Creative Work #1

Climate Change and Cities 15-2ilnszlClimate Change and Cities

VIDEO: CANVAS

http://uccrn.org/files/2015/01/ARC3-Frontmatter-Final.pdf

Q: Describe the Climate change risks of the city you are coming from or a major city in your home country. What climate hazards are facing your city?

Hong Kong will and has already experienced many of the effects of climate change. The consequences of global warming are not only limited to the changing weather conditions, intensified weather events and increasing and decreasing precipitation. In Hong Kong many studies have been made to predict the future effects of global warming including: intensified and more frequent floods and heavier precipitation. The amount of water that is available to be retained for human consumption would fall due to increasing air pollution and water contamination. Hong Kong is likely to experience fresh water shortages and heavy and intense storms and typhoons, which has already happened in August 2017. Where a typhoon 10 devastated Hong Kong and other parts of southern China.

The rate of increase in average temperature in the last half of the 20th century has been increasing at a much faster rate reaching 0.15 ˚Celsius. The average sea level at Victoria Harbour, the main shipping port in Hong Kong has increased at a rate of 31mm per 10 years, creating further issues for trading at the ports. Precipitation has also increased at a rate of 39mm ever 10 years. Extreme weather events are becoming more and more frequent and more extreme, records were broken several times in the last few decades regarding hourly rainfall rate, amount of rainfall and wind speed. Natural landslides are also a threat in Hong Kong as high levels of wind and precipitation results in the dislodgement of many sloping surfaces and rocks.

It has been said that Hong Kong has the highest natural disaster risk in Asia, many are caused by storms and floods. The geographical location makes Hong Kong vulnerable for cyclones between May and November.

http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2071772/changing-climate-hong-kong-must-prepare-itself-much-worse

http://www.hko.gov.hk/climate_change/climate_change_hk_e.htm

http://www.preventionweb.net/news/view/44503

Hazards

  • Trends and projections
  • Heat waves
  • Drought and floods
  • Sea level rise
  • Precipitation

Vulnerability

  • City size and density
  • % of poor
  • % of GDP

Adaptive Capacity

  • Information and resources
  • Institutions and governance

 

What are some of the key findings of the IPCC report ARC3?

A new framework for the major decision makers in the cities has been developed. Including how they analyze and assess the risks and vulnerabilities of climate change towards their city. Including understanding how:

  1. Climate threats are now a major issue such as heat waves, higher levels of precipitation, expanded coastal and riverine flooding.
  2. Social, economic or physical qualities (e.g. population size, poverty, GDP) can cause certain susceptibilities.
  3. The city’s ability to act and inform other after being educated and informed with the information of climate change. Society’s willingness and ability to adapt and mitigate with the efforts of certain institutions, governments and large industries. (Adaptive capacity aspects)

Cities are already facing changing climatic conditions and they must now create climate adaptation plans including:

The higher temperatures in cities, in comparison to surrounding suburban areas. Since the cement and concrete absorb heat, and the loss of vegetation and permeable surfaces, such as soil, cities must deal with this rising temperatures.

  1. The increasing concentration of high energy consuming activities that produce air pollution such as transportations, electricity, industrial and commercial activities, is producing high levels or air pollution creating climate and health problems.
  2. Extreme climate and natural disasters due to climate change such as, too much precipitation, drought, flooding and intensified storms are all related to the changing climate.

 

What is one of the issues of the IPCC report that you find most interesting?

  • The idea of urban heat island was a concept I was not familiar with, and its effects and derivatives was very interesting to learn and explore.

What are some adaptation and mitigation efforts mentioned in the report?

  1. Ability for the city to act
  2. Availability of resources

Urban Energy systems

  1. Cities can develop management programs to reduce carbon emission levels and lower the streets of the energy systems during the most vulnerable times.
  2. Capitalize on natural energy systems and update and maintain power plants and current energy networks to increase their efficiency and reduce their carbon intensity and increase their resilience to accidents or natural disasters.

Water and Wastewater

  1. Reduce the amount of non-revenue water through maintenance, strong infrastructure and by regularly checking leaks, repairs and issues.
  2. Review surface and ground water supplies and storage units
  3. Apply local augmentations on water supply through rainwater harvesting and rescue.
  4. Exercise demand management through suitable pricing, better education systems on water and its conservation, improve and update water management such as toilets and showers.
  5. Encourage efficient water use and its processes in domestic, industrial and agricultural facilities.

Urban Transportation systems

  1. Construct resilient transport systems to high temperatures, corrosive effects and increased exposure to water. Protect the transport systems from increased precipitation, flooding. Introducing impermeable road surfaces.
  2. Retreating from the shoreline or building barriers on the shore lines
  3. Introduce operational measures, such as traffic and road closes, bridge closes and introducing alternate transportation routes during extreme weather events

Human Health

  1. Broadening health surveillance and warning systems for th dependents of society (the poor, the young and the elderly)
  2. Reducing “urban heat island effect” through tree planting and increasing permeable surfaces
  3. Emphasize on clean and maintained water and energy systems and their resilience to climate change.

 

Q: Describe the vulnerabilities due to your city’s social, economic or physical attributes such as its population size and density, topography, the percentage of the city’s population in poverty and the percentage of its population’s GDP that is generated.

 

Hong Kong is an extremely populated city in a very small area with 7.349 million people (2017) with a land span of only 1,104 square kilometers with 733 km of coastline. Hong Kong is a cosmopolitan paradise, with an abundance of high rise building built in certain areas leaving very little permeable surfaces or space for vegetation. However, the outskirts of Hong Kong are very luscious full of vegetation, natural parks and mountainous. However in both instances there are risks in being in the highly populated area and the outskirts. In Hong Kong, high levels of precipitation, flooding etc. is very common. The amount of area along the coast line provides further risks.

Hong Kong have a percentage of the Worlds elite and the lifestyle may be luxurious to some however nearly one million people live in poverty. And for those that don’t qualify living in poverty are also struggling as the minimum wage and poverty line in Hong Kong is very low, increasing the risks for those living in poverty in Hong Kong and the effects of climate change.

 

http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/china-hong-kong-sar-population/

https://www.mapsofworld.com/hong-kong/facts.html

http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/2095117/how-many-hongkongers-are-really-living-poverty

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