Turning up the heat on city planners

By Garry Booth | Lloyd’s

Madrid’s climate could resemble that of Marrakech in 30 years’ time, while London will experience the sort of summer conditions that residents of Barcelona are accustomed to today. This is the finding of new research by the Crowther Lab, whose environmental scientists tested the extent to which cities around the world are likely to be affected by climate change.

By analysing 520 major cities, the scientists examined to what extent the climate of a particular city in a particular bioclimatic region in 2050 would resemble the climate of cities in different bioclimatic regions today.

Even under an optimistic climate scenario, the researchers found that over three quarters of cities are very likely to experience conditions that are closer to that of another existing city, than their own current climate. Read more