In 2050, the climate in London will look like that of Barcelona today. That of Stockholm will be like that of Budapest, and Paris like Canberra, according to an analysis published Wednesday, July 11, by the ETH University of Zurich.
The researchers studied the climate of 520 major cities of the world, according to 19 variables including temperature and precipitation.
For these estimates, scientists have used deliberately optimistic models, that is, assuming that carbon dioxide emissions will stabilize by the middle of the century, so as to limit the rise in average temperature. globe at 1.4 ° C compared to the pre-industrial period (the world is at around +1 ° C).
The team then compared the Paris, London, Stockholm ... of the future to the current cities, with the aim of making the changes to come more tangible. In this way, the cities of the northern hemisphere will be similar in climate terms to those of today, which are 1,000 km to the south. Those at the equator will not undergo major warming; on the other hand, they will have more droughts and rains.
The authors of the study conclude that 77% of the cities of the planet will see their climate change "strikingly".