Popular meteorology and its use in productive activities in the Mocambo quilombola community in Ourém, Pará, Brazil

Abstract

Several societies have developed skills that allow them to survive extreme weather events by observing the environment in which they live. The empirical knowledge of traditional peoples and communities in the Amazon has allowed them to adapt to climate, water, and forest cycles. In the literature the traditional knowledge of climate is treated as climate anthropology, ethnoclimatology, or popular meteorology and refers to the way people address weather and climate considering their impacts on society throughout history. The present article reports on popular or traditional practices and/or knowledge in predicting or diagnosing weather and climate by fishermen and farmers of the quilombo Mocambo in Ourém, Pará, Brazil, and their perceptions of climate change or variability. The research was conducted according to a qualitative exploratory methodology, approaching the topic from the community's point of view. Reports showed knowledge based on meteorological, photometeorological, astronomical, hydrological, pedological, biomarkers, and religious beliefs. From the narratives it appeared that little use was felt for this knowledge, which can be explained by the reduction of a connection with nature, associated with the devastation of the ecological environment, causing impacts on income and food culture.