ABSTRACT
On planet Earth, cities are at risk of gradual, slow-onset climate change impacts, such as sea-level rise and coastal erosion. Large urban populations, including those residing in some of the world’s largest megacities, live in low elevation coastal zones. CO2 emanates from the mouths of all humans and the power plants and cars in all countries—and is responsible for the bulk of global warming to date. But reducing emissions of some of the other greenhouse gases may prove quite a lot simpler than cutting back on CO2—and may forestall catastrophic climate change. Climate change may include temperature increases, sea-level rises, changes in rainfall patterns and more extreme weather events such as droughts or cyclones. As climate change intensifies, more marginal lands will supply the crop products in the tropics. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
