We analyse seasonal and annual trends of extreme indices of air temperature and precipitation over Brazil during the period 1961–2018. The main goal is to investigate whether the climate is changing and if so, to explore if there is any marked seasonality in such changes. The daily observed datasets of maximum and minimum temperatures, and precipitation, are provided by the Brazilian National Institute of Meteorology and National Water Agency. We use the Sen Curvature and Mann‐Kendall statistical tests to compute the magnitudes and to evaluate the statistical significance of climate extremes trends, respectively. The results show that the warm extremes frequency of occurrence is increasing significantly while the opposite occurs for cold extremes, which reveals a very consistent and widespread warming over Brazil. The highest increases in warm extremes occur during austral spring and summer while for the cold extremes the greatest decreases are observed during austral winter. Unlike temperature, precipitation extremes show heterogeneous signals for most of the country. In Northeast Brazil, there are changes towards a drier climate, especially in summer and autumn. In the Southern region, the climate is becoming wetter, with a reduction in consecutive dry days, especially in spring. For the other regions, there is no strong clear change sign, but both positive and negative precipitation extreme trends, without statistical significance (mostly in Southeast Region).

Health determinants might play an important role in shaping the impacts related to long-term disasters such as droughts. Understanding their distribution in populated dry regions may help to map vulnerabilities and set coping strategies for current and future threats to human health. The aim of the study was to identify the most vulnerable municipalities of the Brazilian semiarid region when it comes to the relationship between drought, health, and their determinants using a multidimensional index. From a place-based framework, epidemiological, socio-economic, rural, and health infrastructure data were obtained for 1135 municipalities in the Brazilian semiarid region. An exploratory factor analysis was used to reduce 32 variables to four independent factors and compute a Health Vulnerability Index. The health vulnerability was modulated by social determinants, rural characteristics, and access to water in this semiarid region. There was a clear distinction between municipalities with the highest human welfare and economic development and those municipalities with the worst living conditions and health status. Spatial patterns showed a cluster of the most vulnerable municipalities in the western, eastern, and northeastern portions of the semiarid region. The spatial visualization of the associated vulnerabilities supports decision making on health promotion policies that should focus on reducing social inequality. In addition, policymakers are presented with a simple tool to identify populations or areas with the worst socioeconomic and health conditions, which can facilitate the targeting of actions and resources on a more equitable basis. Further, the results contribute to the understanding of social determinants that may be related to medium- and long-term health outcomes in the region.

Climate change is all over the news. But what exactly do we mean by “climate” and “climate change?” The word “climate” describes the average state of the atmosphere. It is a result of the composition and interactions between the natural elements: the air, oceans, plants and animals, ice and snow, and rocks. There are several different climate zones around the world. The state of the global climate is described by the average global air temperature. This temperature depends on how much heat the Earth receives from the Sun and how much of this heat is sent back to space. If the amount of heat received through the sun’s rays or the composition of one or several of the natural elements changes, the amount of heat taken up by the Earth changes. All elements are connected and constantly interacting, and this has consequences for the whole planet: climate change.