Kolkata, Tirana, Moscow Top Rating Of Cities With Highest Air Temperature Increase - UN

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th August, 2021) The Albanian capital of Tirana, the second largest Indian city of Kolkata, and Russian capital city, Moscow have topped the list of cities with the highest increase in average annual air temperature from 1950 to 2018, according to the sixth assessment report of the International Group of Experts on Climate Change (IPCC) released on Monday.

According to the warming map provided by UN climate assessment body, the average annual air temperature in Kolkata rose by 2.6 degrees, in Tirana by 2.33 degrees, and in Moscow by 1 degree.

The warming tendency was marked in all cities of the world presented in the report, except Cairo where the temperature has not changed. According to scientific data, in New York, the temperature increased by 0.21 degrees, in Los Angeles by 0.14, in Brussels by 0.62, in Sydney by 0.21, in China on average by 0.49 degree, and in Japan by 0.98.

The Associate Professor of the Geographical Faculty of Moscow State University Pavel Konstantinov told Sputnik that 30-40% of the temperature growth in Moscow is related to the city development and urbanization of the adjacent territories. He said that "the uncontrollable, unadapted development and lack of water-green infrastructure are the main factors of temperature growth in the city."

The authors of the report clarified that this effect emerged due to decrease in ventilation, heating of the buildings' surface, as well as the general activity of man. In addition, cities lack vegetation that has a cooling effect on the air. Moreover, urbanization changes the water cycle, causing an increase in the amount of precipitation over the cities.

The IPCC is an independent scientific advisory organization that summarizes the data on climate change. Experts release a report on the climate status of the planet every six years. It underlies the basis of international agreements to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change. The IPCC includes 195 participating countries.