Paris, France:
Of the one hundred cities worldwide most vulnerable to environmental hazards all but one are in Asia, and 4-fifths are in India or China, according to a threat assessment published Thursday.
Across the globe, more than 400 massive cities with a total population of 1.5 billion are at “high” or “extreme” threat due to some mixture of life-shortening pollution, dwindling water supplies, deadly heat waves, all-natural disasters and climate transform, the report identified.
The sinking megalopolis of Jakarta — plagued by pollution, flooding and heat waves, with worse to come — topped the ranking.
But India, home to 13 of the world’s 20 most threat-laden cities, may well face the most daunting future of any nation.
Delhi ranks second on the international index of 576 cities compiled by enterprise threat analysts Verisk Maplecroft, followed inside India by Chennai (3rd), Agra (6th), Kanpur (10th), Jaipur (22nd) and Lucknow (24th).
Mumbai and its 12.5 million souls is 27th.
Looking only at air pollution — which causes more than seven million premature deaths worldwide every single year, such as a million in India alone — the 20 cities with the worst air high quality in the world amongst urban places of at least a million people today are all in India. Delhi in pole position.
The air pollution assessment was weighted towards the influence of microscopic, wellness-wrecking particles recognized as PM2.5, cast off in massive measure by the burning of coal and other fossil fuels.
China’s Middle Class
Outside Asia, the Middle East and North Africa have the biggest proportion of “high risk” cities across all threat categories combined, but Lima is the only non-Asian city to crack the top rated one hundred.
“Home to more than half the world’s population and a key driver of wealth, cities are already coming under serious strain from dire air quality, water scarcity and natural hazards,” the report’s lead author Will Nichols told AFP.
“In many Asian countries these hubs are going to become less hospitable as population pressures grow and climate change amplifies threats from pollution and extreme weather, threatening their role as wealth generators for national economies.”
While richer than India, China faces formidable environmental challenges as nicely.
Thirty-5 of the 50 cities worldwide most beset by water pollution are in China, as are all but two of the top rated 15 facing water pressure, according to the report.
But distinct political systems and levels of improvement may well eventually play in China’s favour, Nichols stated.
“For China, an emerging middle class is increasingly demanding cleaner air and water, which is being reflected in government targets,” he told AFP.
Africa Hit Hardest
“China’s top-down governance structure -– and willingness to take abrupt measures, such as shutting down factories to meet emissions goals — gives it more of a chance of mitigating these risks.”
India’s weaker governance, coupled with the size and scale of its informal economy, tends to make it far tougher to address environmental and climate difficulties at the city level, he added.
When it comes to international warming and its impacts, the focus shifts sharply to sub-Saharan Africa, home to 40 of the 45 most climate-vulnerable cities on the planet.
The continent least accountable for increasing international temperatures will get hit the hardest not only simply because of worse droughts, heat waves, storms and flooding, but also simply because it is so ill-equipped to cope.
“Africa’s two most populous cities, Lagos and Kinshasa, are among those at highest risk,” the report noted.
Other particularly vulnerable cities contain Monrovia, Brazzaville, Freetown, Kigali, Abidjan and Mombasa.
The climate index combined the threat of intense events, human vulnerability, and the potential of nations to adapt.
The 1st in a series of threat assessments for cities, the report evaluates threats to liveability, investment prospective, genuine estate assets, and operational capacity.
(This story has not been edited by TheSpuzz employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)