From the impacts on the environment and climate to transforming land cover and habitats, urban growth is driving global change. Urban areas contribute up to 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions. By 2050, urban areas globally will either double or triple, and the raw materials needed to build future cities is more than the world can sustainably provide.
Yet, the impacts of cities on Earth systems are not factored into policy and planning among international agencies and that needs to change, says Karen Seto, Frederick C. Hixon Professor of Geography and Urbanization Science at the Yale School of the Environment. In a commentary recently published in Science, Seto and an international group of leading scientists called for the creation of a new urban advisory system.
Noting that more than half the world’s population live in urban areas and worldwide urban land expansion is one of the key drivers of habitat and biodiversity loss, the authors point to myriad ways that urban expansion affects global systems by putting pressure on resources, ecosystems, and the climate and emphasize the importance of scientific research in local and global decision making.
Read more at: Yale School of the Environment