Moscow’s weather will feel like that of present-day Detroit while St. Petersburg's will more closely resemble that of Sofia three decades from now, researchers warned. A fifth of the world's major cities will face "unknown" climate conditions by 2050 as rising temperatures heighten the risks of drought and flooding, according to climate scientists at The Crowther Lab. The scientists said their study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, was the first global analysis of the likely shifts in climate conditions in major cities as a result of global warming.

With annual temperature rises of three degrees Celsius, Moscow will have a similar climate to Detroit, St. Petersburg to Sofia and Samara to Bucharest by 2050, the study published Wednesday said. Russia’s economy has been projected to benefit from a modest rise in global temperatures — which are expected to open navigation in the Arctic and allow for more economic activity in the winter. The country has allocated an estimated 1.55 trillion rubles ($22 billion) on a new environmental program to promote air pollution reduction, reforestation and recycling. Across the northern hemisphere, many cities in 30 years’ time could resemble places that are over 1,000 kilometers further south toward the equator, said the latest study. The Crowther Lab projected conditions if current plans ratified by 185 countries under the Paris Agreement to cut climate-changing emissions go ahead.

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