Climate Change Will Deeply Challenge European Cities

A recent study conducted by Newcastle University has highlighted that the consequences that climate change could have on cities all around Europe could be more serious than previously thought and tackling these consequences will present a real challenge.
As part of their extensive study, Newcastle University how climate change could impact over 500 different European cities by 2050 and 2100. They explored three different scenarios: the consequences of climate change in low, medium and high-impact situations.
The results are quite alarming. When it comes to the UK, the main challenge will be dealing with increasingly serious floods. UK cities with a river flowing through them will see the amount of water caused by the floods doubled in the best case scenario. Cities that will be especially affected will be Glasgow, Wrexham, Aberdeen and Chester.
But floods won’t be the only challenge that European cities will be facing. Climate change will also bring along droughts that will heavily affect Southern Europe. It is estimated the droughts and heat waves could be 14 times worse than what they are at the moment. And, even though the regions are prepared to tackle droughts, the changes caused by climate change might prove to be too severe.
The study also highlighted that different regions won’t just be affected by one kind of issue but could face many consequences of climate deterioration.
“Although southern European regions are adapted to cope with droughts, this level of change could be beyond breaking point,” said Selma Guerreiro, lead author of the study. “Furthermore, most cities have considerable changes in more than one hazard, which highlights the substantial challenge cities face in managing climate risks.”
> Naomi Round