9 out of 10 urban emergencies are associated with bad weather. But it is cities that harm the climate!
Your home is probably warm and cozy. But there are "hot spots": gas stove burners, an iron, and batteries in winter. And on a global scale, big cities have become such "hot plates" for the climate. It is the megalopolises that are recognized as the main culprits of global warming, they are called "points of heating of the planet." But the townspeople themselves pay the price, nature is fair.
CATACLISM IN THE BIG CITY
- 90 percent of disasters and emergencies in cities are related to the weather. And in connection with climate change, the number of such cataclysms is increasing, - Alexander Baklanov, a researcher at the research department of the World Meteorological Organization, made a gloomy message at the Climate Forum of Cities in Moscow. - But we are reaping the benefits, since it is the cities that are primarily responsible for global warming. Because 70% of greenhouse gas emissions come from cities.
With emergencies due to weather disasters, in general, everything is clear. You yourself now remember with emotional, if not unprintable words, showers, after which streets turn into rivers, and cars into submarines. Or a wind blower who knocked down a tree in the yard. Hurricanes, freezing rains, snowfalls, abnormal heat or frost - extreme events are increasing, and this is one of the most dangerous manifestations of global warming.
Not that hurricanes were targeting metropolitan areas. It's just that cities are more vulnerable. A squall will rush across the open field - nothing. And in the stone jungle on his way, billboards, construction cranes, parks with trees - at least something will destroy. So it is with other weather disasters.
Cities are the hottest * hotplates * for the climate.
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20 MAIN "HEATERS"
“Two-thirds of the world's population now lives in cities,” recalls Piroska Ostlin, WHO Regional Director for Europe. And by 2050 there will be even more city dwellers - three quarters of the world's inhabitants.
“Cities will play an important role in shaping a new climate reality,” says Ivan Filyutich, expert of the Green Cities project.
Looking at these numbers, you begin to imagine a planet completely covered with highways and built up with high-rise buildings. But no. No matter how rubbery Moscow, Istanbul or London may seem, cities occupy only 2% of the Earth's territory!
And they really play the role of those very hot "burners" for the climate. Cities emit 70% of all greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. How? Cars and public transport smoke, thermal power plants - heating is needed for residential buildings and offices, electricity too. Plus the industry, which is concentrated near major cities.
Norwegian scientists from the Trondheim University of Technology have calculated which megacities are most harmful to the climate. Compared 13 thousand cities on all continents. Seoul, the capital of South Korea, turned out to be the leader, or rather the anti-leader. Next - Chinese Guangzhou and New York. Of the Russian cities, Moscow entered the twenty "global burners". Basically, there are Asian megalopolises (Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo …), American (Los Angeles, Chicago …), there are even two African cities (Cairo and Johannesburg).
What else did the Norwegians learn? The richer a city is, the greater its “carbon footprint”, that is, the amount of greenhouse gases with which it replenishes the already overheated atmosphere. Directly or indirectly. For direct emissions (from cars, thermal power plants) are 2 - 3 times less than indirect ones: from the amount of energy and fuel that is spent on providing citizens with bread and circuses. Supermarkets, restaurants, shopping centers - goods need to be brought in, heated or cooled, energy is spent on everything, fuel is burned, new portions of CO2 are sent into the atmosphere ….
The richer the city, the greater its * carbon footprint *.
AND YOU CAN'T HIDE FOR A THOUSAND KILOMETERS
Everyone, not only climatologists, has heard about the city's “heat island”. In Moscow it is always a couple of degrees warmer than in the Moscow region, especially at night. This is the effect of a stone jungle - roads, sidewalks and concrete houses accumulate heat. They have a different reflectivity, cement and asphalt interact differently with moisture than land and forests. And voila - a special microclimate.
But it turns out that megalopolises affect the weather even thousands of kilometers outside the Moscow Ring Road! Moreover, they do not necessarily heat the air, everything is more complicated: because of urban “heat islands”, the movement of air currents in vast territories is changing. Scientists from the Universities of California and Florida believe that this may explain why some regions are warming more than others.
- Densely populated areas along the east and west coasts of the United States, as well as in Eurasia, are located just in the path of important atmospheric currents. Additional heat entering the atmosphere from megacities disrupts the normal circulation of the atmosphere. And this affects the weather even thousands of kilometers away, the researchers explain.
FROM HOME TO WORK WITHOUT WEATHER Jams
What to do? Gigabytes of reports and reports have been made on this topic. But in short, there are only two ways, and you must follow them at the same time.
First, reduce greenhouse gas emissions. There are many ways. One example is electric cars or hybrids instead of diesel and gasoline cars. By the way, electric buses are already traveling in Moscow. Or building energy efficient houses. In Europe, for example, for windows in new office buildings, not ordinary glass is used, but a solar panel that works simultaneously.
- Buildings are the largest source of greenhouse gases, and this is where the main opportunity to reduce them is. Our goal is to reduce emissions to zero by 2050, says Stelios Diakoulakis, Deputy Regional Director for Europe of the C40 Association, which brings together cities concerned with the fight against global warming. Now it is 94 years old, where a total of 700 million people live. Moscow as well.
- Climate plans were developed by London, Paris, Chicago and other megacities, - adds Marina Falaleeva, head of the international public association "Ecoproject" from Belarus.
One of the ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to use electric vehicles or hybrids instead of diesel and gasoline cars / Photo: VIKTOR HUSEYNOV / kp.ru
The second way is to make life in cities more comfortable and safer given the changing climate. After all, global warming is already underway. And it won't stop until the end of the 21st century, the only question is the pace. And here the experts agree that there is no single recipe. It all depends on the climate and landscape of each city. And the truth: how can you compare St. Petersburg with Dubai! It is necessary to save oneself from the heat in the desert, in our country from showers and floods (the rise in the level of the World Ocean is another risk for coastal megacities).
- Cities now practically do not think about climatic comfort. In southern cities under the brand of improvement, trees are cut down to create shade. And in northern cities fountains are being built, although there it is rather a symbol of beautiful life. We have a shortage of designers who can propose projects for a northern city, arid or seaside. These are utilitarian tasks that will not protect against climate change, but will make life more comfortable, - the architect Nikita Asadov brings the problem to the everyday level.
Meteorologists have their own task - to accurately predict all weather vagaries and dangers. Moreover, for a specific area of the city, and not just “rain in places”. And this is real, says climatologist Pavel Konstantinov:
- The level of technology is now such that it is possible to calculate a climatically comfortable way from home to work, taking into account your health, age and habits. Two years later, we will use the smartphone app to choose, for example, the coolest route in the summer heat - as now we are looking for a road with less traffic jams. This is not futurology, it is almost here and now.
The more intense and brighter the color on the map, the greater the loss of heat to the atmosphere. Can you imagine how we heat the air?
YULIA SMIRNOVA