Climate change trends impact Brazilian university entrance exams

Climate change and natural disasters are increasingly becoming central themes in Brazilian academic entrance exams, such as Enem, Fuvest, and Unicamp. This trend follows extreme weather patterns recorded by the National Center for Monitoring and Natural Disaster Alerts (Cemaden), which identified 2025 as one of the most extreme years in recent decades due to heatwaves, prolonged droughts, and nearly 1,500 rain-related disasters.

Educational experts note that these topics are approached multidisciplinarily, linking geography, biology, physics, and social sciences. For instance, recent exams have utilized the 2024 Rio Grande do Sul floods to test mathematical and scientific concepts. The intensification of phenomena like El Niño further reinforces the relevance of climate-related current events for students preparing for these competitive assessments.