Urban heat in global cities and the role of nature-based solutions in mitigating future climate risks

• Published in: Environmental Research: Climate Vol. 4; no. 2; pp. 23001 - 23011
• Main Authors: Esperon-Rodriguez, Manuel, Gallagher, Rachael V, Lenoir, Jonathan, Barradas, Victor L, Beaumont, Linda J, Calfapietra, Carlo, Cariñanos, Paloma, Livesley, Stephen J, Iungma, Tamara, Manoli, Gabriele, Marchin, Renee M, McPhearson, Timon, Messier, Christian, Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark, Power, Sally A, Rymer, Paul D, Tjoelker, Mark G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IOP Publishing 30.06.2025; IOPScience
• Subjects: climate change; climate exposure; climate risk; Environmental Sciences; global warming; human societies; urban areas; urban forests; Climate change; Urban areas; Human societies; Climate risk; Climate exposure; Global warming; Urban forests
• ISSN: 2752-5295; 2752-5295
• DOI: 10.1088/2752-5295/adcb61

Approximately eight billion people are living on Earth today with more than half (55%, ∼4.2 billion) living in cities—a proportion predicted to increase to 70% (∼6.6. billion) by 2050. As the human population grows, urban residents will face increasingly extreme temperatures under future climate change, which will affect human well-being, health, and mortality. However, nature-based solutions offer promising strategies to mitigate these impacts. Here, we analyst future projections of the maximum temperature of the warmest month, as a proxy for extreme heat exposure across 5646 cities in 218 countries. We show that by mid-century, this climate metric is projected to increase by an average of +1.7 °C (± 0.5 °C), with the largest increases (∼4 °C) projected to occur in mid-to-high latitude cities of Europe, North America, and Australia. We highlight the urgent need to adopt nature-based solutions to mitigate projected increases in urban heat and contribute to net-zero CO 2 emissions goals.