Population Council Research that makes a difference

Abstract

Mapping the risks of climate change in developing countries 
Presentation at Population Association of America Annual Meeting, Detroit, 1 May
Montgomery,Mark R.; Balk,Deborah; McGranahan,Gordon; Chandrasekhar,S.; Small,Christopher; Mara,Valentina; Kim,Donghwan
Publication date: 2009

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This paper examines the climate-related risks that will face the urban populations of developing countries in the decades to come. We base our study on a new and comprehensive database that draws upon city size and growth data for several thousand cities in the developing world and which-for the first time-situates these data spatially, making use of the highly detailed geographic information on both urban and rural populations that has been assembled in the Global Rural-Urban Mapping Project. These data are joined to spatially coded time series on weather-related and other disasters as well as to spatially specific information on temperature. To show what is involved in connecting global models and data such as ours to country-specific and local-level needs, we carry out a case study of India, whose cities are likely to face mounting risks from storm surges, flooding, and episodes of extreme heat.

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