disparity analyses included (i) estimating the exposure rate to temperatures exceeding 28 °C, expressed as population-weighted heat exposure ( P H E ¯ ); (ii) determining the difference in exposure between the most and least exposed groups; and (iii) calculating weighted Gini coefficients. The findings reveal that low-income and black, brown, and indigenous populations are predominantly the most exposed to P H E ¯ exceeding 28 °C. Nationally, the indigenous population is the most exposed racial group, with a P H E ¯ 47% higher than that of the white population. Stratified analyses indicate that, despite varying climatic and environmental conditions across regions, the black-brown-indigenous population consistently faces the highest heat exposure in Brazil. Income disparity analyses show that the lowest per capita income groups are the most exposed to high temperatures across the country. The study highlights the impact of climate change on economic inequality and the deepening of within-country inequalities, particularly affecting socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. These findings underscore the urgent need for evidence-informed public policies to address racial and economic disparities in high-temperature exposure, mitigate health risks associated with climate change, and emphasize the importance of context-sensitive analyses for a comprehensive understanding of heat-related risks and public health.

Keywords: weather; extreme temperature; disparities; vulnerable subpopulations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/2/200/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/2/200/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:2:p:200-:d:1580235

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().