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Residential Density and Transportation Emissions: Examining the Connection by Addressing Spatial Autocorrelation and Self-Selection

Hong, Jinhyun; Shen, Qing. (2013). Residential Density and Transportation Emissions: Examining the Connection by Addressing Spatial Autocorrelation and Self-Selection. Transportation Research Part D-transport And Environment, 22, 75 – 79.

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Abstract

This paper examines the effect of residential density on CO2 equivalent from automobile using more specific emission factors based on vehicle and trip characteristics, and by addressing problems of spatial autocorrelation and self-selection. Drawing on the 2006 Puget Sound Regional Council Household Activity Survey data, the 2005 parcel and building database, the 2000 US Census data, and emission factors estimated using the Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator, we analyze the influence of residential density on road-based transportation emissions. In addition, a Bayesian multilevel model with spatial random effects and instrumental variables is employed to control for spatial autocorrelation and self-selection. The results indicate that the effect of residential density on transportation emissions is influenced by spatial correlation and self-selection. Our results still show, however, that increasing residential density leads to a significant reduction in transportation emissions. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Urban Form; Travel; Transportation Emissions; Residential Density; Confounding By Location; Self-selection

Planning For The Future Of Urban Biodiversity: A Global Review Of City-scale Initiatives.

Nilon, Charles H.; Aronson, Myla F. J.; Cilliers, Sarel S.; Dobbs, Cynnamon; Frazee, Lauren J.; Goddard, Mark A.; O’Neill, Karen M.; Roberts, Debra; Stander, Emilie K.; Werner, Peter; Winter, Marten; Yocom, Ken P. (2017). Planning For The Future Of Urban Biodiversity: A Global Review Of City-scale Initiatives. Bioscience, 67(4), 331 – 341.

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Abstract

Cities represent considerable opportunities for forwarding global biodiversity and sustainability goals. We developed key attributes for conserving biodiversity and for ecosystem services that should be included in urban-planning documents and reviewed 135 plans from 40 cities globally. The most common attributes in city plans were goals for habitat conservation, air and water quality, cultural ecosystem services, and ecological connectivity. Few plans included quantitative targets. This lack of measurable targets may render plans unsuccessful for an actionable approach to local biodiversity conservation. Although most cities include both biodiversity and ecosystem services, each city tends to focus on one or the other. Comprehensive planning for biodiversity should include the full range of attributes identified, but few cities do this, and the majority that do are mandated by local, regional, or federal governments to plan specifically for biodiversity conservation. This research provides planning recommendations for protecting urban biodiversity based on ecological knowledge.

Keywords

Sustainability; Urban Planning; Urban Biodiversity; Urban Ecology (biology); Water Quality; Air Quality; Biodiversity Conservation; Ecosystem Services; Governance; Policy Regulation; Green Infrastructure; Climate-change; Human Health; Cities; Opportunities; Metaanalysis; Framework; Richness

The Unignorable Impacts of Pan Wall on Pan Evaporation Dynamics

Wang, Kaiwen; Liu, Xiaomang; Liu, Changming; Yang, Xiaohua; Bai, Peng; Li, Yuqi; Pan, Zharong. (2019). The Unignorable Impacts of Pan Wall on Pan Evaporation Dynamics. Agricultural & Forest Meteorology, 274, 42 – 50.

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Abstract

Open water evaporation (E-ow), such as evaporation of lake and reservoir, is typically estimated by observations of different pans. The observation networks of pan evaporation (E-pan) were established and maintained worldwide for a long history. All the pans in the world consist of water body and pan wall, which includes side wall, pan rim and (if any) pan bottom. Since the pan wall will affect E-pan by radiation absorption and heat conduction, once pan wall absorbs and conducts more heat for vaporizing than water body in a pan, observed E-pan dynamics will greatly deviate E-ow causing uncertainties and errors in estimating E-ow. Thus, this study calculated E-pan at 767 meteorological stations in China and quantified the contributions of water body and pan wall on E-pan trends. For China as a whole, E-pan decreased at -3.75 mm/a(2) and increased at 3.68 mm/a(2) during 1960-1993 and 1993-2016, respectively. 84% of E-pan trends were contributed by water body. For 767 stations, E-pan trends of 84 and 96 stations were dominated by pan wall during 1960-1993 and 1993-2016, respectively. Since pan wall contributed more than half of E-pan trends for (similar to)23% of the stations in China, the impacts of pan wall on E-pan dynamics cannot be ignored.

Keywords

Heat Radiation & Absorption; Heat Conduction; Meteorological Stations; Bodies Of Water; Dynamics; Water Diversion; China; Pan Evaporation Dynamics; Pan Wall; Radiation Absorption And Heat Conduction; Trends; Sensitivity; Demand; Model; Absorption; Evaporation; Heat Transfer; Lakes; Surface Water; Uncertainty

Climate Change Impacts and Workforce Development Needs in Federal Region X: A Qualitative Study of Occupational Health and Safety Professionals’ Perceptions

Pedersen, Katherine M.; Busch Isaksen, Tania M.; Baker, Marissa G.; Seixas, Noah; Errett, Nicole A. (2021). Climate Change Impacts and Workforce Development Needs in Federal Region X: A Qualitative Study of Occupational Health and Safety Professionals’ Perceptions. International Journal Of Environmental Research And Public Health, 18(4).

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Abstract

Climate change is considered one of the top health threats in the United States. This research sought to (1) to understand the perceptions of occupational health and safety (OHS) professionals regarding the impacts of climate-related hazards on OHS in Region X, and (2) to explore the ideas of these OHS professionals regarding the content of future training programs that would better prepare OHS professionals to identify and mitigate climate-related hazards in Region X. Key informant (KI) interviews with 17 OHS professionals familiar with the climate-related hazards and impacts to OHS in Region X were coded and thematically analyzed. Climate hazards, social and economic impacts from climate-related hazards, and sector-specific worker and workplace impacts from climate-related hazards were described as having interacting relationships that influenced worker health and safety impacts. KIs further described how workplace controls could be used to mitigate OHS impacts of climate-related hazards, and how training of the OHS workforce could influence the ability to successfully implement such controls. Our findings suggest that OHS impacts are sector-specific, influenced by social and economic factors, and can be mitigated through workplace controls designed and implemented by a trained OHS workforce. The findings from this work should inform future educational and training programming and additional research and translation activities in the region, while our approach can inform other regions as they develop regionally specific OHS climate change training and programming.

Keywords

Heat-related Illness; Workers; Stress; Occupational Health And Safety; Climate Change; Climate-related Hazards; Pacific Northwest; Education; Training; Key Informant Interviews

Daniel Abramson and collaborators awarded EarthLab Innovation grant for community-based research project on climate change & social justice

The EarthLab Innovations Grant Program was launched in 2019 to fund actionable environmental research. The 2022-23 EarthLab Innovation Grants program received 33 high-quality proposals for research at the intersection of climate change and social justice. One awarded project titled, “Centering Place and Community to Address Climate Change and Social Justice” was led by P.I. Daniel Abramson, Associate Professor of Urban Design & Planning and Adjunct Associate Professor of Architecture & Landscape Architecture, and Community Lead, Jamie Judkins, of the Shoalwater…

Carbon Leadership Forum awarded ARPA-E grant to develop life cycle assessment tools for carbon negative buildings 

ARPA-E announced $5 million in funding to two universities—the University of Washington and University of California, Davis—working to develop life cycle assessment tools and frameworks associated with transforming buildings into net carbon storage structures. The funding is part of the Harnessing Emissions into Structures Taking Inputs from the Atmosphere (HESTIA) Exploratory Topic. Parametric Open Data for Life Cycle Assessment (POD | LCA) – $3,744,303 The University of Washington’s Carbon Leadership Forum will develop a rigorous and flexible parametric Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)…

UW team including Rebecca Bachman, MLA awarded Population Health Grant

The University of Washington Population Health Initiative announced the award of 11 Tier 1 pilot grants to teams representing researchers from nine different UW schools and colleges as well as UW Tacoma and numerous community-based partners. The collective value of these 11 awards was nearly $480,000, which included approximately $270,000 in funding from the initiative plus additional school, college and departmental matching funds. Among the award recipients was a project titled “Amazonian Green Cities: A Gardens Program for Health Ecology and…

Ziyang Liu

Research Interests: Urban resilience, disaster risk reduction, climate change, community engagement.

Keisha Bharath

Research Interests: Urban Sustainability Indicators, Small Island Developing States, Climate Change, Natural Resource Management, Urban Design.

Julie Kriegh and collaborators launch studio booklet based on their work with Google

Julie Kriegh, researcher with the Carbon Leadership Forum and other CBE research centers, and owner of Kriegh Architecture Studios, collaborated with other CBE faculty and external partners to lead a UW CBE studio course in collaboration with Google that developed and delivered a design proposal for a sustainable data center. CBE collaborators included Hyun Woo “Chris” Lee, P.D. Koon Professorship in Construction Management; Jan Whittington, Associate Professor of the Department of Urban Design and Planning, and Director of the Urban…