The most famous city in the world where dreams come true, New York.
New York is most well-known for their massive skyscrapers, the art culture and the famous people with their wealthy life style all resides within New York.
Yet New York is one of the most at risk cities with sea level rises. New York has many bridges and tunnels and climate change will affect buildings/structures, water supply and energy demand (Earth Institute, Columbia University, 2009. Alongside with the high population New York is very prone to floods.
Technical solutions
Rather than “fighting” climate change it is more important for the city to adapt to climate change. Hereunder are three technical solutions that can help New York adapt to climate change.
- Green roofs/building: New York is most famous for its skyscrapers and immense infrastructure. With the rising temperatures, this will eventually lead to Urban Heat Island, where the temperature of the urban area is higher than the rural area.
Green roofs and buildings will reduce this heat stress and “cool” down the city. It is also a great way to help infiltrating rainwater during extreme rainfall. - Reduce big polluters: The city of New York announced in 2017 that it was going to sue 5 big oil companies and divest its pension funds from $5 billion worth of investments in fossil fuel-involved businesses (The Climate Reality Project, 2018). This will help reduce the greenhouse effect. This way, it can help to reduce the rising temperatures.
- Coastal barriers: New York is the most prone to flooding because of the location near the water. Therefore, the solution for this problem will be: coastal barriers.
New York City is now planning to build a wall and park worth 1 billion USD, to guard the next inevitable flood (Business Insider, 2018). This project is still in the preliminary phase so not much is known. However, this shows that a coastal barrier is indeed a considerate option to protect the city against flooding.
Financial solutions
As the financial center of the whole world, New York is home to hundreds of offices and financial centers. These companies face immediate and long-term risks from climate change. For example, rising sea levels may flood offices, resulting in business disruptions and loss of assets.
Therefore, financial solutions can help New York to adapt to climate change and become more resilient. Hereunder are three financial solutions that can help New York adapt to climate change.
- Financing and investing in clean energy. This way it will reduce the chance of further global warming. New York governor Andrew Cuomo included a 1.2 billion USD budget for renewable green projects (Energy Manger Today, 2019). This will increase the amount of clean energy and make New York eco-friendlier.
- Investing in green infrastructure: As the city with the most well-known infrastructure, investing in green infrastructure will help the city against the Urban Heat Island. For example: The New York City Department of Environmental Protection is building rain gardens and other types of green infrastructure to manage storm water and improve water quality in local waterways (NYC Environmental Protection, 2019)
- Investing in carbon neutrality: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced in December 2018 that he will push for New York to transition to 100 percent clean electricity by 2040, in a statement outlining his agenda for early 2019 (Green Tech Media, 2018). The main source in achieving this will be from solar energy.
New York has always been a modern and innovative city, with all these solutions that are already in the making and making progress. I am sure that New York will be the frontrunner as the first Big City to fully adapt to climate change.
Global Challange: No Water No Food 