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Climate change has degraded land by raising temperatures, drying soils and increasing wildfire risk. Recent warming has strongly affected natural biological systems. Species worldwide are migrating poleward to colder areas. On land, may species move to higher elevations, whereas marine species find colder water at greater depths. Between 1% and 50% of species on land were assessed to be at substantially higher risk of extinction due to climate change. Coral reefs and shellfish are vulnerable to the combined threat of ocean warming and acidification. Species biodiversity in urban areas are at risk due to the effects of climate change. Urbanization and industrialization have been linked to various factors of climate change such as pollution and temperature changes.
Sea level rise remains a major concern for cities are along coastlines, affecting human settlements and infrastructure.
The cities with warmer temperatures have more frequent and severe thunderstorms.
Urban development and population contributes to climate change through factors such as pollution, deforestation, habitat destruction, and spread of disease. Scientists have linked these changes to a decrease in biodiversity in urban regions as a result of human interference. Ecologists Limburg and Schmidt found that there is is higher water temperature and temperature change in urban environments compared to non urban environments.[1] Moreover, most major cities are found along costal zones and are home to a number of diverse species. Urbanization through building structures and city design like flood defenses in turn impact biodiversity. Storm flooding and costal erosion in these regions can lead to more water pollution, such as finding metals and ammonia in stream water, can lead to a decline in aquatic biota. Climate change also affects the amount of precipitation annually and seasonally; a reduction in the amount of snowfall in the winter months affects the spring vegetation and overall health of plants. [1]Research shows that the growing season is getting longer each year throughout Europe. [1]Bird populations in London, such as the Grey Heron, have increased due to better water quality and more temperate winters. [1]Migratory patterns of birds and insects in London such as the swallow and orange top butterfly have been noticed earlier as well due to an increase in spring temperature.[1] In water, wetland organisms sensitive to changes in river flow as a result of climate change have also changed migratory patterns southeast or northeast of England. [1]
Urban planning and landscaping increases levels of nitrates into water bodies, affecting organisms that occupy those ecosystems. [2] Excess nitrate levels are found in fertilizer; once water becomes contaminated with nitrates and makes its way into a body of water. This provides an ideal environment for algal blooms to form which over consume oxygen and block sunlight, ultimately causing fish casualties. [2]
In Florida, the lower keys marsh rabbit is endangered due to rising sea levels. This species is native to Florida's marshes however, rising sea levels have caused the rabbits to relocate inwards where urbanization has taken over. [2] Due to the effects of rising sea level and urbanization, there is very little habitat remaining for the marsh rabbit to thrive. Similarly, the snowy plover bird exclusively reproduces in sand dunes yet, rising sea levels disrupts the natural breeding spot for this bird. [2] Without having an adequate area to breed, the snowy plover also remains as one of Florida's threatened species.
While urbanization in New Zealand is thriving, researchers are noticing a negative effect on the island's biodiversity. Research done in Wellington, New Zealand showed that the effects of climate change in conjunction with their rapid growth is affecting plant and animal life. [3] Natural habitats are getting smaller and smaller, reducing the opportunity for certain plants to survive. Alongside this, researchers are noticing that with an increase in temperature, predation and invasive species are becoming more common. [3] Researchers advise introducing more pest-free urban wildlife sanctuaries as they have seen success with them on the island in the past. [3]Doing this would ensure that highly important native animals, like the kererū and tūī, are conserved while keeping invasive species out, ultimately preserving New Zealand's biodiversity in the face of climate change. [3]
Sea level rise is a growing issue for coastal areas. Due to low elevation and increasing temperatures, cities are at great risk of being flooded. The population, area, and tree species will be affected and consequently city infrastructure will face severe damage as well, which will result in failures and destruction of critical infrastructure, immobilization due to transportation system breakdowns, blackouts, and salinity increasing in water supplies. [4] Cities are robust and have numerous important infrastructures and are known for their great buildings, however, due to inland flooding and high levels of precipitation can cause erosion and damage to the infrastructures. Furthermore, the continuing sea-level rise will cause the loss of soil storage capacity due to extreme flooding which can impact soil quality and tree health. "When the water level is high it allows the waves and the erosion process to act farther up on the beach profile, causing a readjustment and resulting in a net erosion of the beach. [5]"As sea levels rise due to climate change the infrastructure is impacted and caused to decay and break
According to Deutchs Arzteblatt International many studies have highlighted the risk of mental illness being higher in cities than in rural areas. [6] The world is already facing the effects of climate change and is said to continue to experience the various impacts of climate change on mental health causing mental health to be a growing concern. Physical health impacts such as air quality and respiratory illness, injury from extreme weather conditions, spread of vector borne diseases are due to the effects of climate change. These health impacts are burdened mostly on low-income or vulnerable populations.[7] Furthermore, extreme weather conditions cause interferences in social, economic, and enviornmental determinants, and cause distress about the future all leading to health and mental health problems. The rising temperature can lead to an increase in sea levels and an increase in natural disasters leading resulting in cities and communities being heavily impacted. The responses during these events are acute traumatic stress which is alleviated after conditions are stable and safe, but also many face Post traumatic stress disorder that can affect and trigger depression, anxiety, and fear their whole life causing health problems. [7] Some studies have also explained how sea level rising, heavy precipitation, and coastal flooding can cause gastrointestinal illness. [8] A research on community effected by Hurricane Katrina showed high rates of depression, domestic violence, suicide attempts, and cases of PTSD.[7] Due to displacement, loss of employment, and infrastructure damage many experienced stress increasing cases of abuse and violence on both adults and children.
Urban areas are also a hotspot for the impacts of climate change has caused temperatures and CO2 levels to increase. A highly controlled experiment by Zika and Caulfield illustrated the increase of CO2 causing an increase in photosynthesis, vegetative growth, and pollen production. [9] The genus Ambrosia that consists of A artemisiifolia and A trifida which causes allergic rhinitis increasing seasonal allergies. During various experiments done to find the correlation between climate change in urban areas, the growth response of ragweed occurred 3-4 days earlier in urban sites and above ground biomass increased by 8%-10% at semi-rural sites, 61%-66% in the suburban sites in 2000-2001 and by 189% at the urban site in 2001. [9] Subsequently, earlier pollen shed at urbanized sites. Climate change caused varying production rates of pollen in different areas. In cities rising temperatures and CO2 levels caused to show a relation between climate change and exposure to pollen due to increased biomass of ragweed plants that cause allergies.
The cities that are on the low-lying coastal regions in Asia, the rate at which their population is increasing is 140,000 per day with the prediction of the weather which will increase to 4 degree celsius by the end of the century and sea levels which would rise by 1 meter by 2100.[10] In 1991, 140,000 people lost their lives and the 10 million became homeless when the floods hit Bangladesh. In Myanmar, the storm killed 146,000 people which was hit in 2007.
The lightning in the city of Romania[11]Lightning: The well developed cities exert its consequences or influences upon the climate and the pollution of the city which in return affects the frequency and the effects of the thunderstorms and the lightning. The mid developed cities were found to have less impact on the thunderstorm while the large cities had warmer temperatures which lead to increased severity of the thunderstorms. [12] The studies show that the urban areas modify their climate in terms of temperature and the rainfall it receives. Convection is one of the ways that the urban areas are able to change their climate. Two cities larger in size had dramatic differences in terms of the thunderstorm and the lightning they received, the differences were due to the population that each city held. The city with the most population produced more convection and the results related to the formation of the thunderstorms. The cities which are mid sized produced almost the same amount of the influences to modify their climate but the results do not explicitly show the effects on the convection.[12] In Atlanta, the thunderstorms were happening at much more higher frequency on the weekdays than on the weekends.[13] The effects of the lightining are also crucial to the trees and the ecosystem. The study done in 2016, by Abatzpglou and Williams, the percentage of the fires caused by the lightning was 40% from 1992-2013 in the Western areas of the United States. The lightning affects the trees which are planted in the certain areas which receives the most lightning and affecting the carbon cycle of the trees.[14] The study done in 2009 by Bell el al, shows that the level of the aerosol have increased by the middle of the week by the amount of the people travelling through transportation. The increase in transportation and the aerosol gives rise to the thunderstorms especially in the cities where the humidity level are high or the temperature which is higher due to infrastructure such as; buildings which capture the heat.[14]
The urban areas are prone to receiving more rainfall. The enormous amount of rainfall produces the pluvial flooding. The rural areas do not receive such type of flooding due to their infrastructure and the amount of the roads which cover the areas. The urban areas have concrete roads and the amount of the surface which has the ability to absorb the water is less than the rural or non-urban areas. Due to the surface differences, the water builds up in the cities and causing floods which also damage the infrastructure and the mass density of the people residing in the cities.[15] Salt Creek, Illinois face both the small and large floods, and there has been increase in the small floods by 200 percent and due to the frequency that the small floods occur in, the consequence can be same as the large floods. The data showed direct correlation between the increase in floods and increase in urbanization. In Maryland, the frequency of the moderate floods had increased from 1940 in which the state experienced the floods once or twice a year to 1990 in which the flood was experienced up to six times. [16]
