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Can Manchester’s skyscrapers weather the climate emergency?

Photo: Jack Dulhanty/The Mill.

Even a couple of weeks of high temperatures could be fatal


Manchester, summer 2061. Glass towers crowd the inner ring road of the city and are beaten by the sun, shimmering at the end of tramlines like a desert mirage. Their residents wake up and live in darkness, blotting their floor-to-ceiling windows with curtains, having grown resentful of the panoramic views they bought their flats for. 

By then, Manchester is forecast to see an average of 42 days a year where temperatures exceed 25°C, more than twice as many it is expected to experience between 2021-2039. However, many of the buildings built in recent years in Manchester are already overheating, with temperatures reaching as high as 37°C, as in 2022. 

All of this raises a question. Are the skyscrapers beginning to line the city fit to survive a changing climate?

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