College of Urban Development and Engineering

Urban Ecosystem & Basic Climate Change

Block – III

Week -12
Basic Climate Change

December, 2017
 Objectives of the session

• To understand the basic of climate change

• Able to analyze the importance of entertaining

climate change issues in the management of various
sectors in urban areas.
 Climate basics

The world’s climate is changing, and the changes will have

an enormous impact on our planet’s people, ecosystems,
cities, and energy use.

According to the latest report from the IPCC, average

global temperatures are likely to rise by another 2 to 8.6
degrees F by 2100.

Most experts agree that the changes are anthropogenic —

caused by humans — largely from emissions of heat-
trapping gases released to the atmosphere when fossil fuels
are burned.

Carbon dioxide is the most significant of these gases; CO2

What is the difference between weather
and climate?

Discussion
Climate & Weather
Climate
• describes the average or typical conditions of
temperature, relative humidity, cloudiness,
precipitation, wind speed and direction, and
other meteorological factors that prevail
globally or regionally for extended periods.
Weather
• describes the hourly or daily conditions that
people experience each day.
 Climate Change
 There are many causes of climate change. Many are natural and involve
processes which influence the flows of energy into, out of and within the
climate system.

 Recently however, concern has grown that mankind's pollution of the

atmosphere may be causing global-scale changes in climate, with
accompanying shifts in regional climate regimes all over the world.

 By increasing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere through

the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, we have enhanced the Earth's
natural greenhouse effect.

 During the last 100 years, the Earth's average surface temperature (about
15°C) has increased by over 0.5°C, much of the rise occurring since the
1980s.
 Global warming
 The Earth has a natural green house effect which keeps it much warmer that it
would be without an atmosphere.

 Green house gases in the atmosphere trap infrared heat energy trying to escape
back to space.

 In doing so they raise the temperature of the lower atmosphere and the Earth's
surface in contact with it.

 During the last 200 years, mankind has been releasing substantial quantities of
extra greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, through the burning of fossil fuels and
deforestation.

 These extra gases are trapping more heat in the atmosphere, and it is now
suspected that the observed warming of the Earth by about 0.6°C since the late
19th century is due to this man-made enhancement of the natural greenhouse effect.
Major Greenhouse Gases from Human Activities
Table 21-1 Average Time
Relative
Warming

Page 464
Greenhouse Gas Human Sources in the Potential
Troposphere (compared to
Carbon dioxide (CO2) Fossil fuel burning, especially coal (70– CO2)
75%), deforestation, and plant burning 100–120 years
1
Methane (CH4) Rice paddies, guts of cattle and termites,
landfills, coal production, coal seams, and 12–18 years
natural gas leaks from oil and gas 23
production and pipelines

Nitrous oxide (N2O) Fossil fuel burning, fertilizers, livestock

wastes, and nylon production 114–120 years
296
Chlorofluorocarbons Air conditioners, refrigerators, plastic foams
(CFCs)* 11–20 years (65–110
years in stratosphere) 900–8,300
Hydrochloro- Air conditioners, refrigerators, plastic foams
fluorocarbons (HCFCs) 9–390
Air conditioners, refrigerators, plastic foams 470–2,000

Hydrofluorocarbons Fire extinguishers 15–390

(HFCs) 130–12,700
Cleaning solvent
Halons 65
5,500
Carbon tetrachloride 42
1,400
Cont’d…
 Impacts of Global warming
 Such a rapid change in climate will probably be too great to allow many
ecosystems to suitably adapt, and the rate of species extinction will most
likely increase.
 In addition to impacts on wildlife and species biodiversity, human
agriculture, forestry, dry lands, water resources and health will all be
affected.
 Such impacts will be related to changes in precipitation (rainfall and
snowfall), sea level, and the frequency and intensity of extreme weather
events, resulting from global warming.
 It is expected that the societies currently experiencing existing social,
economic and climatic stresses will be both worst affected and least able to
adapt.
 These will include many in the developing world, low-lying islands and
coastal regions, and the urban poor.
Impacts
• Storm

• Ice melting
• More pest invading
due to warming temp
Cont’d…
• Spread of disease

• Flooding
Urban Climate Change Issues
 Vulnerability and Risk Assessment

• Estimation of spatially and temporally disaggregated risk

is a critical prerequisite for the assessment of effective
and efficient adaptation and mitigation.

• Risk may be considered as the intersection of three

vectors – hazards, vulnerabilities, and adaptive capacity.

• Considering these urban governance should focus on

articulating differential impacts on poor and non-poor
urban residents as well as sectorally disaggregating
implications for infrastructure and social well-being,
including health.
 Urban Climate Hazards
 Cities are vulnerable to urban heat island; poor air quality; urban floods; and
food insecurity etc.

 Cities are experiencing degradation of building and infrastructure materials,

especially the energy and transportation sector.

 The gap between water supply and demand will likely increase as drought-
affected areas expand, particularly for cities located in the lower latitudes, and
as flood intensify.

 Changes in mean climate conditions and frequency of extreme events will

have direct impacts on water availability, flooding and drought periodicity, and
water demand.

 These dynamic changes will affect system processes within multiple sectors in
cities interactively, increasing the uncertainty under which urban managers and
decision-makers operate.
 Energy and Buildings
 Urban energy systems can be dramatically affected by climate change
at all parts of the process including supply, demand, operations, and
assets.

 In developed countries, climate change concerns are leading cities to

explore ways to reduce GHG emissions associated with fossil fuels
combustion and to increase the resiliency of urban energy systems.

 In developing countries, cities often lack access to adequate and

reliable energy services.

 In these cities scaling up access to modern energy services to reduce

poverty, promote economic development and improve social
institutions often take precedence over climate-related concerns.
 Urban water supply and wastewater treatment

• Long-term planning for the impacts of climate change

on the formal and informal water supply and waste
water treatment sectors in cities is required, with plans
monitored, reassessed, and revised every 5-10 years
as climate science progresses and data improve.

• What is needed as well is the development of a new

culture of water value, use, and consumption, based
on balanced perspectives of its economic, physical,
ecological, social, political, and technical dimensions.
 City Transportation Systems
• Heat and Floods can shorten the quality and life of
the transportation assets in the cities.
• Urban transportation adaptation strategies can focus
effectively on both usage and technology.

• Some examples can be: changing to heat-resistant

materials; sheltering critical equipment from extreme
rainfall and winds; raising rail and road lines;
increasing the deployment and use of pumps;
installing drainage systems to convey water from
facilities rapidly; and installing barriers at vulnerable
locations.
 Climate Change and Human Health
Climate change Health outcomes Urban modifying
determinants factors
Temperature extremes Mortality Density and demography

Winds, storms, and Social and economical

floods Malnutrition resources
City governance
Drought Respiratory illness Infrastructure
Cardio-respiratory organizations
Water quality illness
Diarrheal diseases Geography and location
Air quality
Asthma, allergies Characteristics of
Vector distribution individuals
Vector borne diseases
Health care system
 Urban Land use and Climate Change

Climate Hazards Major urban planning strategies

Temperature, heat waves Change building codes to withstand greater

energy loads

Precipitation, floods, and Restrict development in areas prone to floods,

droughts landslides, fire; change building codes to
encompass more drainage.

How city government handles the issues of property rights

and land tenure will play an important role in responding to
climate change threats?
 City Governance
• Climate change presents city government with several
challenges, including the need for political and fiscal
empowerment at the local level to deal with local
impacts and specific mitigation measures; the presence
of multiple jurisdiction among cities, metropolitan
regions, states, and nations; and often weak planning
and management structures.

• These challenges highlight the need for science and

evidence-based policy formulation in regard to climate
change.
 Conclusions

• To cope up with the adverse impacts of climate change there

is need to link on-the-ground scientific expertise in the service
of the needs and requirement of the local city decision
makers.

• Key dimensions are the development of risk assessment and

management frameworks that take urban climate hazards,
sensitivity, adaptive capacity, and agency into account,

• interactive consideration of mitigation and adaptation in

critical urban sectors- energy, water, transportation, and
human health – and the inclusion of overarching integrating
mechanism of urban land use and governance.
QUESTIONS

THANKS