Climate Change Goes Downtown

Climate change may soon hit billions of people—many cities already taking action

June 21, 2018 (Columbia University Earth Institute via PhysOrg)

“Billions of people in thousands of cities around the world will be at risk from climate-related heat waves, droughts, flooding, food shortages and energy blackouts by mid-century, but many cities are already taking action to blunt such effects [according to The Future We Don't Want]…To battle extreme heat, Seoul has planted 16 million trees and expanded its green space by 3 square kilometers. The city has also set up shaded cooling centers for those unable to access air conditioning…New York City is improving coastal flood mapping, strengthening large-scale coastal defenses and building smaller, strategically placed local storm surge barriers around the city…São Paulo has set up reward schemes to encourage citizens to use less water, while investing in the city's pipeline system to reduce water leakage…Paris plans to establish more than 80 acres of urban agriculture within the city's boundaries by 2020. By 2050, 25 percent of the city's food supply will be produced in the metropolitan region…London is improving drainage to ensure that key infrastructure can withstand heavy flooding, The city is also encouraging decentralized energy supplies to reduce the risk of widespread blackouts if any one power source is damaged…Lima has created a poverty map of the city to help policy makers focus resources on the most vulnerable and under-served areas, where people are most exposed to extreme heat.” click here for more

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