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Climate newsletter |
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Issue 35 | 23 November 2022 |
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According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group II (WGII) report, there is high confidence that, “Cities and settlements by the sea are on the frontline of climate change - they face climate-compounded risks that are amongst the highest, but are a key source of innovation in climate resilient development.”
56% of the world’s population live in cities (~4.4billion people) and this is expected to increase in the future with 70% of people projected to live in urban areas by 2050. Urban areas are warmer than surrounding rural areas due to the urban heat island effect, which us caused by tall buildings trapping heat and limited vegetation and are also at risk from other factors such as flooding.
Cities can, however, be hubs for climate action, for example by embracing green transportation, greening of areas to reduce the urban heat island effect, encouraging active travel and building more efficient buildings.
During November we have been exploring the topic of climate and cities. You can follow #GetClimateReady on Twitter to see what we are sharing and read some new blog posts below.
In this blog post, we explore the urban heat island effect and how we can respond to extreme heat risks.
 There'll be more blogs to come on the topic of cities this month. Keep an eye out on our blog site for the latest updates.
On Tuesday 29 November at 4.30pm (GMT), Met Office Senior Presenter Alex Deakin will be hosting a live Twitter Spaces audio conversation on this topic. You can tune in by following @metoffice and also listen afterwards on demand.
Also look out next week for a new episode of the Met Office #MostlyClimate podcast, where we’ll be talking to scientists working on research and climate service development relating to cities.
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Over the weekend, the COP27 climate conference in Egypt came to a close after final negotiations were successful in reaching agreement. The key outcome of the UN event was the inclusion for the first time of ‘loss and damage’ in a COP agreement, paving the way for developed nations to financially support developing countries in tackling climate change. Whilst this was welcomed by many, there were concerns that the negotiations did not move forward from the Glasgow Climate Pact of COP26 in terms of greater ambition on mitigating against climate change and keeping warming below 1.5°C.
The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, made a final statement as COP27 closed.
Met Office scientist Dr Tyrone Dunbar was interviewed by the BBC World Service at COP27 where he spoke about the presence of our scientists and our role at the conference.
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Met Office scientists will be attending the AGU Fall Meeting in Chicago from 12-16 December. This is the largest annual gathering of earth and space scientists, and this year’s theme is ‘Science Leads the Future’. Our scientists will be showcasing Met Office science and services and exchanging ideas with their peers from around the world. This will help ensure that Met Office science and services remain at the cutting edge of the scientific developments and key societal questions.
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#GetClimateReady
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