IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jgeogr/v3y2023i3p25-498d1206836.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Quantifying Who Will Be Affected by Shifting Climate Zones

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew G. O. Malone

    (Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USA)

Abstract

Climate change is altering the conditions to which communities have adapted. The Köppen–Geiger classification system can provide a compact metric to identify regions with notable changes in climatic conditions. Shifting Köppen–Geiger climate zones will be especially impactful in regions with large populations. This study uses high-resolution datasets on Köppen–Geiger climate zones and populations to quantify the number of people affected by shifting climate zones (i.e., population exposure to shifting climate zones). By the end of this century, 9–15% of the Earth’s land surface is projected to shift its climate zone. These shifts could affect 1.3–1.6 billion people (14–21% of the global population). Many of the affected people live in areas that were classified as temperate in the historical period. These areas are projected to be classified as tropical or arid in the future. This study presents a new metric for exposure to climate change: the number of people living in areas whose climate zone classification is projected to shift. It also identifies populations that may face climatic conditions in the future that deviate from those to which they have adapted.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew G. O. Malone, 2023. "Quantifying Who Will Be Affected by Shifting Climate Zones," Geographies, MDPI, vol. 3(3), pages 1-22, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jgeogr:v:3:y:2023:i:3:p:25-498:d:1206836
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7086/3/3/25/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7086/3/3/25/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Barbara Neumann & Athanasios T Vafeidis & Juliane Zimmermann & Robert J Nicholls, 2015. "Future Coastal Population Growth and Exposure to Sea-Level Rise and Coastal Flooding - A Global Assessment," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(3), pages 1-34, March.
    2. Bryan Jones & Claudia Tebaldi & Brian C. O’Neill & Keith Oleson & Jing Gao, 2018. "Avoiding population exposure to heat-related extremes: demographic change vs climate change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 146(3), pages 423-437, February.
    3. Samuel Bartusek & Kai Kornhuber & Mingfang Ting, 2022. "2021 North American heatwave amplified by climate change-driven nonlinear interactions," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 12(12), pages 1143-1150, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lena Reimann & Bryan Jones & Nora Bieker & Claudia Wolff & Jeroen C.J.H. Aerts & Athanasios T. Vafeidis, 2023. "Exploring spatial feedbacks between adaptation policies and internal migration patterns due to sea-level rise," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Sem J. Duijndam & W. J. Wouter Botzen & Liselotte C. Hagedoorn & Philip Bubeck & Toon Haer & My Pham & Jeroen C. J. H. Aerts, 2023. "Drivers of migration intentions in coastal Vietnam under increased flood risk from sea level rise," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 176(2), pages 1-22, February.
    3. Philip Antwi-Agyei & Frank Baffour-Ata & Sarah Koomson & Nana Kwame Kyeretwie & Nana Barimah Nti & Afia Oforiwaa Owusu & Fukaiha Abdul Razak, 2023. "Drivers and coping mechanisms for floods: experiences of residents in urban Kumasi, Ghana," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 116(2), pages 2477-2500, March.
    4. Anirban Mukhopadhyay & Sugata Hazra & Debasish Mitra & C. Hutton & Abhra Chanda & Sandip Mukherjee, 2016. "Characterizing the multi-risk with respect to plausible natural hazards in the Balasore coast, Odisha, India: a multi-criteria analysis (MCA) appraisal," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 80(3), pages 1495-1513, February.
    5. Islam, Md. Mofakkarul & Sarker, Md. Asaduzzaman & Al Mamun, Md. Abdullah & Mamun-ur-Rashid, Md. & Roy, Debashis, 2021. "Stepping Up versus Stepping Out: On the outcomes and drivers of two alternative climate change adaptation strategies of smallholders," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    6. Ke Wang & Yongsheng Yang & Genserik Reniers & Quanyi Huang, 2021. "A study into the spatiotemporal distribution of typhoon storm surge disasters in China," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 108(1), pages 1237-1256, August.
    7. Domingues, Rita & Costas, Susana & Jesus, Saul & Ferreira, Óscar, 2017. "SENSE OF PLACE, RISK PERCEPTIONS AND PREPAREDNESS OF A COASTAL POPULATION AT RISK (Faro Beach, Portugal): A qualitative content analysis," Journal of Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, Cinturs - Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, University of Algarve, vol. 5(3), pages 163-175.
    8. Zhibin Yang & Robert Stachler & Joshua S. Heyne, 2020. "Orthogonal Reference Surrogate Fuels for Operability Testing," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-13, April.
    9. Rifat, Shaikh Abdullah Al & Liu, Weibo, 2022. "Predicting future urban growth scenarios and potential urban flood exposure using Artificial Neural Network-Markov Chain model in Miami Metropolitan Area," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    10. Magalhães Filho, L.N.L. & Roebeling, P.C. & Costa, L.F.C. & de Lima, L.T., 2022. "Ecosystem services values at risk in the Atlantic coastal zone due to sea-level rise and socioeconomic development," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    11. D. J. Rasmussen & Scott Kulp & Robert E. Kopp & Michael Oppenheimer & Benjamin H. Strauss, 2022. "Popular extreme sea level metrics can better communicate impacts," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 170(3), pages 1-17, February.
    12. Ryota Nakamura & Martin Mäll & Tomoya Shibayama, 2019. "Street-scale storm surge load impact assessment using fine-resolution numerical modelling: a case study from Nemuro, Japan," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 99(1), pages 391-422, October.
    13. Brian C. O’Neill & Andrew Gettelman, 2018. "An introduction to the special issue on the Benefits of Reduced Anthropogenic Climate changE (BRACE)," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 146(3), pages 277-285, February.
    14. Gelian Song & Meijuan Xia & Dahai Zhang, 2023. "Deep Reinforcement Learning for Risk and Disaster Management in Energy-Efficient Marine Ranching," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-20, August.
    15. Maria Fabrizia Clemente, 2022. "The Future Impacts of ESL Events in Euro-Mediterranean Coastal Cities: The Coast-RiskBySea Model to Assess the Potential Economic Damages in Naples, Marseille and Barcelona," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-22, August.
    16. Yılmaz, Merve & Terzi, Fatih, 2021. "Measuring the patterns of urban spatial growth of coastal cities in developing countries by geospatial metrics," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    17. Xing Zhang & Tianjun Zhou & Wenxia Zhang & Liwen Ren & Jie Jiang & Shuai Hu & Meng Zuo & Lixia Zhang & Wenmin Man, 2023. "Increased impact of heat domes on 2021-like heat extremes in North America under global warming," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    18. Fei Huo & Li Xu & Yanping Li & James S. Famiglietti & Zhenhua Li & Yuya Kajikawa & Fei Chen, 2021. "Using big data analytics to synthesize research domains and identify emerging fields in urban climatology," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(1), January.
    19. Katrin Millock & Cees Withagen, 2021. "Climate and Migration," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Anil Markandya & Dirk Rübbelke (ed.), CLIMATE AND DEVELOPMENT, chapter 10, pages 309-341, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    20. Tian Liu & Peijun Shi & Jian Fang, 2022. "Spatiotemporal variation in global floods with different affected areas and the contribution of influencing factors to flood-induced mortality (1985–2019)," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 111(3), pages 2601-2625, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jgeogr:v:3:y:2023:i:3:p:25-498:d:1206836. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.