The time-series (annual period and dry- and wet-season) of eight climatic variables were analysed to ascertain the existence of climate variability in Northeast of Brazil. Results indicated generallyincreasing trends in most of these variables (statisticallysignificant at po0:01 or o0:05) byMann–Kendall test. However, relative humidityand rainfall presented decreasing behavior. The studyshowed that most of the stations studied are going through a process of environmental dryness. The results also suggest that the historical trends may be related to climate variabilityin Northeast of Brazil, which affects both semi-arid and coastal part of the region.
