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
Savitch, Ethan; Frank, Adam; Carroll-Nellenback, Jonathan; Haqq-Misra, Jacob; Kleidon, Axel; Alberti, Marina. (2021). Triggering a Climate Change Dominated Anthropocene: Is it Common Among Exocivilizations? Astronomical Journal, 162(5).
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Abstract
We seek to model the coupled evolution of a civilization and its host planet through the era when energy harvesting by the civilization drives the planet into new and adverse climate states. In this way, we ask if triggering Anthropocenes of the kind humanity is experiencing might be a generic feature of planet-civilization evolution. This question has direct consequences for both the study of astrobiology and the sustainability of human civilization. Furthermore, if Anthropocenes prove fatal for some civilizations then they can be considered as one form of a Great Filter and are therefore relevant to discussions of the Fermi Paradox. In this study, we focus on the effects of energy harvesting via combustion and vary the planet's initial chemistry and orbital radius. We find that in this context, the most influential parameter dictating a civilization's fate is their host planet's climate sensitivity, which quantifies how global temperatures change as CO2 is added to the atmosphere. Furthermore, this is in itself a function of the planet's atmospheric CO2 level, so planets with low levels of CO2 will have high climate sensitivities and high probabilities of triggering climate change. Using simulations of the coupled nonlinear model combined with semi-analytic treatments, we find that most planets in our initial parameter space experience diminished growth due to climate effects, an event we call a climate-dominated Anthropocene.
Keywords
Habitable Planets; Complex Life; Evolution; Earth
Dyson, Karen; Yocom, Ken. (2015). Ecological Design For Urban Waterfronts. Urban Ecosystems, 18(1), 189 – 208.
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Abstract
Urban waterfronts are rarely designed to support biodiversity and other ecosystem services, yet have the potential to provide these services. New approaches that integrate ecological research into the design of docks and seawalls provide opportunities to mitigate the environmental impacts of urbanization and recover ecosystem function in urban waterfronts. A review of current examples of ecological design in temperate cities informs suggestions for future action. Conventional infrastructures have significant and diverse impacts on aquatic ecosystems. The impacts of conventional infrastructure are reduced where ecological designs have been implemented, particularly by projects adding microhabitat, creating more shallow water habitat, and reconstructing missing or altered rocky benthic habitats. Opportunities for future research include expanding current research into additional ecosystems, examining ecological processes and emergent properties to better address ecosystem function in ecological design, and addressing the impact of and best practices for continuing maintenance. Planned ecological infrastructure to replace aging and obsolete structures will benefit from design feedback derived from carefully executed in situ pilot studies.
Keywords
Coastal Defense Structures; Fixed Artificial Habitats; Marine Habitats; Intertidal Seawalls; Benthic Communities; Reconciliation Ecology; Subtidal Epibiota; Rocky Shores; Reef; Biodiversity; Ecological Design; Seawalls; Habitat; Waterfront; Urban Infrastructure; Aquatic Ecology
Stewart, Orion T.; Moudon, Anne Vernez; Littman, Alyson J.; Seto, Edmund; Saelens, Brian E. (2018). The Association between Park Facilities and Duration of Physical Activity During Active Park Visits. Journal Of Urban Health, 95(6), 869 – 880.
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Abstract
Public parks provide places for urban residents to obtain physical activity (PA), which is associated with numerous health benefits. Adding facilities to existing parks could be a cost-effective approach to increase the duration of PA that occurs during park visits. Using objectively measured PA and comprehensively measured park visit data among an urban community-dwelling sample of adults, we tested the association between the variety of park facilities that directly support PA and the duration of PA during park visits where any PA occurred. Cross-classified multilevel models were used to account for the clustering of park visits (n=1553) within individuals (n=372) and parks (n=233). Each additional different PA facility at a park was independently associated with a 6.8% longer duration of PA bouts that included light-intensity activity, and an 8.7% longer duration of moderate to vigorous PA time. Findings from this study are consistent with the hypothesis that more PA facilities increase the amount of PA that visitors obtain while already active at a park.
Keywords
Park Facilities; Physical Activity; Park Use; Recreation; Built Environment; Global Positioning System; Accelerometer; Gis; Gps; Accelerometer Data; United-states; Adults; Proximity; Features; Walking; Size; Attractiveness; Improvements; Environment; Parks & Recreation Areas; Parks; Luminous Intensity; Clustering; Urban Areas
Wang, Kaiwen; Liu, Xiaomang; Tian, Wei; Li, Yanzhong; Liang, Kang; Liu, Changming; Li, Yuqi; Yang, Xiaohua. (2019). Pan Coefficient Sensitivity to Environment Variables across China. Journal Of Hydrology, 572, 582 – 591.
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Abstract
Data of open water evaporation (E-ow), such as evaporation of lake and reservoir, have been widely used in hydraulic and hydrological engineering projects, and water resources planning and management in agriculture, forestry and ecology. Because of the low-cost and maneuverability, measuring the evaporation of a pan has been widely regarded as a reliable approach to estimate E-ow through multiplying an appropriate pan coefficient (K-p). K-p is affected by geometry and materials of a pan, and complex surrounding environment variables. However, the relationship between K-p and different environment variables is unknown. Thus, this study chose China D20 pan as an example, used meteorological observations from 767 stations and introduced the latest PenPan model to analyze the sensitivity of K-p to different environment variables. The results show that, the distribution of annual K-p had a strong spatial gradient. For all the stations, annual K-p ranged from 0.31 to 0.89, and decreased gradually from southeast to northwest. The sensitivity analysis shows that for China as a whole, K-p was most sensitive to relative humidity, followed by air temperature, wind speed and sunshine duration. For 767 stations in China, K-p was most sensitive to relative humidity for almost all the stations. For stations north of Yellow River, wind speed and sunshine duration were the next sensitive variables; while for stations south of Yellow River, air temperature was the next sensitive variable. The method introduced in this study could benefit estimating and predicting K-p under future changing environment.
Keywords
Atmospheric Temperature; Hydraulic Engineering; Meteorological Observations; Humidity; Water Supply; Evaporation (meteorology); Sunshine; Lake Management; China; Kp Most Sensitive To Relative Humidity; Open Water Evaporation; Pan Coefficient (kp); Pan Evaporation; Sensitivity Analysis; Reference Evapotranspiration; Reference Crop; Evaporation; Water; Model; Pan Coefficient (k-p); K-p Most Sensitive To Relative Humidity; Air Temperature; Ecology; Forestry; Geometry; Hydrologic Engineering; Lakes; Maneuverability; Meteorological Data; Models; Planning; Prediction; Relative Humidity; Solar Radiation; Wind Speed; Yellow River
Su, Shu; Li, Xiaodong; Zhu, Chen; Lu, Yujie; Lee, Hyun Woo. (2021). Dynamic Life Cycle Assessment: A Review of Research for Temporal Variations in Life Cycle Assessment Studies. Environmental Engineering Science, 38(11), 1013 – 1026.
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Abstract
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a comprehensive and important environmental management tool around the world. However, lacking temporal information has been a major challenge. In the past decade, dynamic LCA (DLCA), which incorporates temporal variations into assessment, has been an emerging research topic with increasing publications. A timely comprehensive review is needed to present current progress and discuss future directions. This article reviews 144 DLCA articles quantitatively and qualitatively. A bibliometric approach is adopted to conduct co-occurrence analysis and cluster analysis of DLCA studies. The research progress, approaches, and limitations of three temporal variation types (i.e., dynamic life cycle inventory, dynamic characterization factors, and dynamic weighting factors) in DLCA studies are systematically analyzed and discussed. It is concluded that: (1) dynamic inventory analysis is usually conducted by collecting time-differentiated data at each time step. Field monitoring, simulation, scenario analysis, and prediction based on historical data are common approaches. (2) Dynamic characterization studies primarily focus on two impact categories: global warming and toxicity. More studies are in need. (3) Various methods and indicators (i.e., dynamic pollution damage cost, temporal environmental policy targets, and discount rates) are used to solve the dynamic weighting issue, and they have specific limitations. Finally, three interesting topics are discussed: comparison between dynamic and static results, the large data amount issue, and the trend of tools development. This review offers a holistic view on temporal variations in DLCA studies and provides reference and directions for future dynamic studies.
Keywords
Literature Reviews; Cluster Analysis (statistics); Global Warming; Environmental Management; Discount Prices; Emission Inventories; Dynamic Characterization; Dynamic Inventory Analysis; Dynamic Weighting; Environmental Impact; Life Cycle Assessment; Temporal Variation; Cluster Analysis; Life Cycle; 'current; Dynamic Inventory Analyse; Dynamic Lca; Environmental Management Tool; Inventory Analysis; Research Topics; Temporal Information; Dependent Climate Impact; Greenhouse-gas Emission; Biogenic Carbon; Assessment Framework; Fresh-water; Electricity-generation; Energy Efficiency; Wheat Production; Embodied Energy; Time
Kang, Goune; Kim, Taehoon; Kim, Yong-woo; Cho, Hunhee; Kang, Kyung-in. (2015). Statistical Analysis of Embodied Carbon Emission for Building Construction. Energy And Buildings, 105, 326 – 333.
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Abstract
Buildings are significant contributors to the greenhouse effect through emission of considerable carbon dioxide during their life cycle. Life cycle carbon resulting from buildings consists of two components: operational carbon (OC) and embodied carbon (EC). Recent studies have shown the growing significance of EC because much effort has already been invested into reducing OC. In this context, it is important to estimate and reduce EC. Because of the variability and uncertainty contained in a range of conditions, the EC of building needs to be calculated based on probabilistic analysis. This study identifies and analyzes the statistical characteristics of EC emitted from building construction materials. It was aimed at buildings constructed of reinforced concrete and nine representative construction materials. Descriptive statistics analysis, correlation analysis, and a goodness-of-fit test were performed to describe the statistical characteristics of EC. In addition, a case study was carried out to show the difference between the deterministic and probabilistic estimations. Presenting statistical information on EC data and the differences between the deterministic and probabilistic values, the result shows the necessity and reasonability of the probabilistic method for EC estimation. (C) 2015 Published by Elsevier B.V.
Keywords
Construction; Construction Materials; Greenhouse Gases; Probability Theory; Goodness-of-fit Tests; Quantitative Research; Building Materials; Correlation; Descriptive Statistics; Embodied Carbon; Goodness-of-fit; Buildings (structures); Reinforced Concrete; Statistical Analysis; Embodied Carbon Emission; Greenhouse Effect; Carbon Dioxide; Life Cycle Carbon; Operational Carbon; Oc; Probabilistic Analysis; Building Construction Materials; Statistics Analysis; Correlation Analysis; Probabilistic Estimations; Statistical Information; Ec Data; Probabilistic Method; Ec Estimation; Life-cycle; Energy Measurement; System Boundary
Stewart, Orion T.; Moudon, Anne Vernez; Littman, Alyson J.; Seto, Edmund; Saelens, Brian E. (2018). Why Neighborhood Park Proximity Is Not Associated with Total Physical Activity. Health & Place, 52, 163 – 169.
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Abstract
This study explored how parks within the home neighborhood contribute to total physical activity (PA) by isolating park-related PA. Seattle-area adults (n = 634) were observed using time-matched accelerometer, Global Positioning System (GPS), and travel diary instruments. Of the average 42.3 min of daily total PA, only 11% was related to parks. Both home neighborhood park count and area were associated with park-based PA, but not with PA that occurred elsewhere, which comprised 89% of total PA. This study demonstrates clear benefits of neighborhood parks for contributing to park-based PA while helping explain why proximity to parks is rarely associated with overall PA.
Keywords
Physical Activity; Parks; Urban Planning; Environmental Health; Global Positioning System; Built Environment; Green Space; Recreation; Social Determinants Of Health; Health Research; Accelerometer Data; Self-selection; United-states; Public Parks; Older Women; Walking; Adults; Facilities
Abramson, Daniel B. (2020). Ancient and Current Resilience in the Chengdu Plain: Agropolitan Development Re-‘Revisited’. Urban Studies (sage Publications, Ltd.), 57(7), 1372 – 1397.
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Abstract
The Dujiangyan irrigation system, China's largest, is one of the world's most important examples of sustainable agropolitan development, maintained by a relatively decentralised system of governance that minimises bureaucratic oversight and depends on significant local autonomy at many scales down to the household. At its historic core in the Chengdu Plain, the system has supported over 2000 years of near-continuously stable urban culture, as well as some of the world's highest sustained long-term per-hectare productivity and diversity of grain and other crops, especially considering its high population density, forest cover, general biodiversity and flood management success. During the past decade, rapid urban expansion has turned the Chengdu Plain from a net grain exporter into a grain importer, and has radically transformed its productive functioning and distinctive scattered settlement pattern, reorganising much of the landscape into larger, corporately-managed farms, and more concentrated and infrastructure-intensive settlements of non-farming as well as farming households. Community-scale case studies of spatial-morphological and household socio-economic variants on the regional trend help to articulate what is at stake. Neither market-driven 'laissez-faire' rural development nor local state-driven spatial settlement consolidation and corporatisation of production seem to correlate well with important factors of resilience: landscape heterogeneity; crop diversity and food production; permaculture; and flexibility in household independence and choice of livelihood. Management of the irrigation system should be linked to community-based agricultural landscape preservation and productive dwelling, as sources of adaptive capacity crucial to the social-ecological resilience of the city-region, the nation and perhaps all humanity.
Keywords
Urbanization; Economies Of Agglomeration; Agricultural Ecology; Sustainability; Urban Planning; Land Use; China; Agglomeration/urbanisation; Agroecosystems; Environment/sustainability; History/heritage/memory; Redevelopment/regeneration; Cultivated Land; Countryside; Expansion; State; Rise; Modernization; Conservation; Integration; Earthquake; Agglomeration; Urbanisation; Environment; History; Heritage; Memory; Redevelopment; Regeneration; Population Density; Production; Farming; Agriculture; Decentralization; Autonomy; Food Production; Households; Landscape; Resilience; Rural Development; Food; Farms; Regional Development; Productivity; Economic Development; Case Studies; Agricultural Production; Biodiversity; Sustainable Development; Governance; Preservation; Crops; Flood Management; Irrigation; Permaculture; Radicalism; Socioeconomic Factors; Grain; Flexibility; Heterogeneity; Variants; Urban Areas; Irrigation Systems; Rural Communities; Bureaucracy; Landscape Preservation; Agricultural Land; Flood Control; Density; Infrastructure; Urban Sprawl; Livelihood; Farm Management; Rural Areas; Urban Farming; Settlement Patterns; Agribusiness; Market Economies
Taufen, Anne; Yocom, Ken. (2021). Transitions In Urban Waterfronts: Imagining, Contesting, And Sustaining The Aquatic/terrestrial Interface. Sustainability, 13(1).
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Abstract
Urban waterfronts represent hybrid locations of ecological, economic, and social zones of transition and dispersal, spatially reified between land and water. Yet, through advancements in technology and the emergence of globally linked economies, the structure and function of urban waterfronts as economic and industrial drivers is becoming increasingly complex. As cities seek to redevelop their waterfronts in response to these changes, recent research and scholarship has focused on understanding the ecological, social, and economic benefits derived from urban waterfronts. This research reveals that their benefits are unevenly distributed among local and regional populations as sites of accumulated inequity and inaccessibility that are generative for only a relatively small percentage of the people living in a metropolitan area. Set within this paradoxical nexus, this paper frames a call to scientists, planners, academics, and waterfront activists to expand urban waterfront research from an indicator and benefits model to incorporate three conceptual tools for better understanding key dimensions of waterfront reclamation within the context of green infrastructure research: urban hybridity, functional performance and hierarchies of access. We explore these key dimensions in relation to the waterfront redevelopment of Tacoma, Washington, USA. By acknowledging the hybridity of urban waterfronts, we illustrate that their relative performance and accessibility require ongoing empirical study and practical intervention. Our theoretical explorations plot some of the potential areas of investigation for examining the structural and functional transitions of urban waterfronts as critical locations for green infrastructure development for the 21st century.
Keywords
Place Attachment; Community Participation; Cities; Justice; Indicators; Challenges; Resilience; Governance; Space; Urban Waterfronts; Complexity; Urban Hybridity; Functional Performance; Hierarchies Of Access; Public Access; Stormwater Management; Infrastructure; Reclamation; Green Aspects; Waterfront Development; Urban Areas; Terrestrial Environments; Waterfronts; Economics; Hierarchies; Redevelopment; Regulation; Dispersal; Economic Activity; Shorelines; Regions; Terrestrial Ecosystems; Sustainable Development; Structure-function Relationships; Ports; Rivers; Metropolitan Areas; Urbanization; United States--us