Major Cities Will Be Uninhabitable Due to Climate Change by Year 2100

If nothing is done to stem climate change, it is predicted that by year 2100, some of the major cities around the world will be uninhabitable. While world leaders met in Paris for the United Nations Climate Change Conference to have an agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the reality is that this year is going to be one of the hottest years or could even break the record.

Record highs

Eight of the last nine months this year have broken high temperature records around the globe, with the month of September being the hottest month of the year. According to accumulated data, September this year had one of the highest records of above average temperatures in 100 years. 2014 was the warmest year on record so far.h3

According to analysts, the trend points to the fact the Earth is getting hotter, and that if the trend continues, there will soon be uninhabitable cities in the foreseeable future. A recent scientific study published in Nature Climate Change said that cities located in the Persian Gulf such as Bandar Abbas, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Dubai will get too hot for people to live in. With these cities’ combined population, the world is looking at the displacement of about five million people. Climate models for the Middle East were used in the study, which allowed scientists to come to the conclusion that a slight shift in normal temperatures in the region could result in extreme heat waves that could reach 170 °F (76.6 °C) around year 2100 that could greatly impact the lives of people inhabiting the region.

Andrew Weaver, a climatologist said that these cities have registered extreme temperatures well above 95 percent historically, something that could become a normal temperature during summer, if nothing is done. From their study, Weaver said that what used to be very rare and extreme heat waves that could occur once every 20 years could be a normal occurrence.

In other areas

Average high temperatures in Eastern, Central and Continental Europe went up by about 15 °F to 20 °F (-9.44 °C to -6.66 °F). The trend is predicted to continue. In the long run, this rise in temperature will eventually affect the southern parts of the United States, Asia and Southern Europe, according to Weaver. Although these regions will still be habitable, the temperature would be much hotter than before.

According to the World Bank an increase of just one to three degrees could cause coastal flooding that will impact 6 million to 25 million people living in the coastal areas in North Africa, such as Egypt, Kuwait, UAE, Libya, Qatar and Tunisia.

Things to do that can help

Preventing the rise in global temperature is possible if people are willing to reduce or avoid dependency on fossil fuel. People could do small changes as well such as changing light bulbs to energy-efficient ones, replacing cooling and heating system filters frequently, installing programmable thermostats, properly insulating and sealing homes, recycling, using wind or solar power and driving low-emission, fuel-efficient cars.

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