Urb-ADAPT: Assessing Vulnerability to Climate Change: An Approach Illustrated through Large Urban Scale Adaptation
Globally, climate change will have wide-ranging effects on all aspects of society, the environment and the economy. This is particularly the case for urban areas, which represent only a small fraction of the Earth’s surface (less than 3%) but are where more than half of the global population resides and concentrations of assets and economic activities are found.
MaREI's Urb-ADAPT project which is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency combines climatic and socio-economic information to assess the vulnerability of the region to key urban climate impacts.
Ireland’s climate is changing in line with global trends and this trend is expected to continue and intensify into the future. Climate change will have wide-ranging effects on all aspects of Ireland’s society, environment and economy, and this is particularly the case for Ireland’s urban areas. This is because all of Ireland’s major cities are located on the coast and are already at risk from sea level rise and extreme weather events. Although urban areas generally experience the same exposure to climate change as the surrounding regions, these areas are considered to be at particular risk (e.g. flooding, droughts and excess heat) because of processes of urbanisation. With urbanisation set to continue and intensify in terms of both density and extent, planned adaptation of these areas is now a priority.
You can read the full report here
