Climate change is the change in weather condition, which can be in a particular area or even the whole earth. It can happen naturally but also it is caused by human activities. It has impacted negatively on cities and cities have to bear the consequences. Urban areas, which suffer from the effect of climate change, are adapting to and mitigating climate change (Rosenzweig et al, p.43, para.1). Climate change is causing problems to developing countries as it will be expensive for them to reduce the effect but also preventing will not solve the problems as it will keep on happening. This essay outlines the major problems facing developing countries which are caused by climate change and evaluates the strategies developing countries are adopting to address the issue of climate change. This essay will also argue that two strategies of adaptation and mitigation are both necessary to reduce and prevent the negative impact of climate change even though there are some pros and contras about those strategies.
The change in climate, which has negative impacts, brings a lot of problems especially to developing countries. The first problem is sea level rising, which may impact many cities, as they are located in low-lying areas and near to the coast (Nicholls 2004, cited in Hunt & Watkiss 2011, p.51, para.3). The impact can include flooding, drainage blockage, etc. (Hunt & Watkiss 2011, p.51, para.4). There was a threat of flooding in Xangtse River, Shanghai, due to sea-level rise (Hunt & Watkiss 2011, p.52, para.3). Second is the effect on health. It can affect directly through heat and cold and also indirectly through contaminated food (Hunt & Watkiss 2011, p.54, para.4). Diseases such as Salmonella are also increasing because of climate change (Kovats et al 2004, cited in Hunt & Watkiss 2011, p.55, para.2). Lastly, the problem of water availability and resources, water demand and quality can be affected by the increase in the atmospheric temperature as the rate of evaporation and the demand for cooling water in human settlements are also increasing (IPCC 2001, cited in Hunt & Watkiss 2011, p.
