EUROPE'S FUTURE DEPENDS ON CITIES RESILIENT TO CLIMATE CHANGE

Published: May 14, 2012 - Around three quarters of Europeans live in cities. Most of Europe's wealth is generated in cities, and urban areas are particularly at risk due to climate change. Europe should seize the opportunity of improving quality of life while adapting to climate change in cities, according to a report from the European Environment Agency (EEA). The report also warns that delaying adaptation will be much more costly in the long-term.

Cities need to start investing in adaptation measures using ideas and best practice from around the world. The longer political leaders wait, the more expensive adaptation will become and the danger to citizens and the economy will increase.

In Europe, temperature is increasing, precipitation is changing and sea level is rising. However, the effects will not be uniform across the continent, according to the EEA report, 'Urban adaptation to climate change in Europe'.

The report is the first Europe-wide assessment of urban vulnerability to climate change. It argues that the distinct design and composition of urban areas compared to rural areas alters climate change impacts in cities, leading to many diverse challenges for cities within Europe. For example, a lot of artificial surfaces and little vegetation exacerbates heatwaves in cities . This so-called 'urban heat island' effect leads to much higher temperatures in cities than in the surrounding area.

"Most Europeans live in cities, which can be extremely vulnerable to extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change," EEA Executive Director Jacqueline McGlade said. "Many cities are now facing impacts such as water scarcity, flooding and heatwaves, which are expected to become more frequent and intense than they are used to. Cities need to start investing in adaptation measures using ideas and best practice from around the world. The longer political leaders wait, the more expensive adaptation will become and the danger to citizens and the economy will increase."

One example was the extreme rainfall that took place in Copenhagen in 2011. The city centre was flooded when over 150 mm of rain fell in during a two hour period on 2 July 2011. Insurance damages alone were estimated at EUR 650–700 million. The frequency of such events is expected to increase in future due to climate change.

According to the report, roughly one fifth of European cities with over 100 000 inhabitants are very vulnerable to river floods. More than half of Europe’s cities have a low share of vegetated areas, which can strongly exacerbate heatwaves. This is particularly relevant in cities where there is a high proportion of vulnerable people, such as the large proportion of elderly citizens in Italian, German and Northern Spanish cities.

Cities are heavily interconnected with other cities and regions in Europe. The report stresses that urban adaptation is therefore not only a local task but requires concerted action at all policy levels. The report draws attention to the important role of European and national policy in helping cities adapt to climate change by providing a supportive framework.

Such a framework includes a coherent and 'climate-proof' policy, a stronger territorial approach targeted at the specific challenges in different regions, a capable set of institutions and access to funding. Last but not least it calls for more knowledge to support a multi-level approach to urban adaptation.

Examples of adaptation

The report provides generic advice for adapting cities to climate change and examples of best practice:
Climate change adaptation should be flexible to accommodate uncertainty. This is evident in the Thames barrier, which protects London from sea level rise – the barrier height can be adjusted to cope with different levels of warming and climate change.
Adaptation should work with nature, not against it. The Dutch government assessed that climate change demanded a change in its water management. This includes actions to give more space to rivers in the Netherlands, achieved by lowering and widening the flood plains and constructing water retention and storage areas and at the same time creating additional nature areas.
In the city of Oostend, Belgium, a new beach has been constructed which will help protect the city from storm surges and coastal flooding.
Many adaptation measures can make cities more pleasant places to live. Malmö in Sweden manages rainwater flows with a new open storm-water-system. Here, green roofs and open water channels lead rainwater into collection points that form a temporary reservoir.
The city of Lódz, Poland, has restored its river area with more green spaces to reduce flood risk – also improving quality of life for city-dwellers.
People also need to change behaviour in order to adapt. Following water shortages in the 11000s, the City of Zaragoza in Spain managed to create a 'water saving culture'. Within 15 years this successful campaign aimed at citizens and businesses helped the city cut water consumption by almost 30 %, despite a 12 % population increase.
Many areas have to anticipate impacts which may be more intense or frequent than before. Botkyrka in Sweden was the only Swedish municipality that was prepared for heatwaves when high temperatures hit in 2010. Social services had identified vulnerable people, and the authorities were prepared to help them.
Many measures do not have to be huge in scale or cost to be effective when mainstreamed into other planning. A new metro line is being built in Copenhagen, Denmark, with elevated entrances to avoid storm water flooding the tracks.

The recently launched European Climate Adaptation Platform Climate-ADAPT provides a comprehensive web resource aimed at policy makers and 'practitioners' – engineers, planners and administrators – who can obtain adaptation knowledge in Europe and learn from the experience of others facing similar challenges already carrying out adaptation actions elsewhere.

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Increase in cancers and fertility problems may be caused by household chemicals and pharmaceuticals

Published: May 10, 2012 - Chemicals which disrupt the hormone system – also known as 'endocrine disrupting chemicals' (EDCs) – may be a contributing factor behind the significant increases in cancers, diabetes and obesity, falling fertility, and an increased number of neurological development problems in both humans and animals, according to a review of recent scientific literature commissioned by the European Environment Agency (EEA).

Scientific research gathered over the last few decades shows us that endocrine disruption is a real problem, with serious effects on wildlife, and possibly people. It would be prudent to take a precautionary approach to many of these chemicals until their effects are more fully understood.

Chemicals which can potentially disrupt the endocrine system can be found in food, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, household products and cosmetics. In recent decades, there has been a significant growth in many human diseases and disorders including breast and prostate cancer, male infertility and diabetes. Many scientists think that this growth is connected to the rising levels of exposure to mixtures of some chemicals in widespread use.

"Scientific research gathered over the last few decades shows us that endocrine disruption is a real problem, with serious effects on wildlife, and possibly people", EEA Executive Director Jacqueline McGlade said. "It would be prudent to take a precautionary approach to many of these chemicals until their effects are more fully understood."

The Weybridge +15 (1996-2011) report on endocrine disruptors was launched at Brunel University outside London today. It is the result of an international workshop that evaluated the findings of the last 15 years of research. The report follows the 1996 Weybridge report and associated workshop, where the problem of EDCs was first comprehensively discussed by regulatory authorities and scientists together.

Reasons for scientific uncertainty

The report shows clearly that there is strong evidence of harm from EDCs in some wildlife species and in laboratory studies using rodent models for human health. However, the effects of EDCs on humans may be more difficult to demonstrate, due to the length, cost and methodological difficulties with these types of studies – so wildlife and animal studies may be seen in some cases as an early warning of the dangers.

In the last 10 years, risk assessment and regulatory frameworks for dealing with EDCs have been created and screening procedures have been developed to test chemicals for endocrine disrupting properties. There are still lots of factors that make the risk assessment process difficult. Chief amongst these is the fact that these chemicals can affect early development of, for example, the brain, reproductive, immune and metabolic systems in detrimental ways that are often invisible until several years or sometimes decades after exposure.

Scientific understanding is further complicated because mixtures of similarly acting EDCs in combination may contribute to an overall effect, whilst each of these chemicals alone may not cause harm. These factors make it hard for scientists to identify thresholds of exposure below which there are no effects.

However, there is a large body of evidence linking chemical exposure to thyroid, immune, reproductive and neurological problems in animals, and many of the same or similar diseases and disorders have been observed to be rising in human populations. Both animals and humans may be exposed to these chemicals in the environment, or via water or the food chain where the chemicals can build up.

Possible effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals
The link between some diseases and EDCs is now accepted. For example, exposure to oestrogen or to oestrogenic EDCs is an accepted risk factor for breast cancer, endometriosis, fibroids and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in women.
Breast cancer rates are increasing in almost all industrialised countries. The majority of these cases are due to lifestyles and environmental exposures, rather than specific genetic factors.
Some EDCs may also cause low quality semen. Detailed reviews of current knowledge show clearly that human male reproductive problems are increasing in many countries. There are large regional differences in semen quality. In some European regions approximately 40% of men suffer from reduced fertility while in others it is less than 10%
Laboratory studies show that the reproductive systems of a broad range of vertebrate species, for example polar bears and fish, and some invertebrate species such as some snails and oysters are susceptible to EDCs.
Some studies have linked EDCs to thyroid disease. Thyroid cancer rates have increased by between 5 % (Switzerland) and 155 % (France), particularly in women, children and young adults.
Several studies have also linked exposure to some EDCs with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, attention deficit disorder and diminished cognitive function in children. However, more work is needed in this area to confirm or refute theories involving the wider sphere of EDCs in modern commerce
There is a trend towards the earlier onset of puberty in girls, which may be influenced by EDCs.
Some persistent endocrine disrupting substances, such as DDT, TBT and PCBs - now banned or restricted in their use - have been shown to cause catastrophic declines in mollusc, seal and bird populations in some parts of the world as a result of their effects on reproduction. Scientists are concerned that many chemicals that are still in modern commerce also affect the human reproductive system.