For millennia, cities were where people lived to be safe.
The climate could be changing that.

There was a meeting of mayors in the Doge’s Palace, St Mark’s Square, Venice last March. It was called Building Cities’ Resilience to Disasters, another recognition that cities are in trouble from increasingly damaging weather. They reported:

natural disasters from climate change threaten cities

“Economic loss risk in the OECD countries is rising faster than GDP per capita meaning that the risk of losing wealth in weather-related disasters is increasing faster than that wealth is being created.”

Cities are where the most economic damage is being done.

“Disaster risk has become an acute and increasing urban problem. Cities today are major engines of economic opportunity, education and cultural life: 100 cities today are in control of 30% of the world economy.”

And it’s not just wind and waves.

“Beyond the physical risks posed by climate change, characterized by increased incidence of extreme weather events and incidence of extreme high sea level, cities will have to face other challenges related to water supply, physical infrastructure, transport, ecosystem goods and services.”

As I’ve noted for several years, property insurers have long been out ahead on this.

It seems it’s the economic danger, more than just physical danger, that is mounting for city residents. In coming posts, I’ll check on what some US cities are thinking and doing to protect their residents.