Climate Change

Urban disasters and hazard dynamics in the context of climate change (Cities, Disasters, and Climate risk)

At the global level, the IPCC Working Group I identified four major aspects of climate change relevant to cities (IPCC, 2007a). First, heat waves are very likely to increase in frequency over most land areas. Second, heavy precipitation events are very likely to increase in frequency over most areas; available data suggest that a significant […]

Climate risk and key urban sector impacts (Cities, Disasters, and Climate risk)

Climate change and disasters affect critical socio-economic sectors in settlements (both formal and informal), water and energy supply and demand, and public health. Climate change impacts on these key sectors and the implications for disaster risk reduction effectiveness are presented in the following section. The impacts include (i) increased system variability and potential instability, (ii) […]

Climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction: comparison, contrasts, and emerging synergies (Cities, Disasters, and Climate risk)

The basic assumptions and institutional conditions under which climate change adaptation strategies and disaster risk reduction activities have emerged are reviewed here, as well as areas where additional potential opportunities for synergy within the urban context are starting to emerge. Urban climate change adaptation strategy efforts have responded to increased awareness of the potential threat […]

Convergence of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in the urban context (Cities, Disasters, and Climate risk)

Climate change and potential adaptation strategies are connected with existing disaster response and hazard management strategies in several ways (ICS, 2008; International Strategy For Disaster Reduction, 2010; Mercer, 2010). Disaster risk reduction management includes several phases such as risk assessment and preparedness planning; response, relief, and recovery; and structural hazard mitigation activities and non-structural hazard […]

Climate risk in cities: assessing the nexus of disaster reduction and adaptation (Cities, Disasters, and Climate risk)

A critical need for sector-specific analyses of climate hazards and vulnerabilities, and location-specific adaptive capacities and mitigation strategies, has been highlighted in the most recent IPCC Working Group III AR4 (IPCC, 2007c), and the World Resource Institute (Baumert et al, 2005; Bradley et al, 2007), and OECD (Hunt and Watkiss, 2007; Hallegatte et al, 2008). […]

Climate risk assessment in selected case studies (Cities, Disasters, and Climate risk) Part 1

We attempt to illustrate and assess the relative role of each of the three elements through a presentation of four major case studies for the metropolitan areas of Buenos Aires, Delhi, Lagos, and New York. These cities are located in four different global sub-regions and have a range of socio-economic conditions and vulnerability to climate […]

Climate risk assessment in selected case studies (Cities, Disasters, and Climate risk) Part 2

Delhi, India Metropolitan Delhi has a population of 16 million, and is rapidly urbanizing with a 3.85 percent annual growth rate over the 1990s amounting to half a million additional inhabitants each year. In 1901 Delhi had 400,000 inhabitants. Furthermore, rising per capita incomes are increasing energy consumption and over-stretching its infrastructure. Delhi is a […]

Climate risk assessment in selected case studies (Cities, Disasters, and Climate risk) Part 3

Hazards and vulnerability Ekanade et al. (2008) describe the nature and magnitude of the climate change hazards for the city level using different greenhouse gas emission scenario models. The IPCC (2001a) Special Report on Emission Scenarios A2 and B1 climate change scenarios were utilized to project 30-year timeslices for temperature and rainfall values for the […]

Climate risk assessment in selected case studies (Cities, Disasters, and Climate risk) Part 4

New York City, United States With 8.2 million people, a $1.1 trillion GDP (Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2008) and an operating budget of over $40 billion, New York City is the largest city in the USA both in population and in economic productivity (The City of New York, 2007, 2009). The distribution of wealth within […]

Cities, disasters risk reduction and climate change adaptation: critical observations and conclusions

The case study risk assessment process through the lens of the preceding disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation strategy discussion produced several critical observations particularly important for understanding the challenges and opportunities for cities facing climate change. These include the following: First, a multidimensional approach to risk assessment is a prerequisite to effective urban […]

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