Cities and Human Security in a Warming Arctic

Abstract

Chapter important: Cities and Human Security in a Warming Arctic by Wilfrid Greaves I outline three reasons to doubt whether Arctic cities will be able to protect the human security of their residents under conditions of environmental change: (1) Arctic cities are vulnerable to the effects of climate change in ways that undermine their critical infrastructure; (2) urbanization signifcantly increases local warming, meaning that the growth of Arctic cities will generate a positive feedback loop that will worsen the impacts of climate change; and (3) many Arctic cities rely on fossil fuel-based industries, producing a paradox whereby they are simultaneously threatened by and reliant upon the continuation of the very economic activities responsible for contributing to global climate change.