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Lack of Funds Leaves Cities Vulnerable to the Effects of Climate Change

Survey shows that local authorities don't have enough money to weather-proof their cities

Jun 8, 2012 07:35 GMT  ·  By
Cities must invest in fighting back climate change
   Cities must invest in fighting back climate change

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently made public the findings of a survey it carried out so as to see whether urban communities worldwide are ready to deal with climate change.

The conclusions reached by the researchers in charge of this survey are rather alarming: the lack of money keeps local authorities from investing in ways to fight back climate change.

As those who live in the city probably already know, urban areas are more and more often subjected to extreme weather conditions: very low or very high temperatures, and powerful storms.

One can easily guess that these affect both the citizen's quality of life, and the overall “functionality” of the city, as people are less likely to carry on with their activities as efficiently as before.

As well as this, local buildings can be seriously affected, seeing how they are not designed to resist such extreme weather manifestations.

Last, but not least, climate change is quite likely to influence the cities' need for energy, in the sense that urban areas will most likely require more energy either to cool off or to keep warm.

According to the survey afore-mentioned, out of a total of 468 cities worldwide – 298 of which are to be found in the US – only 68% are presently investing in adapting to the new weather conditions brought about by climate change.

According to cleantechies.com, the cities in Latin America and Canada take the lead when it comes to adaptation planning, with 95% and 92% – respectively – of their cities currently investing in such measures.

What alarms researchers is that, apparently, only 59% of the cities in the US plan on following in their footsteps. Official reports indicate that 95% of the urban areas in the US argue that they cannot invest in adaptation planning as they lack the necessary funds, and the federal government shows no interest in aiding them.

From where we stand, solutions to this problem must be found as soon as possible, otherwise a degradation of the quality of life in most urban areas around the world will be quick to follow.