Growth versus global warming

PhysOrg.com: Houses on stilts, small scale energy generation and recycling our dishwater are just some of the measures that are being proposed to prepare our cities for the effects of global warming. A three-year project led by Newcastle University for the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research has outlined how our major cities must respond if they are to continue to grow in the face of climate change.

Using the new UK Climate Predictions ’09 data for weather patterns over the next century, the research looks at the impact of predicted rises in temperature - particularly in urban areas - increased flooding in winter and less water availability in summer. The report “How can cities grow whilst reducing emissions and vulnerability” focuses on the particular challenges facing London but can be used as a model for other UK cities on how policy-makers, businesses and the public must work together to prepare for climate change.

As well as protecting our homes and buildings against the increased threat of flooding from rising sea levels, the report emphasizes the need to reduce our carbon emissions, reduce our water usage and move towards cleaner, greener transport.

Newcastle University’s Dr Richard Dawson, one of the report’s authors, said: “There’s not one simple solution to this problem. Instead we need a portfolio of measures that work together to minimize the impact of climate change while allowing for our cities to grow.

“Most importantly we have to cut our carbon dioxide emissions but at the same time we need to prepare for the extremes of weather - heat waves, droughts and flooding - which we are already starting to experience. The difficulty is balancing one risk against another while allowing for the expected population and employment growth and that is what our work attempts to address.”…

A miserable hot day in New York City, shot by Alex Guerrero, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License