Measuring urban vulnerability to climate change using an integrated approach, assessing climate risks in Beijing

PeerJ

article

Mingshun Zhang¹  Zelu Liu¹  Meine Pieter van Dijk² 

[1] Beijing Climate Change Response Research and Education Centre, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture;International Institute of Social Studies ,(ISS), Erasmus University Rotterdam

关键词: Vulnerability assessment;    Floods;    Adaptation to climate change;    Climate change;    Heat waves;    Beijing;    Droughts;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.7018

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

This study is responding to the recommendation made by IPCC’s fifth Assessment Report on establishing a standard for measuring and reporting climate risk and vulnerability. It exemplifies the assessment of urban vulnerability to climate change by an integrated approach. The results indicate that Beijing is highly exposed to multiple climate threats in the context of global climate change, specifically urban heat waves, urban drainage floods and drought. Vulnerabilities to the climatic threats of heat waves, drainage floods and droughts have increased by 5%–15% during the period of 2008–2016 in Beijing. High vulnerabilities to both heat waves and drainage floods have been observed in the urban downtown area and high vulnerability to droughts have been observed in the outskirts. This vulnerability assessment, which addressed climatic threats, provides a holistic understanding of the susceptibility to climate change that could facilitate adaptation to climate change in the future. The developments of threats like flooding, heat waves and droughts are analyzed separately for 16 districts and an integrated vulnerability index for all of Beijing is provided as well.

【 授权许可】

CC BY