Lesson video

Hello, I'm Mrs. Grey, and I'm so excited that you've decided to join me to learn geography today.

Today's lesson is in our unit of Cities: what are they like to live in? And the title of today's lesson is "Cities and climate change." By the end of the lesson, you will be able to describe how cities cause and are affected by climate change.

There are some keywords that we'll come across in today's lesson.

They are: emissions, mitigation, and adaptation.

Emissions are gases released into the atmosphere, especially carbon dioxide from human activity.

Mitigation: efforts to reduce or prevent the release of greenhouse gases and their effects.

And adaptations are actions taken to adjust to current or future climate impacts.

Today's lesson is split into two learning cycles.

The first, how are cities affected by climate change? And the second, how can cities tackle climate change? Let's take a look at our first learning cycle, how are cities affected by climate change? Climate change means long-term changes in temperature and weather patterns.

Cities are getting hotter due to climate change.

There are lots of buildings, cars, and roads in cities.

These surfaces trap and release the heat and make the air warmer.

When cities get hotter, it can lead to serious problems. Heatwaves can cause people to be very poorly, especially older people.

Hospitals may become overcrowded as more people need help.

Water supplies can run low because more people need water to stay cool.

And energy use increases as people use fans or air conditioning more often.

So there are lots and lots of quite serious problems that can be caused by cities becoming hotter.

Our first check for the lesson then.

What is one problem that can happen when cities get hotter? A, less traffic on the roads.

B, more people needing medical help.

C, colder temperatures at night.

D, lower energy use in homes.

So pause the video, write down your answer, and then come back and let's see how you got on.

Okay.

How did you get on? What is one problem that can happen when cities get hotter? The answer is B, more people needing medical help.

Did you get that? Well done.

Climate change causes more extreme weather, including storms and heavy rainfall.

In cities, this leads to flooding because hard surfaces stop water soaking into the ground.

Heavy rain causes water to run off quickly, and drains can't cope because they weren't built for such intense rainfall.

Flooding damages homes, roads, and surfaces.

So heavy rainfall and storms can cause some real, real problems in cities.

Many of the world's biggest cities are close to sea level, like London, New York, and Dhaka.

Sea level rise puts these cities at risk of flooding, especially during storms. Sam says, "Some low-lying cities could lose land or even become uninhabitable." Sofia says, "Millions of people would have to move somewhere else to live." Both of those things are correct.

That's exactly what will happen.

Another check for us now then.

Why are some cities at risk from sea level rise? A, they are built far away from rivers and lakes.

B, they are built on mountains where it rains a lot.

C, they are close to the coast and low lying.

D, they have too many people living in them.

So pause the video, write down your answer, and then come back and let's see how you got on.

Okay, how did you get on? Why are some cities at risk from sea level rise? The answer is C.

They are close to the coast and low lying.

Did you get that right? Well done.

Now, climate impacts are not equal.

Cities all over the world are affected by climate change.

Poorer communities in cities often live in high-risk areas, such as floodplains or informal settlements, which are high risk because they are often poorly built and lack proper drainage.

They may have fewer resources to adapt to climate change, making them more vulnerable.

So the impacts of climate change are not equal everywhere and are not equal between people of different financial situations.

So poorer communities and richer communities are not going to have the same impacts because those poorer people tend to live in more high-risk areas and they're going to be more severely affected.

Our first task of the lesson now then.

So task one, fill in the gaps in the table below.

So we've got a table here which is showing problems caused by cities getting hotter.

And the first one is our, gap, can cause people to be very poorly, especially older people.

The next one, hospitals may become, and a gap, as more people need help.

Water supplies can run, gap, because more people need water to stay, gap.

Energy use, gap, as people use fans or air, gap, more often.

So you've got a few gaps to fill in there on that table.

So have a read through.

You can write down your answer to fill in those gaps.

In your second task, there are five mistakes in this paragraph.

Find and correct them.

So we've got a little paragraph here and there's five mistakes there.

So you've got to find those mistakes and then correct them.

Climate impacts are equal.

Cities all over the world are affected by climate change.

Richer communities in cities often live in low-risk areas, such as flood plains or informal settlements, which are high-risk because they are often poorly built and lack proper drainage.

They may have more resources to adapt to climate change, making them less vulnerable.

We've got five mistakes in there that you need to find and correct.

So pause the video, go through and write down your answers to both of these questions, and then come back and let's see how you've got on.

Okay, how did you get on? So fill in the gaps in the table below.

So the table here, problems caused by cities getting hotter.

Heatwaves can cause people to feel sick, especially older people.

Hospitals may become overcrowded as more people need help.

Water supplies can run low because more people need water to stay cool.

Energy use increases as people use fans or air conditioning more often.

Did you get all of those? Let's have a look at the next one.

So there were five mistakes in the paragraph; you had to find and correct them.

Climate impacts are not equal.

Cities all over the world are affected by climate change.

Poorer communities in cities often live in high-risk areas such as floodplains or informal settlements, which are high-risk because they are often poorly built and lack proper drainage.

They may have fewer resources to adapt to climate change, making them more vulnerable.

How did you get on with those tasks? Did you find all the gaps? Did you manage to fill them in? Did you find all of the mistakes and managed to correct them? Well done.

So we finished our first learning cycle on how are cities affected by climate change.

And now we're going to move on to our second learning cycle, how can cities tackle climate change? Cities produce a large amount of emissions that cause climate change.

Emissions in cities can come from cars, buses, and planes because they burn petrol and diesel.

Can also come from homes and offices from things like heating, lighting, and air conditioning.

Emissions can come from factories and construction sites.

And emissions can also come from waste and rubbish being transported and buried.

So cities producing that large amount of emissions and they're coming from lots and lots of different places and cities.

So lots of emissions.

With a quick check for us now then.

Which of the following is a major source of emissions from cities? Public parks, A, public parks; B, cars; C, wind turbines; D, factories.

Pause the video, write down your answer, and then come back and let's see how you got on.

Okay, how did you get on? Which of the following is a major source of emissions from cities? And the answer was B, cars, and D, factories.

Did you get them? Well done.

Now, all cities, no matter where they are, contribute to global climate change.

Cities in high-income countries like London in the UK, highlighted on this map here, they produce high emissions from energy use and transport.

Those cities in the higher income countries, they produce lots of emissions because of their energy use and the transport.

Cities in low-income countries like Lagos, Nigeria, produce emissions from older vehicles and waste burning.

So regardless of whether the city is in a high-income country or whether it's in a low-income country, it still produces emissions.

So all cities are contributing to climate change.

Another question for us now then, a little check.

True or false? Only big cities in rich countries cause climate change.

Is that true or false? So pause the video, write down your answer, and then come back and let's see how you got on.

Okay, how did you get on? True or false? Only big cities in rich countries cause climate change.

That is false.

Why is it false? Cities of all sizes in both rich and poorer countries contribute to climate change through emissions, especially from transport, energy use, and waste.

Did you get that right? Well done.

Now, planners can adopt strategies that help cities manage climate change.

There are two main strategies that can be used: mitigation and adaptation, and we're going to look at each of those in a little bit more detail now.

So mitigation means reducing the causes of climate change.

And there are lots of different mitigation strategies.

So the first could be encouraging walking and public transport.

So if we encourage people to walk and use public transport, that's going to mean there's less cars on the road, so therefore less emissions.

The next one, using cleaner energy like wind and solar.

So if we use more wind and solar, then we're not using energy and burning fossil fuels and contributing to emissions.

Improving buildings so they waste less energy.

So if we make improvements to buildings and they don't use as much energy and waste as much energy, then that's going to be less emissions to need to power those buildings.

Planting more trees to absorb carbon dioxide.

So the more trees we've got, the more carbon dioxide is absorbed and the less that there is in the atmosphere.

And banning polluting vehicles in busy areas.

So if certain areas, busy areas ban vehicles that are really heavily polluting, then there's going to be less emissions in those areas.

So these are all mitigation strategies.

These are all strategies that can be put in place to reduce the causes of climate change.

Now, adaptation, that means making changes to cope with the effects of climate change.

So that's different to mitigation.

This means that we're going to make changes so that we can cope with those effects.

So, building sea walls and flood barriers.

So that means we're putting walls up and barriers up to prevent areas from becoming flooded when sea levels rise.

Designing buildings that stay cool in hot weathers.

So if we design buildings, we know that the temperature's going to increase, so we design buildings that are going to stay cooler.

Creating green spaces for cooling.

So if we've got more green spaces, that's going to encourage more cooling.

Making water and electricity supplies more reliable.

So if we make them more reliable, the water and electricity supplies, then we're not going to have issues with running out.

And improving drainage systems. For example, putting storm drains in.

So if that we have a lot of heavy rain, then we've got better drainage systems, and specifically drains for storms so that we get less flooding and we're coping with those effects.

So they're all adaptation strategies, making changes to allow us to adapt to the changes and the effects of climate change.

Another check for us now then.

Which of these is an example of mitigation in a city? A, building homes on higher ground to avoid flooding.

B, banning cars that pollute in city centres.

C, storing emergency food during natural disasters.

D, wearing light clothes during hot weather.

So pause the video, write down your answer, and then come back and let's see how you got on.

Okay, how did you get on? Which of these is an example of mitigation in a city? The answer is B, banning cars that pollute in city centres.

Did you get that? Well done.

Another check then.

Which of these is an example of adaptation to climate change? A, planting trees to absorb carbon dioxide.

B, encouraging people to walk instead of drive.

C, improving drainage systems. For example, storm drains.

D, switching to wind and solar energy.

So pause the video, write down your answer, and then come back and let's see how you got on.

Okay, how did you get on? Which of these is an example of adaptation to climate change? The answer is C, improving drainage systems. For example, storm drains.

Did you get that right? Well done.

Now, London is tackling climate change through both mitigation and adaptation.

The Ultra Low Emission Zone, also known as ULEZ, reduces car emissions.

New buildings must be energy-efficient.

The Thames barrier protects the city from flooding.

And more parks and green roofs help cool the city during heatwaves.

So London has decided to use both mitigation and adaptation strategies there to tackle climate change.

So our final task of the lesson now then.

Question one, for each of the strategies below, decide if it is a mitigation strategy or an adaptation strategy.

So we've got a few different strategies there, and you're going to have to decide whether it's mitigation or adaptation.

Encouraging walking, cycling, and public transport.

Building sea walls and flood barriers.

Using cleaner energy like wind and solar.

Creating green spaces for cooling.

Designing buildings that stay cool in hot weather.

Improving buildings so they waste less energy.

Planting more trees to absorb carbon dioxide.

Banning or charging for polluting vehicles in busy areas.

Making water and electricity supplies more reliable.

Raising roads or buildings to avoid flood damage.

So decide, look at each of them and decide whether they are a mitigation strategy or an adaptation strategy.

So that's your first question.

The second one: London is tackling climate change through both mitigation and adaptation.

Below are four strategies used in London.

Which strategy do you think is the most effective at tackling climate change and why? We've got four different strategies here.

The Ultra Low Emission Zone, ULEZ, reduces car emissions.

New buildings must be energy-efficient.

The Thames Barrier protects the city from flooding.

And more parks and green roofs help cool the city during heatwaves.

So you have to decide which one of those four is the most effective and say why, okay? So pause the video, write down your answer to both of these tasks and then come back and let's see how you got on.

Okay, how did you get on? Let's have a look at those strategies then.

Encouraging walking, cycling, and public transport, that's a mitigation strategy.

Building sea walls and flood barriers, that's an adaptation strategy.

Using cleaner energy like wind and solar, mitigation.

Creating green spaces for cooling is adaptation.

Designing buildings that stay cool in hot weather is adaptation.

Improving buildings so they waste less energy is mitigation.

Planting more trees to absorb carbon dioxide is mitigation.

Banning or charging for polluting vehicles in busy areas is mitigation.

Making water and electricity supplies more reliable is adaptation.

Raising roads or buildings to avoid flood damage is adaptation.

How did you get on with them? Did you get all of them? Well done.

So for our next one, you may have written some of these different things.

Let's go through each of them and see which one you've written.

So if you've chosen the Ultra Low Emission Zone, ULEZ, reduces car emissions, you may have written: this is effective because it directly cuts air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions by making people switch to cleaner transport options.

If you chose new buildings must be energy-efficient, you may have written: this helps mitigation because better insulation and smart design reduce the need for heating and cooling, which lowers energy use and carbon emissions.

If you wrote the Thames Barrier protects the city from flooding, you may have said: this is a strong adaptation measure that prevents storm surges and high tides from flooding Central London, saving homes, transport, and services.

And if you chose more parks and green roofs help cool the city during heatwaves, you may have written: these are effective adaptation strategies because plants absorb heat and provide shade, helping to keep temperatures down and protect people's health.

Which one did you choose? Did you write a good explanation? Well done.

So we're at the end of our lesson now on cities and climate change.

Let's have a look at what we've learned today.

Urban areas are vulnerable to climate impacts, such as increasing temperatures.

Many of the world's cities are vulnerable to sea level rise.

Cities contribute to climate change through emissions.

Planners can adopt strategies that help cities manage the impacts of climate change and help populations to adapt.

Thank you for joining me for today's geography lesson.

I've really enjoyed it and I hope you have too.

I look forward to seeing you next time.