Dissertativa 5 - 1ª Fase - Einstein 2027

Read the text and answer the questions, in Portuguese. 

     Most of the time, an urban rooftop¹ is not a pretty place — a concrete frying pan in summer; a cold, windy place in winter. But if a new study in the journal Sustainable Cities and Society is correct, city roofs could become something else entirely: farms. If installed just right, the researchers found, urban gardens could meet up to 28% of the fruit and vegetable demands of 190 million people just across the continent of Europe.

     The study employed a modeling program known as geographical information systems (GIS) to catalogue available space on rooftops in 840 cities across 30 European countries. Not every potential spot that appeared on an urban map was a good candidate for agriculture, however. Rooftop farming presents some of the same challenges that have to be controlled on ordinary farms — including erosion and the washing away of soil and nutrients. For that reason, researchers limited their roof selection to those that were inclined at no more than 2 degrees.

     Urban cultivation does more than fill grocery shelves — it also helps eliminate the carbon load produced by shipping fruits and vegetables across a continent or ocean. The so-called “last mile problem” — the distance consumers have to travel from their homes to stores to buy their produce — could also be eliminated or reduced. When crops are being grown directly overhead or in adjacent lots, there’s no travel involved at all. All of this contributes to achieving what is known as the 15-minute city ideal: designing urban spaces so that residents are nowhere more than a one-km, 15-minute walk or bicycle trip from all of their basic needs.

(Jeffrey Kluger. https://time.com, 05.05.2026. Adapted.)

¹ rooftop: flat area on top of a building. 

1. In the first paragragh, identify where farming could be implemented in cities; and one contribution of urban farming to European cities.
2. In the second and third paragraphs, identify one reason why rooftop farming must be developed in terrains with no more than 2 degrees inclination; and the most immediate benefit of this farming method for urban buyers.