![]() ![]() He told DW the city is responding to the current crisis by building more aquifers and desalination plants, as well as restricting water use, but water scarcity is something it will need to adapt to in the long term. Paris is already planning for a much warmer future, starting with a ban on diesel vehicles in the city center by 2030.Ĭape Town, South Africa: Drought Cape Town is an attractive location to move to, but will it stay that way as water runs out? Image: Henner FrankenfeldĪs temperatures rise, so too does the risk of drought - not only in naturally arid regions, but also those that rely on seasonal rainfall.Ĭape Town is currently in the midst of its worst drought in 100 years. Johannes Van Der Merwe is Cape Town's mayoral committee for finance member at COP23. More recently, this year's "Lucifer" heat wave made headlines across southern Europe. France was hit especially hard by the 2003 European heat wave, with Paris recording an excess death rate of 141 percent. We don't even have to wait for the end of the century to see the impact extreme hot weather can have in urban hubs. ![]() A 2017 study found a combination of heat waves and particle pollution exacerbate one another, posing a significant risk to human health. Recent analysis by the World Weather Attribution (WWA) suggests summer temperatures over 40-degrees Celsius could be the norm across Europe by 2050.īut big cities like Paris also have to contend with air pollution, which is exacerbated by prolonged hot spells - and vice versa. Paris, France: Heat waves and pollution Heat waves and smog combine to choke French capital Image: picture-alliance/dpaĪ 3-degree temperature rise would make heat waves far more common - including the birthplace of the Paris Agreement. "We also have to adapt and have more sustainable buildings and infrastructure to withstand more intense rain events, or even hurricanes." "As we've seen and learned, defense or mitigation of disasters is not the only piece of the puzzle," she says. She told DW the city is working hard to maintain levees and be ready to evacuate huge numbers of people. The relationship between climate change and storms is only just beginning to be understood, but rising sea levels and warmer sea surface temperatures mean New Orleans is likely to experience more Hurricane Katrina-like weather events by the time the century is out. 2017's unusually hyperactive hurricane season may be a worrying harbinger of things to come.īridget Tydor is a Senior City Planner at the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO) and a member of the ICLEI US People's Delegation to COP23. In the event of a 3 degree rise in the global temperature, New Orleans' future looks uncertain. New Orleans, United States: Storms and flooding Recovering from Katrina has meant not just dealing with the hurricane's aftermath, but also preparing for the next one Image: AP DW takes a look at what 3 degrees would mean for five very different cities. But the impacts will vary from place to place. Shortly before climate change talks kicked off in Bonn, the United Nations warned that the latest global warming projections point to a 3.2 degree Celsius (5.8 degree Fahrenheit) increase by 2100 - far above the goal of the Paris Agreement to limit temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius or preferably 1.5 degrees Celsius.Īs countries determine the world's climate future at the COP23 talks, the question remains: What would a warmer world actually look like? ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |