2024-08-21 06:30:18
Summer reveals the vulnerability of cities to climate change. Météo-France therefore helps cities to better understand the urban climate to help them become more resilient.
In France, nearly 80% of the population lives in cities. Better understanding the vulnerabilities of cities to climate change is therefore essential to define the best possible adaptation strategies. And first and foremost, cities are seeking to adapt to heat waves and therefore combat the urban heat island phenomenon.
Météo-France works alongside local authorities to model urban microclimates in order to help city stakeholders make the best adaptation decisions. This is the service Climadiag Heat in the city which allows to characterize urban overheating on the territory of a community and to model the impact of adaptation scenarios on this overheating in a future climate. Among other things, the community can thus test the effects of an increase in green spaces, the creation of aquatic spaces, the use of reflective materials in order to retain the most effective strategies.
Diagnosing urban overheating
To simulate the urban climate, Météo-France relies on a modeling platform. This makes it possible to diagnose the urban heat island phenomenon at very high resolution (100 m) on the scale of an entire urban area, shares the organization. Météo-France explains: “ This platform takes into account the meteorological situation and the most precise description possible of the earth’s surface, particularly of the city. This makes it possible to calculate the interactions of these surfaces with the atmosphere and to take into account the cooling power of vegetation inside or outside the city. The consequences of development policies to combat heat in the city can also be simulated, in order to inform these choices.
Concretely, Météo-France models the evolution of the number of hot and very hot nights, district by district, by 2030, 2050 and 2100. The institution adds: “ One of the advantages of the modeling used by Météo-France is being able to modify the data describing land use at the model input, in order to assess the impact of adaptation scenarios such as the addition/increase of vegetation, the creation of aquatic spaces or the installation of reflective materials on roofs or exterior walls, for example.”.
Adapting the city to urban overheating
Several communities such as Lille, Nice, Reims and Strasbourg have already called on Météo-France to diagnose their urban heat island and study the effects of adaptation solutions on overheating.
This service complements the free digital service “Plus fraîche ma ville”, launched in 2023 by Ademe, the ecological transition agency. This service constitutes a first step in decision-making support for cities that want to implement cooling solutions, before a tailor-made study carried out by a design office. Whether it involves cooling a roundabout, a building, a car park, a street, a square, a schoolyard or even a park, the Plus fraîche ma ville service shares numerous feedbacks to facilitate decision-making and find the most suitable solution for its territory.
In the city, Ademe and Cerema (Centre for Studies and Expertise on Risks, the Environment, Mobility and Planning) agree on four categories of solutions. The so-called “green” and “blue” solutions are based on the provision of vegetation and water points in the city. According to Ademe, these two categories are among the most effective. The third category is that of so-called “green” and “blue” solutions. grises “. They consist of rethinking cities themselves, for example by using materials that absorb less heat. Finally, the last category is that of so-called ” sweet “For example, reducing road traffic and air conditioning or implementing heatwave prevention measures.
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