Extreme weather scenarios will become more common in the future as a byproduct of climate change. Hurricanes are set to become more powerful in the future thanks to an increase in the temperature of the oceans. Warmer oceans are a more successful breeding ground for storms and hurricanes.
There will be a drastic rise in droughts, floods and wildfires as the planet’s ecosystem is damaged and sea levels will rise due to the melting ice caps.
Heatwaves will also be more common as the globe continues to warm.
As all forms of extreme weather rise in the future, humans could seek shelter beneath the surface.
Asmo Jaaksi, chief architect of Helsinki’s underground Amos Rex Museum, told Wired: “I think underground living will become part of the future of cities.
“Underground is temperate with less variability in temperature, conserves heat, has better drinking water thanks to fewer contaminants from surface wastewater and – well, geothermal energy.
“As global warming creates an increasingly hostile surface environment, underground might be the safest place. You really want to be in a skyscraper when the tornadoes start?”
And there are already some plans in the pipeline to begin building structures underground.
The City of Helsinki, Finland, council has already approved an “Underground Master Plan” which covers the city’s entire 214 square kilometres (133 square miles).
The council said on its website: “An underground master plan has been drawn up for the entire city – the first of its kind in Finland.
“The goal was to create conditions for underground community-development maintenance, civil defence and traffic routes, depot and support base activities as well as other activities that serve private and public purposes.”
Mr Jaaski said: “The city is very overcrowded, and we have such long, dark and cold winters. Underground offers more room and connects us together away from the bad weather.”
While there is no definitive timeline on Helsinki’s underground, the Finnish capital is taking it seriously.
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And experts believe there are major benefits to moving underground.
Dale Russell, a professor in Innovation Design Engineering at the Royal College of Art, told Wired: “Building underground saves space and, ultimately, power.
“The topography itself can generate energy, the rocks absorbing the sun’s heat in summer to keep the city cool, releasing it in winter like giant radiators to warm the earthscrapers.
“Within such cities, by 2069 we can imagine a complete self-contained travel and eco system underground, using hydroponic farming systems with artificial light to grow the city’s own food supply.”
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