HELPING CITIES PREPARE FOR A CHANGING CLIMATE

More than half of the world’s population currently lives in densely populated urban areas, and this proportion is projected to grow to two-thirds by 2050. People, infrastructure, and services in urban areas are vulnerable to many climate impacts, from the rising seas and stronger coastal storms to increasing risk of heat, wildfire and flood. For more than fifteen years, I’ve worked with cities from Boulder to Houston, helping planners identify the most urgent challenges climate change poses for their city and develop robust adaptation strategies in response. These ranged from reducing the urban heat island in Chicago with green roofs to ensuring the long-term water plan for Dallas suburbs accounts for how temperature and precipitation are changing. Each effort empowered non-scientists to incorporate climate science into decision-making by letting stakeholders determine what type of information was required, and by ensuring that information was relevant, transparent, and customized to their needs.