What climate changes resulting from the so-called global warming phenomenon await the city and its surrounding areas in the next 100 years? Experts from Columbia University, with the help of scientists from other national research centers, attempted to answer just this question. So what are the results of the three year New York Climate and Health Project study?

Well, pleasant and encouraging are the last words one can use to describe the findings: The Big Apple will become even hotter and more humid in the summer months, and the climate as a whole will be much less healthy for everyone.

By 2100, experts estimate the air temperature will rise from 2.4 to 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit. These changes will be especially negative in the densely populated urban regions of New York. Concrete and asphalt—materials that retain heat—will be major contributors to the hotter and more humid climate.

The higher temperature will surely lead to an increase in ozone gas concentrations in the air and worsen the state of the environment. Elderly people and children will be the first to suffer most from the consequences of climate changes. The elderly will become even more vulnerable to cardiovascular diseases, while toddlers and adolescents will become more susceptible to asthma, which already is a very serious problem for New York – low-income neighborhoods of the Big Apple lead the entire United States in asthma cases.

Scientists warn that increased heat and humidity can lead to an increase in deaths from overheating and thermal shocks. In New York in the 1990s, on the average 840 people per year died from summer heat related causes. By 2050, this index could double, and toward the end of this century the picture will likely be still worse.

Climatic conditions in the Big Apple region, researchers note, are influenced not only by global warming, but also by local construction projects; an increase in the number of buildings along with the simultaneous reduction of green zones can increase the temperature by 2 percent to 3 percent.

In their report, scientists also warn that a rise in temperature increases the danger of large-scale floods, which will repeat on 40-year cycles. Such natural calamities, dangerous in terms of their destructive consequences, also increase the number of diseases caused by insects and other parasites.

The facts, as we can see, are not pleasant and the forecasts are even more disturbing. The situation, however, is not completely hopeless. There is still time to make changes. If authorities begin in earnest to take the necessary steps now, such as preserving gardens and parks, introducing changes in the design of new houses , which include roof gardens and special drain systems to collect excess rain water, the negative consequences of global warming, if not completely avoided, will at least be lessened.