These 13 cities may increase by more than 2 degrees Celsius by 2020

According to a new report, 13 cities worldwide are expected to have a temperature increase of 2 degrees Celsius or more in the next decade. The city of Leuven in Belgium faces the largest increase in heat among the cities included in the report. Information provided by the Urban Climate Change Research Network (Urban Climate Change Research Network), based at Columbia University.

"It's all alarming," William Solecki, a member of the study, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation at a UN-backed climate summit. Cities may see the highest temperature rise in 2020 including Geneva in Switzerland (2.5 degrees Celsius), Shenzhen in China (2.3 degrees Celsius) and Tsukuba in Japan (2.3 degrees C). All above predictions also have a lower limit, for example the temperature in Leuven can increase to at least 1.1 degrees Celsius.

Cynthia Rosenzweig, editor of this work and NASA researcher, said the new data provides "fundamental knowledge" for the leading cities in an effort to curb the effects of global warming. bridge. These new findings came after a draft UN draft forecast that an increase in global temperatures is on the way to exceed the Paris treaty's 1.5-degree target to limit warming. Global.

In addition, experts say storms, floods and other climate-related extreme weather events are pushing cities into more difficult situations than scientists do. predicted.

In a press conference, Rosenzweig said: "Cities will know how to plan for adaptation if they know the climate, how the temperature will change in their city."

Solecki, a professor at Hunter College in New York, said: "The variability of the research results predicts that the rise in temperature does not exceed 1 degree Celsius before prompting cities to develop plans. suitable for mitigating the impact of climate change Planning is especially important when pressure from expansion, increasing urbanization ".

According to the UN report, about half of the world's population lives in urban areas, and this number is expected to reach 66% by 2050.

The new report was released in the city of Edmonton, Western Canada, on the sidelines of a global summit where scientists and urban planners are planning cities to counteract the effects. of climate change.