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CRP 3840/5840, Environmental Risk: Cities and Climate change

Final Presentation + Environmental Risk discussion

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Presentation

10 minutes: introduce your topic and research question or agenda, as a presentation of your “work in progress”.

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impacts of climate change on urban area

• temperature: increasing number of very hot days
  • Threats from extreme heat: playgrounds can be heated to ~50 degrees
• changes in frequency:
  • more extreme weather: rainfall, water stress, hurricanes, heat stress, wildfire, sea level rise, etc.

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Why focus on cities?

• cities disproportionately contribute to climate change (mitigation)
• … suffer the impacts (adaptation)
• the front line in terms of preventing future climate issues

Infrastructural adaptation - storm water management: Policy adaptation: adding incentives and removing disincentives

climate resilient cities

mainstreaming tools for cities: (VS. STAND-ALONE CC PLANS)

• zoning rules
• taxation
• building codes
• etc.

Why have cities not done much?

• changing is risky: you dont get punished for following existing guidelines
• Perfect information problem: too much uncertainty
• Issue fatigue: there’s always more other issues
• the scale argument: a global issue beyond my reach.
• the readiness, especially in developing world: poverty

Planning for Uncertainty

• no regrets strategies: measures that can be enacted without being certain of future climate change
• low regrets
• win-win