Better to Focus on Cooling Down the City in the Battle Against Climate Change
May 4, 2018
Many of us complain about Singapore’s sweltering heat, but Assistant Professor Winston Chow (NUS Geography) suggests we stop wondering and focus on how to make our city cooler.
Dr Chow is one of three Singaporean-based academics selected by a United Nations committee to contribute to the sixth assessment report for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report, published in 2021, seeks to offer policymakers, international climate negotiators and other stakeholders the latest research on all aspects of climate change. As the lead author for a chapter on climate change on cities, settlements and key infrastructure, Assistant Professor Chow shared with The Straits Times the relevance of his research. He predicts that cities like Singapore would expect to experience erratic rainfall patterns, with his own research at NUS focusing on how heat, or drought risk, could affect people in Singapore.
A suggestion made by Dr Chow was to tap on Singapore’s green spaces, areas that have the potential to cool their surrounding environment and reduce risks of flood. Other interesting options include developing vertical gardens and the reflectivity of roofs to lower temperatures. Interested in the weather and climate since his youth and presently a climate scientist, Dr Chow’s voluntary position in IPCC is part of his attempt at tackling climate change.
Read the article here.