Portsmouth Tops UK Heat Vulnerability Index — SkimNews
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- Portsmouth is ranked the most heat-vulnerable city in Great Britain today and is projected to remain at the highest level through the end of the century, in Ordnance Survey's analysis of 71 royally-chartered cities.
- Leicester is forecast to make the biggest jump in Britain's heat vulnerability rankings, climbing from 10th now to 4th by 2100, alongside Exeter, Nottingham, Bristol and Brighton and Hove.
- By 2040, every one of the 71 cities analyzed will reach high heat vulnerability, and almost two-thirds could reach the most severe level by the end of the century.
- Cities can be up to 10°C hotter than surrounding areas because concrete, asphalt, buildings and hard surfaces absorb solar radiation during the day and retain heat overnight.
- Milton Keynes ranks 69th of 71 cities, with England's lowest built-environment vulnerability and the most effective natural cooling — 46 sq km of natural surfaces against nearly 40 sq km of hard surfaces.
- A study commissioned by the mayor of London put the total economic cost of the 2022 London heatwaves at £1.5bn, including productivity losses, health impacts, education disruption and transport strain.
Why it matters: This gives planners across 71 British cities a concrete ranking to prioritize urban greening and heat refuges, with the £1.5bn cost of London's 2022 heatwaves quantifying what unprepared cities already pay in productivity, health and infrastructure strain each summer.
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