Urbanization and climate change pose significant challenges for our generation. The presentation will explore the relationship between these two critical issues. Although urban areas cover less than 5% of the global land cover, they are home to nearly 60% of the world’s population, a figure expected to rise to 70% by the mid-21st century. Urban regions are responsible for nearly 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, although cities occupy a relatively small portion of the global land cover, they are disproportionately affected by climate change. Heatwaves, extreme precipitation, flooding, sea-level rise, and hurricanes pose risks to human life and property. This dilemma can be viewed as an opportunity to address climate change; sustainable urban development can go a long way in mitigating the negative consequences of climate change. To achieve this, we must have a comprehensive understanding of urban climate processes. While our understanding of global climate processes has advanced significantly in the past decades, our ability to understand and predict urban climate has lagged. This lag is primarily due to the complex land cover characteristics and direct influence of anthropogenic forcings. In this Science Talk, Dr. Ramamurthy will investigate how these complex anthropogenic forcings influence urban climate, their impact on people, and, more importantly, what steps can be taken to improve it.
Speaker
Dr. Prathap Ramamurthy
Associate Professor, United Nations University Hub at CCNY
Remote Sensing and Sustainable Innovations for Resilient Urban Systems (R-SIRUS)
