Chapter 8: Energy

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue for a policy framework in which utilities take the lead by performing an electrical climate change impact assessment that evaluates to what extent utilities’ electrical assets are vulnerable to future climate change.

TL;DR: In most cities, temperature is warming with increasingly hotter and longer heatwaves, and heavier downpours are leading to more frequent inland flooding, and sea levels are rising, exacerbating coastal flooding.

Abstract: The Working Group I contribution to the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report describes progress in understanding of the human and natural drivers of climate change1, observed climate change, climate processes and attribution, and estimates of projected future climate change. It builds upon past IPCC assessments and incorporates new findings from the past six years of research. Scientific progress since the TAR is based upon large amounts of new and more comprehensive data, more sophisticated analyses of data, improvements in understanding of processes and their simulation in models, and more extensive exploration of uncertainty ranges.

TL;DR: In this paper, Klinenberg describes the 1995 Chicago heat wave that buckled streets and downed portions of the city's power grid and left over 700 people dead, and the picture he paints is one no reader interested in the current state of American urbanism can afford to ignore.

TL;DR: Examination of heat-related health inequalities within one city in Phoenix, USA found people in warmer neighborhoods were more vulnerable to heat exposure because they had fewer social and material resources to cope with extreme heat.

TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of climate change in vital areas such as water resources, agriculture, sea levels, and forests are addressed, focusing on wetlands, human health, rivers, and lakes.