Relação do uso e cobertura da terra e o armazenamento de carbono na área urbana de Salvador-BA: evolução temporal de 1985 a 2023 e cenário para 2040.

Abstract

Given the importance of cities in the global context and the need for a focused look at urban centers in tackling the climate crisis, this study aims to relate changes in land use and cover to carbon storage capacity in the urban area of Salvador for the years 1985, 2023, and 2040. The study is structured in two stages, “evolution of land use and cover” and “evolution of carbon storage levels”, addressing the methodologies separately. Although the results are presented separately, they establish correlations between them. Regarding land use and cover, data for the years 1985 and 2023 were extracted from MapBiomas (Collection 9) and were selected because they represent the temporal extremes of the available historical series. For the future projection, the MOLUSCE plugin was used to simulate changes based on temporal data and spatial variables. For carbon storage, the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) software was used, specifically the Carbon Storage and Sequestration module. To process the data obtained in both stages, which are in raster format, a Geographic Information System (GIS) was used, specifically the QGIS 3.32.2 software. With the support of this tool, tables and figures were developed to establish correlations between quantitative land cover (km²) and its spatial distribution, for both land use and cover and carbon storage in the study area. It is concluded that there is a directly proportional relationship between green areas and high levels of carbon storage, observed over time in the urban area of Salvador. Furthermore, the conversion of green areas into built environments over the years has imposed significant spatial transformations that have directly impacted the provision of ecosystem services, including gas regulation, with a direct impact on climate regulation. Therefore, building urban resilience must involve territorial planning and, above all, nature-based solutions, with climate action plans that engage with the spatial reality of the municipality’s urban area.