The Relationship between the Built Environment and Climate Change: The Case of Turkish Provinces

Abstract

The relationship between the built environment and climate change has been discussed from many perspectives. This study examines the effect of the built environment on climate change indicators in Turkish provinces over the last 18 years, contributing to the literature on built environment analyses regarding both urban and rural areas, unlike other studies that have focused mostly on urban areas. The study discusses the changes in climate indicators using maps and analyzes the effects of the built environment on climate change using linear regression. The results indicate that provinces in Türkiye have experienced climate change effects such as increased annual mean temperature, maximum temperature, maximum precipitation, extreme weather events, and drought. These effects differed both in terms of geography and the subperiods over the examined period. The results also demonstrate the increase in the built environment to have a positive correlation with the increases in annual maximum temperature and the annual number of extreme weather events. The built environment in Türkiye increased 63% between 1990 and 2018, and the average number of extreme weather events per province increased from 0.3 to 8 over this same period. At the same time, the average annual mean temperature increased from 12.9 to 15.1 °C, the average maximum temperature went up from 24.6 to 25.8 °C, the average annual maximum precipitation increased from 125.6 to 157.7 mm, and the average number of dry months per year increased from 3.4 to 3.8.

Forecasting some climate parameters of Türkiye using the SSP3-7.0 scenario for the years 2040–2059

“…Some recent studies, also, project a 1.4°C average temperature increase in Türkiye (Tokuslu, 2022), with anticipated rises up to 2-3 o C (Rustem and Günal, 2022). These changes have direct implications for extreme weather events, such as droughts, floods, and heatwaves (Bektaş and Sakarya, 2023). As for projected temperature increase estimates for Türkiye, the projected increase of 1.5°C aligns with findings from Oruc et al, (2019), which investigates the impact of climate change on extreme precipitation in Türkiye.…”

The Resilience of the Built Environment to Flooding: The Case of Alappuzha District in the South Indian State of Kerala

“…Climate-induced cataclysms present major risks and significant challenges to the built environment, including buildings, infrastructure, and communities. Cities face substantial challenges in dealing with the consequences of climate-induced cataclysms, which are exacerbated by the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events, including hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, heavy rainfall, and storms [1,2]. Globally, low-lying coastal cities are susceptible to flooding and changing ecological conditions that cause damage, destruction, and disruption [3][4][5].…”

Climatic Challenges in the Growth Cycle of Winter Wheat in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain: New Perspectives on High-Temperature–Drought and Low-Temperature–Drought Compound Events

“…Severe drought and high-temperature events have increased in many land regions around the globe over recent decades against the backdrop of a warming climate [1][2][3][4]. Notably, some drought events accompany concurrent high-temperature events [5][6][7], referred to as compound events [8], which may have more significant impacts on ecosystems and human societies than individual events [9][10][11].…”