European cities and climate change
Urbanization has worsened urban living conditions as a result of climate change. Western European regions are more urbanized, although rapid urbanization in Eastern Europe is expected in the coming decades. This puts pressure on urban infrastructure – housing, green spaces, electricity, water and sanitation – and can adversely affect quality of life. The destruction of open green spaces due to redevelopment also threatens public health, reducing opportunities for physical activity, recovery from stress as well as damages the urban ecosystems.
A study by the European Environment Agency identifies the following impacts on cities as a result of climate change:
- All European cities are at risk of climate change, but ongoing and projected impacts vary depending on location, combined with urban exposure and vulnerability. Most impacts on European cities are probably related to extreme weather conditions. Studies identify heat waves, heavy rainfall, floods and droughts as the most serious climate and weather hazards, with the frequency and scale of this threat expected to increase.
- While temperatures are expected to rise across Europe, for cities in the south-east of the continent this trend is most noticeable with an increase in the frequency of hot flashes, combined with the least green space and the most pronounced « urban heat island (UHI) effect».
- Heat waves take more lives than any other weather disaster, and the UHI exacerbates risks to vulnerable groups. Urgent action is needed to adapt housing and social institutions such as hospitals and schools that are exposed to high temperatures.
- Heavy rainfall is expected to increase in most of Europe, and its negative impacts will increase due to inadequate sewerage infrastructure.
- Many homes, businesses and other valuable urban areas in European cities may be at risk of flooding due to their location in river or coastal lowlands. About 10% of Europe's urban population lives in such places.
- The projected sea level rise is expected to increase the damage associated with coastal floods and coastal erosion.
- By the end of this century, cities in Southern Europe could experience up to 14 times more severe drought than the worst of the second half of the 20th century.
- Water scarcity in cities in other European regions is also becoming a real danger due to the overexploitation of water resources and the increasing frequency and scale of drought.
- Urban sprawl and rural abandonment increase the risk of forest fires in hot and dry weather – mainly but not only in Southern Europe. Nearly 70,000 urban residents live in areas that were directly affected by forest fires between 2000 and 2018, mainly in Southern Europe.
- Stormy winds are among the most destructive natural disasters affecting Europe.
Climate change is conducive to the spread of vector-borne diseases (insects and other animal species) in Europe, especially in the south. Higher urban temperatures improve climatic conditions for vectors such as the tiger mosquito, increasing the risk of spreading disease.
