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Whether the urban heat island (UHI) is affected by air pollution in urban areas has attracted much attention. By analyzing the observation data of automatic weather stations and environmental monitoring stations in Beijing from 2016 to 2018, we found a seasonally dependent interlink of the UHI intensity (UHII) and PM2.5 concentration in urban areas. PM2.5 pollution weakens the UHII in summer and winter night, but strengthens it during winter daytime. The correlation between the UHI and PM2.5 concentration has been regulated by the interaction of aerosol with radiation, evaporation and planetary boundary layer (PBL) height. The former two change the surface energy balance via sensible and latent heat fluxes, while the latter affects atmospheric stability and energy exchange. In summer daytime, aerosol‐radiation interaction plays an important role, and the energy balance in urban areas is more sensitive to PM2.5 concentration than in rural areas, thereby weakening UHII. In winter daytime, aerosol‐PBL interaction is dominant, because aerosols lower the PBL height and stabilize atmosphere, weaken the heat exchange with the surrounding, with more heat accumulated in the urban areas and the increased UHII. Changes in evaporation and radiation strengthen the relationship. At night, the change of UHII more depends on the energy stored in the urban canopy. Aerosols effectively reduce the incident energy during daytime, and the long‐wave radiation from the buildings of urban canopy at night becomes less, leading to a weakened UHII. Our analysis results can improve the understanding of climate‐aerosols interaction in megacities like Beijing. Plain Language Summary: A detailed understanding of the relationship between PM2.5 and the urban heat island (UHI) effect is significant for climate change adaption, planning, and sustainable development in urban regions. While Beijing is among the cities with the highest population densities and fastest urbanization rates in China and even the world, the impacts of PM2.5 pollution on UHI remain unclear, and the works using different methods (observations or models), observational data (stations or satellites) and the selecting procedures to classify stations deliver different results. This study demonstrates that the UHI intensities in summer and winter, respectively, exhibit weakening and strengthening tendency as PM2.5 concentration increases. These effects are modulated by aerosol‐radiation interaction in summer and winter, and aerosol interaction with planetary boundary layer and evaporation in winter. Our analysis improves the understanding of interaction of urban climate and air pollution. Key Points: With increasing PM2.5, summer urban heat island intensity (UHII) weakens and winter UHII strengthensWinter PM2.5 pollution weakens the UHII at night but strengthens it during daytimePM2.5 affects UHII via aerosol‐radiation interaction in summer and via aerosol‐planetary boundary layer interaction in winter [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban areas generally have higher near‐surface air temperature and lower air humidity than rural areas. Little is known about how heat stress, the combined effect of high air temperature and high humidity on human physiology, will be affected by future urban land expansion. Here we use a mesoscale numerical weather prediction model to examine the effects of urban land expansion from 2000 to 2050 on heat stress (measured as wet‐bulb globe temperature, WBGT) in the urban areas of China, India, and Nigeria, which are projected to account for one‐third of global urban population growth through 2050. Our results show that urban expansion slightly reduces heat stress during the day (∼0.2°C) but substantially intensifies it at night, by ∼1°C on average and by up to 2–3°C in five mega‐urban regions (MURs). These effects exist with or without climate change induced by rising concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Installing cool roofs—an urban heat island mitigation measures—can reduce the daytime WBGT by 0.5–1°C, partially offsetting the heat stress conditions caused by GHG‐induced climate change. However, even with cool roofs, the nighttime WBGTs are higher by 0.3–0.9°C over the whole countries studied, and by 1–2°C in the MURs under the urban expansion scenario, compared to the situation in which urban areas remain unchanged. These results show that future urban expansion and heat island mitigation can result in potential daytime benefits but also persistent nighttime risks. Key Points: Urban land expansion by 2050 will slightly reduce heat stress during the day but substantially intensifies it at nightAbout half of the outdoor nighttime urban heat stress increases will persist even with cool roofs installed at large‐scalePossible complimentary adaptation measures include improving building insulation to reduce indoor heat stress [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effectiveness of urban hydrological processes in mitigating the urban heat island (UHI) effect and human thermal stress in the megacity of Nanjing during an extreme heat wave event (6th–10th August 2013) was assessed using Weather Research and Forecasting Single‐Layer Urban Canopy Models. The inclusion of urban hydrological processes improved model performance, with more reasonable diurnal cycles and smaller mean errors, root mean square errors, and normalized root mean square errors for meteorological variables. Through evaporative cooling, urban hydrological processes can greatly increase specific and relative humidity, while reducing near‐surface and surface temperatures, wind speed, and planetary boundary layer (PBL) height, and the cooling and wetting effects could affect the entire PBL, especially in low‐intensity residential areas. Urban hydrological processes can effectively mitigate both the near‐surface and surface UHI effect. The city‐wide mitigation effectiveness of near‐surface UHI ranged between 0.9°C and 1.1°C throughout the day, while the city‐wide mitigation effectiveness of surface UHI at noon reached ∼5°C. The maximum reduction of near‐surface and surface UHI in low‐intensity residential areas reached 1.3°C and 10.0°C, respectively. Changes in heat stress indices indicate that the cooling effect improves human thermal comfort at night, while the increased humidity outweighs the cooling effect and exacerbates human thermal discomfort during daytime. The city‐wide thermal stress increased by up to 0.4°C, 0.2°C, and 0.5°C during daytime and decreased by up to 0.4°C, 0.3°C, and 0.6°C at night for wet‐bulb globe temperature, apparent temperature, and humidity index, respectively. Key Points: The cooling and wetting effects of urban hydrological processes are most significant during daytime and in low‐intensity residential areasUrban hydrological processes effectively mitigate both the near‐surface and surface urban heat island effectUrban hydrological processes improve human thermal comfort at night but exacerbate it during daytime under heat‐wave conditions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban streams are scarce natural elements in compact cities, and suffer from pollution in the course of city expansion and densification, especially in developing nations like China. They may offer the amenity of a riverscape view, but also the dis‐amenity associated with water pollution. Yet whether and how polluted urban streams affect high‐rise residential property values remain under‐investigated. Based on a total of 315 transaction records of apartment sales in two residential precincts located near two typical urban streams in Guangzhou, south China, this study attempts to assess the impacts of urban river pollution, in terms of view and proximity, at a neighbourhood level. A novel “cube contiguity”, consisting of a three‐dimensional spatial weighting matrix, is developed to incorporate the effect of property height in hedonic price models. Comparison of the spatial hedonic analysis of the two selected residential precincts reveals that views of heavily polluted urban streams fail to command a premium, and the impacts of proximity to urban streams vary considerably in high‐rise, compact urban contexts, when micro‐level landscape variations are carefully represented in hedonic modelling. This could be associated with the hydro‐morphological features and riverine landscape, as well as with homebuyers’ subjective perception of river pollution. Assessing the impacts of urban stream pollution could provide a basis for understanding the negative externalities of urban river pollution, establishing priorities for restoring polluted urban streams, and planning the provision of multi‐functional green‐blue spaces with respect to homebuyers’ demand for environmental amenities in mid‐ and high‐rise housing markets in both developed and developing nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban overheating represents an internationally acknowledged anthropogenic phenomenon related to climate change and to the massive shift of population worldwide toward urban areas, which are increasingly enlarging their size and density. The consequences of this urban warming (i.e., urban heat island) may compromise citizens’ quality of life in urban areas, indoor and outdoor comfort perception, and building energy performance in summer conditions. In this panorama, this review presents recent contributions demonstrating the effectiveness and urgent need of existing mitigation strategies. The same strategies are also comparatively assessed by means of a sensitivity analysis demonstrating their effect with varying climate conditions and urban context. Results of existing studies, validated by the present assessment, aimed at quantitatively investigating the effect of mitigation strategies for reducing building cooling needs and enhancing urban well‐being, thanks to international scientific effort carried out in the last decades. To this aim, the logical flow of the review deals with the main technologies for urban warming mitigation are described, together with the main findings of numerical and experimental research initiatives, demonstrating the field effect of improving pedestrians comfort and urban well‐being all around the world. Then, the mitigation potential of key green, water and cool strategies is critically reviewed, and further scientific and implementation needs are discussed. All the reviewed contributions demonstrate an undeniable technology readiness level for their practical implementation and highlight the true necessity of a shared and synergistic policy effort worldwide. This article is categorized under: Energy and Urban Design > Systems and Infrastructure Concentrating Solar Power > Climate and Environment Energy Efficiency > Climate and Environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic diversity of a species is influenced by multiple factors, including the Quaternary glacial‐interglacial cycles and geophysical barriers. Such factors are not yet well documented for fauna from the southern border of the Himalayan region. This study used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences and ecological niche modeling (ENM) to explore how the late Pleistocene climatic fluctuations and complex geography of the Himalayan region have shaped genetic diversity, population genetic structure, and demographic history of the Nepalese population of Assam macaques (Macaca assamensis) in the Himalayan foothills. A total of 277 fecal samples were collected from 39 wild troops over almost the entire distribution of the species in Nepal. The mtDNA fragment encompassing the complete control region (1121 bp) was recovered from 208 samples, thus defining 54 haplotypes. Results showed low nucleotide diversity (0.0075 ± SD 0.0001) but high haplotype diversity (0.965 ± SD 0.004). The mtDNA sequences revealed a shallow population genetic structure with a moderate but statistically significant effect of isolation by distance. Demographic history analyses using mtDNA sequences suggested a post‐pleistocene population expansion. Paleodistribution reconstruction projected that the potential habitat of the Assam macaque was confined to the lower elevations of central Nepal during the Last Glacial Maximum. With the onset of the Holocene climatic optimum, the glacial refugia population experienced eastward range expansion to higher elevations. We conclude that the low genetic diversity and shallow population genetic structure of the Assam macaque population in the Nepal Himalaya region are the consequence of recent demographic and spatial expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Several indices, with focus on extreme climate and bioclimate events have been calculated and their trends (over 1961 to 2014) analyzed in order to identify possible changes in temperature-related climate extremes over Vojvodina region, Northern Serbia. Physiologically equivalent temperature ( PET) has been used for the assessment of bioclimatological extremes in Vojvodina. A number of indices for temperature extremes have been defined by CLIVAR (Climate Variability and Predictability) and they are modified in order to detect extremes in bioclimatological variables ( PET). In this study, we used 11 PET indices. The results indicate that the whole area is dominated by significant increase in the frequency of warm conditions and significant decrease in the cold conditions. These results could indicate that the warming in Vojvodina could be due to the more pronounced and higher frequency of warm bioclimatological extreme conditions. The frequency and the duration of heat waves are increasing for the whole area, while the decrease in number and duration of cold waves is not so pronounced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a context of high uncertainty of hydro‐climatic variables, the development of updated methods to assess climate change impacts is as important as the provision of improved climate change data. This article presents the impacts of climate change on the flooding problems concerning a critical area of Barcelona and the assessment of the effectiveness of structural and nonstructural measures to cope with such impacts. For this purpose, a specific study tackling climate change influence on extreme precipitation in Barcelona and a detailed 1D/2D‐coupled model were used. Once the model was developed and calibrated, several scenarios of adaptation measures were considered to cope with climate change effects for the 2050 horizon. Results concerning these scenarios were compared to a defined ‘business as usual scenario’. Climate change impacts were assessed in terms of flood hazard and risk maps concerning vehicular and pedestrian circulation for several return periods (1, 10 and 100 years) for all the considered scenarios. Additionally, direct tangible damages were estimated using depth‐damage curves. The expected annual damage of the area is obtained by combining hazard and vulnerability levels using a Geographic Information System‐based toolbox. By undertaking a cost‐benefit analysis, the effectiveness of the strategies is assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban settlements are home to the greatest levels of greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption globally, with unprecedented rates of urban expansion occurring today. With the majority of global urbanization occurring along the periphery of urban areas in developing countries, investigation of 'green' building practices designed specifically for 'peri-urban' regions is critical for a low-emitting future society. This study assesses a state-of-the-art residence designed for a middle-class family of four residing in the peri-urban region of Bangkok, Thailand. The residence employs both demand-side management strategies and low-emitting energy supply technology to achieve energy-positive status. To elucidate the influence that key design decisions have on the life cycle sustainability of the home, several variants of the residence are modeled. A process-based life cycle assessment consistent with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14044:2006 standard and following ReCiPe Midpoint life cycle impact assessment methodology is used to quantify the life cycle impacts per square meter of conditioned residence floor area for climate change (582 kilograms [kg] carbon dioxide equivalent), terrestrial acidification (4.01 kg sulfur dioxide equivalent), freshwater eutrophication (30.4 grams phosphorous equivalent), fossil depletion (362 kg iron equivalent), and metal depletion (186 kg oil equivalent) impacts. We model multiple scenarios in which varying proportions of Bangkok's peri-urban detached housing demand are fulfilled by the energy-positive residence variants. Under the best-case replacement scenario (i.e., 100% replacement of future peri-urban detached housing), significant reductions are achieved across the life cycle climate change (80%), terrestrial acidification (82%), and fossil depletion (81%) impact categories for the steel-framed, energy-positive residence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT A statistical analysis of the spatiotemporal characteristics of hourly heavy rainfall ( HHR) events and rainstorm days, defined as greater than 20 mm h−1 and 50 mm day−1, respectively, is performed using observations at 5-min intervals from 155 automated weather stations ( AWSs) over the Beijing metropolitan region ( BMR) during the warm seasons of 2007-2014. Results show pronounced variability in the frequencies and rainfall amounts of both HHR events and rainstorm days across the BMR of less than 150 km width from the west to east. That is, higher- (lower) frequency HHR events with more (less) accumulated rainfall amounts take place in eastern Haidian and over the BMR's northeast mountains (west and northwest mountains). Many extreme rainfall and even record-breaking events, in terms of the frequency, duration, rainfall amount and intensity, are found to occur in the regions of high-frequency HHR events and rainstorm days. The frequency of rainstorm days with HHR events accounts for more than 50% of that of total rainstorm days over the BMR's plains and near the northeast mountains. Results also show that HHR events occur most frequently in late July, and typically peak during 1600-2000 LST. A comparison of the averaged surface meteorological variables and upper-air sounding at 0800 LST between HHR and non- HHR days reveals that the occurrences of the HHR events coincide with the distribution of surface warmer and more humid air as well as organized convergence in the presence of an unstable environment with surface south- to southeasterly winds, low-level south to southwesterly flows and a deep layer of higher moisture content. These results suggest likely the positive influences of urban environment and mountain-plain circulations on the generation of the HHR events, given favourable larger-scale conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The remaining galvanizing layer thicknesses were measured on a selection of towers in the local Brisbane area. The galvanized steel members of the electricity transmission towers in the local area have large remaining galvanizing layer thicknesses. The measured local zinc corrosion rate of 0.18 μm per year was small compared to the data scatter of measured galvanizing layer thicknesses, and was consistent with the low expected zinc corrosion rate of 0.1-4 μm per year. The remaining galvanizing layer is expected to last over 20 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT In this study, we validated urban air temperature and electricity demand by a year-round numerical simulation using a regional climate model coupled with an urban canopy model and a building energy model ( RCM-UCM+ BEM) in the Asian megacity, Osaka, which is the largest metropolis in Japan after Tokyo. The control simulation ( CTRL), which was based on the use of central air-conditioning ( AC) systems, reproduced the surface air temperatures observed in Osaka City in the summer cooling and interim seasons, but underestimated midnight to morning temperatures by over 2 °C in the winter heating season. In addition, the CTRL significantly overestimated the electricity demand in Osaka City in both the cooling and heating seasons, when the AC load was increased. These errors were likely due to the overestimation of AC use in the CTRL model because, in Japan, central AC systems are not used in business and residential areas, where individual AC units are mainly used. To prevent this overestimation, we introduced three new parameters to consider the use of partial AC systems in the model. The results of the new numerical experiment remarkably reduced the underestimation of temperature and the overestimation of electricity demand. This suggests that the RCM-UCM+ BEM modified by this study is effective for not only reproducing the current status of seasonal urban air temperature and electricity demand in Osaka, but also for projecting the future situation in other mega cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization causes major environmental changes globally, which can potentially homogenize biota across cities through the loss and gain of particular types of species. We examine whether urban environments consistently select for plants with particular traits and the implications of such changes on the functional composition of urban floras. We classified plant recorded in 11 cities around the globe as species that have either colonized (arrived and naturalized), persisted or been lost (local extirpation) following urbanization. We analyzed how 10 traits previously linked with plant responses to environmental conditions explained membership of these three groups, by comparing colonisers with persistent and extirpated plants through individual city-level Bayesian models. Then, we used meta-analysis to assess consistency of traits across urban areas. Finally, we explored several possible scenarios of functional change using these results. On average, urban colonizers had heavier seeds, unspecialised nutrient requirements, were taller and were annual species more often, especially when compared to locally extirpated plants. Common trends of functional change in urban plant communities include shifts towards taller and heavier-seeded plants, and an increased prevalence of the short-lived species, and plants without mutualistic nutritional strategies. Our results suggest that plant traits influence the species that succeed in urban environments worldwide. Different species use different ecological strategies to live in urban environments, as suggested by the importance of several traits that may appear as trait constellations. Plant height and seed mass were the only traits associated with both colonizer and extirpated plant status in urban environments. Based on our data, predicting colonization in urban environments may be easier than identifying extirpation-prone plants; albeit some regional variation, colonization seems strongly driven by environmental conditions common to most cities (e.g. altered disturbance regimes), whereas extirpation may depend more on processes that vary across cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Los Angeles has a long history of importing water; however, drought, climate change, and environmental mitigation have forced the City to focus on developing more local water sources (target of 50% local supply by 2035). This study aims to improve understanding of water cycling in Los Angeles, including the impacts of imported water and water conservation policies. We evaluate the influence of local water restrictions on discharge records for 12 years in the Ballona Creek (urban) and Topanga Creek (natural) watersheds. Results show imported water has significantly altered the timing and volume of streamflow in the urban Ballona watershed, resulting in runoff ratios above one (more streamflow than precipitation). Further analysis comparing pre- vs. during-mandatory water conservation periods shows there is a significant decrease in dry season streamflow during-conservation in Ballona, indicating that prior to conservation efforts, heavy irrigation and other outdoor water use practices were contributing to streamflow. The difference between summer streamflow pre- vs. during-conservation is enough to serve 160,000 customers in Los Angeles. If Los Angeles returns to more watering days, educating the public on proper irrigation rates is critical for ensuring efficient irrigation and conserving water; however, if water restrictions remain in place, the City must take the new flow volumes into account for complying with water quality standards in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last 10 years, the Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development of the National Observatory of Athens has developed and operates a network of automated weather stations across Greece. The motivation behind the network development is the monitoring of weather conditions in Greece with the aim to support not only the research needs (weather monitoring and analysis, weather forecast skill evaluation) but also the needs of various communities of the production sector (agriculture, constructions, leisure and tourism, etc.). By the end of 2016, 335 weather stations are in operation, providing real-time data at 10-min intervals. This paper provides information about the logistics of this network, including real-time applications of the collected data as well as information on the quality control protocols, the construction of the station data and metadata repository and the means through which the data are made available to users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this essay we examine the case of Kivalina, Alaska, twice threatened with destruction, in order to understand the importance of the specifically geological concept of the Anthropocene. We argue that the Anthropocene is best understood as part of what Neil Smith called a 'tight dialectic' between the history of geography (the production of environmental knowledge) and historical geography (the production of nature and space) as this dialectic is played out within capitalist modes of production. We focus on the relationship between contemporary geo-engineering and both intentional and unintentional geographical engineering, to make the basic argument that humans have no choice but to produce nature-to engineer environments. The only question is how we shall do so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Settlement systems in the Negev, Israel's southern desert, over the past 15,000 years show cycles of demographic rise and decline. Examining site frequency graphs based on systematic survey of 100 km2 grids in different areas and at different geographic scales, these demographic cycles should be tied to patterns of geographic expansions and contractions deriving from different culture-geographic sources. Together this variability suggests instabilities in basic social geographic structures, undoubtedly to be tied at some fundamental level to the difficulties of subsistence in the environmentally harsh desert. On the other hand, if the general pattern of cycles or fluctuations should be tied to some essential property of desert adaptation, the specific incidents of expansion and florescence followed by contraction and decline should be tied to historically particularistic episodes of climatic fluctuation, cumulative technological change, internal social and demographic trends, and inputs from societies on the desert periphery, ostensibly the sedentary core zones. Finally, if these patterns are examined at larger chronological and geographical scales, clear patterns of long-term continuity emerge, belying the idea of essential cultural instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sea level rise necessarily triggers more occurrences of minor, or nuisance, flooding events along coastlines, a fact well documented in recent studies. At some locations nuisance flooding can be brought about merely by high spring tides, independent of storms, winds, or other atmospheric conditions. Analysis of observed water levels at Boston indicates that tidal flooding began to occur there in 2011 and will become more frequent in subsequent years. A compilation of all predicted nuisance-flooding events, induced by astronomical tides alone, is presented through year 2050. The accuracy of the tide prediction is improved when several unusual properties of Gulf of Maine tides, including secular changes, are properly accounted for. Future mean sea-level rise at Boston cannot be predicted with comparable confidence, so two very different climate scenarios are adopted; both predict a large increase in the frequency and the magnitude of tidal flooding events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The United States Embassy in Beijing, China publicly released a record of mass concentrations of particulate matter 2.5 µm and smaller in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5), from April 2008 to the present, measured with a beta attenuation monitor ( BAM). We compare these measurements with observations of particulate matter recorded at the Beijing Institute of Atmospheric Physics and observations of visibility recorded at the Beijing Capital International Airport ( BCIA) to assess their value as a record of air quality in the greater Beijing metropolitan area. We find that the PM2.5 observations correlate well with the other observations of particulate matter ( PM) over the period 1 January-1 February 2013 using a tapered element oscillating microbalance and an aerosol mass spectrometer ( AMS), and they exhibit a clear inverse correlation with visibility measured at BCIA. Using inverse visibility as a proxy of radiation extinction, we determine a dry mass extinction efficiency and a dependence of radiation extinction on relative humidity, which is consistent with other studies of polluted urban environments. We deduce a strong degree of homogeneity of particulate pollution across the Beijing metropolitan region and conclude that the U.S. Embassy measurements are a reliable sample of this particulate pollution during periods of photochemical smog. The U.S. Embassy observations of PM2.5 appear to remain consistent throughout the available record and can serve as a useful dataset for studying future trends in particulate matter as China implements ambitious measures to improve air quality in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With 69% of the world's population predicted to live in cities by 2050, modification to local climates, in particular Urban Heat Islands (UHIs), have become a well studied phenomenon. However, few studies have considered how horizontal winds modify the spatial pattern in a process named Urban Heat Advection (UHA) and this is most likely due to a lack of highly spatially resolved observational data. For the first time, this study separates the two-dimensional advection-induced UHI component, including its pattern and magnitude, from the locally heated UHI component using a unique dataset of urban canopy temperatures from 29 weather stations (3 km resolution) recorded over 20 months in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The results show that the mean contribution of UHA to the warming of areas downwind of the city can be up to 1.2 °C. Using the inverse Normalized Difference Vegetation Index as a proxy for urban fraction, an upwind distance at which the urban fraction has the strongest correlation with UHA was demonstrated to be between 4 and 12 km. Overall, these findings suggest that urban planning and risk management needs to additionally consider UHA. However, more fundamentally, it highlights the importance of careful interpretation of long- term meteorological records taken near cities when they are used to assess global warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a newly available 134-years long record of daily and 114-years hourly observations at Jakarta observatory, trends and variability in temperature, extreme precipitation, and changes in the diurnal cycle over Jakarta have been analysed. Although the number of days with rainfall has decreased over the 1866-2010 period, the fraction of events with rainfall exceeding 50mm day-1 exhibits a positive trend over the 1866-2010 period with an even stronger trend over the period 1961-2010. The number of days with rainfall exceeding 50 and 100mm day-1has shown a statistically significant increase over the 1961-2010 period as well. Over the recent decades, the heaviest 1%of all precipitation events (q99%) also exhibits an increasing trend. These trends in extremes are strongest during the wet season. The rainfall intensity with 200mm return level has a shorter return period in the most recent decade than earlier in the historic time series. Over the last century, the annual mean temperature in Jakarta has increased about 1.6 °C per century,which exceeds the rise of the global mean land temperature. The increase in the daily maximum temperature is stronger than the increase in mean and minimum temperature, although the trend in minimum temperature is stronger during the last 50 years. The mean diurnal cycles of Jakarta temperature and precipitation have changed markedly as well. This analysis was enabled by the availability of high quality hourly observations in the historic record. Comparing the 2001-2010 period to historic decades, a considerable increase in night-time temperature was found. During the wet season, the early morning rainfall has increased in intensity, while in other seasons a delay of the late afternoon rainfall peak was observed for the recent observation periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Situated along the coast of southern China and facing the South China Sea, Hong Kong has been experiencing a significant rise in sea level by about 2.9mm year-1 since the 1950s. For a densely populated coastal city prone to storm surge impacts during the passages of tropical cyclones, accentuated by the threat of sea-level rise as a result of global warming and local vertical land displacement, projection of the sea-level change for Hong Kong is essential for local risk assessment and long-term planning of adaptation measures. This study presented the projection of sea-level change in Hong Kong and its adjacent waters under the Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5 and 8.5 (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) scenarios in the 21st century based on climate projections by models in phase 5 of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, in combination with contributions from land ice and land water storage determined from published literatures, and local vertical land displacement as estimated by using continuous high-precision GPS observations in Hong Kong. The results show that the sea level in Hong Kong and its adjacent waters is projected to rise by 0.67 (0.50-0.84) m and 0.84 (0.63-1.07) m in 2081-2100 relative to 1986-2005 under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, respectively, about 0.2m higher than the global mean values projected by the Fifth Assessment Report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The higher projected sea-level rise in Hong Kong and its adjacent waters as compared with the global mean values is primarily due to local vertical land displacement which contributes around 28% and 23% of the projected sea-level rise in 2081-2100 relative to 1986-2005 in the two respective RCP scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Accurate forecasting of seasonal influenza epidemics is of great concern to healthcare providers in temperate climates, as these epidemics vary substantially in their size, timing and duration from year to year, making it a challenge to deliver timely and proportionate responses. Previous studies have shown that Bayesian estimation techniques can accurately predict when an influenza epidemic will peak many weeks in advance, using existing surveillance data, but these methods must be tailored both to the target population and to the surveillance system. Objectives Our aim was to evaluate whether forecasts of similar accuracy could be obtained for metropolitan Melbourne (Australia). Methods We used the bootstrap particle filter and a mechanistic infection model to generate epidemic forecasts for metropolitan Melbourne (Australia) from weekly Internet search query surveillance data reported by Google Flu Trends for 2006-14. Results and Conclusions Optimal observation models were selected from hundreds of candidates using a novel approach that treats forecasts akin to receiver operating characteristic ( ROC) curves. We show that the timing of the epidemic peak can be accurately predicted 4-6 weeks in advance, but that the magnitude of the epidemic peak and the overall burden are much harder to predict. We then discuss how the infection and observation models and the filtering process may be refined to improve forecast robustness, thereby improving the utility of these methods for healthcare decision support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we describe our application of Ostrom et al.'s ADICO syntax, a grammatical tool based in the Institutional Analysis and Development framework, to a study of ecological restoration decision making in the Chicago Wilderness region. As this method has only been used to look at written policy and/or extractive natural resource management systems, our application is novel in context (a value-adding environmental management action), data type (in-depth, qualitative interviews, and participant observation), and extent of institutional statement extraction (we extract rules, as well as norms and strategies). Through detailed description, visual aids, and case-specific qualitative examples, we show the usefulness of the ADICO syntax in detailing the full set of institutional statements-in-use: rules, norms, and strategies. One of the most interesting findings is that we found norms (and not just rules) to be prevalent and particularly meaningful guides for people's actions. This reinforces the need to address norms and strategies, not only rules, when developing effective policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

American cities vary considerably in the degree to which they pursue sustainability. What explains this variation? One plausible cause of such differences is that sustainability may be more appealing to high-income cities than to more economically challenged cities. Yet such strict economic determinism seems simplistic and removes politics from an inherently political process. The hypothesis here is that any such relationship between income and commitment to sustainability is conditioned by a city's level of environmental advocacy. The data utilized in this analysis are derived from two large-scale data sources. One is a comprehensive inventory of sustainability programs and policies in 50 large American cities. The other is a set of surveys in those same 50 cities. The multivariate model supports the hypothesis. Controlling for income growth and the predisposition of policymakers to be supportive of sustainability (as well as other alternative explanations), a city's commitment to sustainability is strongly linked to the advocacy of environmental and sustainability groups in the policymaking process. The example of Sustainable Seattle is used to illustrate the linkages that would seem to underlie the statistical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban societies are increasingly affected by climatic variability and extremes. In theory, adaptation policy creates the conditions needed to support autonomous adaptation - or deliver public adaptation if autonomous adaptation fails to develop. However, little attention has been given to autonomous adaptation by private households and individuals, and how it is taken into account in cities' strategic adaptation planning. Against this background, this paper examines the synergies between measures taken by city authorities and citizens, and, more specifically, how public adaptation planning enhances or inhibits private (individual) adaptation. Based on a literature review and an in-depth study of German municipalities, existing types of city-citizen interaction are systematized. The results show that targeted city-citizen collaboration for climate change adaptation is practically non-existent. City authorities rarely pay sufficient attention to financial and structural aid for individual adaptation. Conversely, the available municipal support for individual adaptation has little take-up by members of the public. Furthermore, urban policy and planning often counteract collaboration and the implementation of measures that meet citizens' capacities and needs. The paper concludes that improving city-citizen collaboration for adaptation co-production is an important step in fostering transformative adaptation, if the barriers and driving forces identified in the study are addressed. The framework that is presented advances theory on city-citizen interactions for adaptation co-production, providing a basis for related analyses, action and further research. © 2016 The Authors. Environmental Policy and Governance published by ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new orchid species, viz. Sarcoglyphis manipurensis, is described and illustrated from Imphal east and Chandel districts of Manipur in northeast India. It's distinguishing characters and affinity with S. mirabilis (Rchb.f.) Garay is discussed. An updated artificial key to all known species of Sarcoglyphis is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governance networks in large-scale landscape conservation are constantly changing as their constituent programs are created, are reconfigured, or cease to exist. Here, a four-stage life-cycle model is used to outline the challenges that network members face in designing healthy and useful governance processes, and a short description of the evolution of the Chicago Wilderness alliance helps to illustrate the dynamic nature of network governance. We deliberately use the concept of a 'healthy and useful life' in place of more traditional measures of success because it highlights the constant nurturing that network processes require. The concept also draws attention to the fact that governance networks are a functional enterprise - even though they eventually come to the end of a life cycle, they most likely served useful functions while in operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Question Plant trait mean values and trait responsiveness to different environmental regimes are both important determinants of plant field distribution, but the degree to which plant trait means vs trait responsiveness predict plant distribution has rarely been compared quantitatively. Because hydrological regime is a key determinant of wetland plant distribution, we hypothesized that both plant trait means and trait responsiveness to experimental submergence could predict plant adaptation to a wet or a dry part of hydrological gradients in wetlands. Location Beijing, China. Methods We measured mean values for 14 plant traits by growing 30 wetland species both on land (control) and partially submerged in a greenhouse, and calculated log response ratios (Ln RRs) of these traits to submergence. A distribution pattern index of wetland plants along the moisture gradient (from the zone furthest from the wetland waterline to that nearest to the waterline) was developed based on plant survey data in 3988 field plots in 24 wetlands in Beijing, China. Results Ln RRs of performance traits (shoot biomass, root biomass, plant height and total root length; R2 = 0.249, P = 0.005) and one out of five morphological traits (i.e. shoot elongation capacity; R2 = 0.194, P = 0.015) between partially submerged and control treatments could predict the distribution pattern of the 30 wetland plant species. In contrast, means of plant traits in either control or submergence could not predict species distribution. The trait Ln RRs, increasing from very negative to very positive, corresponded positively with the distribution, ranging from the zone furthest from the wetland waterline to that nearest to the waterline. Surprisingly, physiological trait Ln RRs that had been expected to underpin performance trait Ln RRs did not themselves predict the distribution pattern of these species. Analyses at the level of multivariate trait groups (based on PCA) showed that species Ln RRs of the morphological trait group were positively correlated with Ln RRs of the performance trait group. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate that screening wetland plant species for performance and morphological trait Ln RRs under experimentally flooded conditions is an effective approach to understand and predict their distribution pattern along moisture gradients in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seasonal variations in the human activity signal (HAS) affecting the urban temperature were analysed in districts with offices and commercial buildings, apartment buildings, and single-family households in the urban area of Osaka, Japan. Temperatures were observed at building rooftops and at ground level in 14 districts. Spatial and temporal patterns of HAS were identified for a combined spring and autumn intermediate season, the summer cooling season, and the winter heating season by observing the temperature differences between weekdays and weekends after discounting the naturally induced temperature signal. A positive HAS (higher weekday temperatures) was observed during daytime hours in summer and the values around 1200 h JST (UTC + 9 h) exceeded 1 °C at the downtown office and mixed-building districts and 0.5-0.7 °C in the surrounding inland residential districts. However, a negative HAS (lower weekday temperatures) extended throughout all districts during daytime hours in winter. The maximum negative values ranged from -0.3 to -0.4 °C between 1200 and 1500 h. Statistical analyses of 30-year HAS data provided sufficient evidence that an increase in heat pump air-conditioning caused negative HAS in winter daytime hours as well as positive HAS in summer daytime hours. While HAS was not observed at night-time in all districts during summer, positive HAS in winter had values of 0.3-0.4 °C between 0000 and 0200 h and was especially prominent at inland residential districts. This night-time positive HAS in the heating season wasmost likely due to a gradual ventilation of heated indoor air and an outgoing sensible heat transfer from the walls of buildings where heating systems were operated. Seasonal variation of HAS was related to the energy consumption due to air-conditioning, and the expected temperature increase due to the waste heat was predicted using a simple one-dimensional mixing-layer model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As urbanization intensifies, urban ecosystems are increasingly under pressure from a range of threats. Horizon scanning has the potential to act as an early warning system, thereby initiating prompt discussion and decision making about threat mitigation. We undertook a systematic horizon scanning exercise, using a modified Delphi technique and experts from wide-ranging disciplines, to identify emerging threats in urban ecosystems. The 10 identified threats were generally associated with rapid advances in technology (eg solar panels, light-emitting diode lights, self-healing concrete) or with societal demands on urban nature (eg green prescriptions). Although many of the issues identified are also technological opportunities with recognized environmental benefits, we have highlighted emerging risks so that research and mitigation strategies can be initiated promptly. Given the accelerated rate of technological advancement and the increasing demands of urbanized populations, horizon scanning should be conducted routinely for urban ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The three-dimensional non-hydrostatic mesoscale model, OMEGA (Operational Multiscale Environment model with Grid Adaptivity), is utilized to investigate the thermally driven local flows and their interaction with each other over the province of Istanbul, Turkey. Idealized case simulations are conducted in order to describe the contribution of sea-land breezes and urban heat island (UHI) circulation to the local flow over the city. The city of Istanbul is located between two water bodies, Black Sea in the north and Sea of Marmara in the south. A convergence zone is observed at about 1000 LST over the region due to the merge of two sea breezes that develop at both sides and advance towards inland areas. Investigation further indicates that the other geographic features of the city have substantial effects on the local flow. The Bosphorus Strait, which connects Black Sea to Sea of Marmara and divides the city into two parts, channels the flow. Although not significantly high and steep, the topography enhances the flow strength. Besides, urbanized regions in the south, by generating UHI circulation, prevent the inland penetration of the sea breeze that develops in the south. The numerical simulations reveal that the large-scale wind direction controls the inland penetration of the sea breeze. One of the outstanding features of the local flows is that all hypothetical simulations including the Bosphorus indicate a strong fan-like airflow in the immediate south of the strait. The flow is more intense in the northerly prevailing wind case. It is also found that stronger large-scale flows (e.g. 2.5 and 10 m s−1) do not allow the formation of a sea breeze over the region. A warmer sea surface than land surface (about 2 °C) makes changes in the duration and extension of the land-sea breeze circulation. The duration of a land breeze circulation is long, and the southerly sea breeze is onset close to the south coast under the northeasterly flow conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing environmental risk is useful for preventing adverse effects on human health in highly polluted cities. We design a criterion for environmental monitoring based on an attribute control chart for the number of dangerous contaminant levels when the concentration to be monitored follows a Birnbaum-Saunders distribution. This distribution is being widely applied to environmental data. We provide a novel justification for its usage in environmental sciences. The control coefficient and the minimum inspection concentration for the designed criterion are determined to yield the specified in-control average run length, whereas the out-of-control case is obtained according to a shift in the target mean. A simulation study is conducted to evaluate the proposed criterion, which reports its performance to provide earlier alerts of out-of-control processes. An application with real-world environmental data is carried out to validate its coherence with what is reported by the health authority. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Various studies that analyze long-term records of surface radiation measurements have noted a widespread decrease in the downward surface solar radiation ( SSR) between the 1950s and 1980s and a more recent partial recovery at many locations. However, few studies have assessed the relative contribution of diffuse and direct radiation to the variations in air temperature. To examine the phenomenon in which varying direct/diffuse radiation contributes to the warming trend in Shanghai, the daily radiation and air temperature data for Shanghai region were collected and analyzed. Our results indicated that the variation in SSR in the Shanghai region was mainly induced by the variation in direct radiation during 1961-2013. Global dimming occurred in the Shanghai region in all four seasons before the 1980s; however, brightening only occurred in the Shanghai region during spring after the 1990s due to the decreasing cloud coverage. Direct radiation was negatively correlated to cloud coverage in all four seasons and was significantly negatively correlated to human activities (air pollution), while diffuse radiation was strongly positively correlated to human activities and only related to cloud coverage in spring. These results suggest that moderate air pollution might lead to maximized diffuse radiation in the Shanghai region. Direct radiation was the major contributor to the air temperature in spring, summer and autumn before the 1980s. However, since the 1980s, the contribution of diffuse radiation to air temperature has exceeded that of direct radiation. In addition, direct radiation has only slightly mediated the minimum air temperature at night, particularly in spring and autumn. We infer that the contribution of diffuse radiation to the air temperature in the Shanghai region might occur through the warming effects of aerosols (e.g., black carbon), a type of air pollution caused by human activities, such as traffic, wood-based cooking and biomass burning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT A 175 years long homogenized composite record of monthly mean temperatures is presented for Oslo, the capital of Norway. The early raw data have been digitised and quality controlled, and monthly means have been calculated. Some early original observations carried out in a Wild screen (1877-1936) were found to be spuriously high because of inappropriate sheltering from sunlight. These spurious temperatures were not used in the composite record, but alternative temperatures measured (1837-1933) by thermometers placed outside windows at the Astronomical Observatory were used instead. No inhomogeneity was detected in the latter series after adding an instrument correction of +0.3 °C, but the start year of the correction remains uncertain. The more recent part of the composite record used the long-term series (1937 to present) from Blindern in Oslo, the premises of The Norwegian Meteorological Institute. Two small inhomogeneities were detected in the Blindern series, possibly caused by a weak urban heat island effect or growing/cutting of trees. The study revealed that the annual mean temperature has increased by 1.5 °C in the period 1838-2012. The most pronounced increase in annual temperature occurred during the last 50 years, and in the early 20th century that ended with a local maximum in the 1930s. The temperature has increased significantly in all seasons; however, the temperature increase in summer was less than a half of that in winter and spring, which were the seasons with largest increase. In addition the monthly mean temperature of the coldest month in each year has increased two times faster than the warmest one. The most significant temperature variations were associated to ∼ 5-year time scales in its early part, but since 1930 and up to present, the dominant time scales were 10-20 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial and temporal partitioning of resources underlies the coexistence of species with similar niches. In communities of frogs and toads, the phenology of advertisement calling provides insights into temporal partitioning of reproductive effort and its implications for community dynamics. This study assessed the phenology of advertisement calling in an anuran community from Melbourne, in southern Australia. We collated data from 1432 surveys of 253 sites and used logistic regression to quantify seasonality in the nightly probability of calling and the influence of meteorological variables on this probability for six species of frogs. We found limited overlap in the predicted seasonal peaks of calling among these species. Those shown to have overlapping calling peaks are unlikely to be in direct competition, due to differences in larval ecology ( Crinia signifera and Litoria ewingii) or differences in calling behavior and acoustics ( Limnodynastes dumerilii and Litoria raniformis). In contrast, closely related and ecologically similar species ( Crinia signfera and Crinia parinsignifera; Litoria ewingii and Litoria verreauxii) appear to have staggered seasonal peaks of calling. In combination with interspecific variation in the meteorological correlates of calling, these results may be indicative of temporal partitioning of reproductive activity to facilitate coexistence, as has been reported for tropical and temperate anurans from other parts of the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What does virtual water conceal? This article synthesizes political ecology with ecological economics to question the understanding of the scientific concept of virtual water as part of an independent objective reality, rather than as a construction supported by pre-existing ideas. The discourse promoting both the concept of virtual water and the methodologies used to estimate virtual water flows is structured according to some underlying ideas that are framed within market logic and the rationality of international trade. Consequently, it produces a representation of water as a factor of production that does not challenge the hegemonic construction of water scarcity in nature, and proposes a water management system the main purpose of which is to maximize efficiency in the use of the resource. We reveal the ideas underlying the virtual water concept to show how a critical approach to ecological economics can be complemented by political ecology theories. In this article, we use epistemological reflection as a starting point, with the specific objective of contrasting this reflection with the reality of water in the horticultural sector of Almería (southern Spain), in order to bring to light those aspects made invisible through the use of the virtual water indicator in a concrete case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article critiques author Karen Bakker's book "Privatizing Water: Governance Failure and the World's Urban Water Crisis." Political ideology is addressed, along with issues related to urban water supply-related rights and privatization. Anti-privatization activists and water reforms in China are examined, as well as water crises in cities such as Beijing, China and municipalities in Great Britain, South Africa, and Bolivia. Government legitimacy and ecology are assessed.

In recent years, communities have begun to implement both 'soft' and mandatory policies designed to address worsening air quality. Voluntary or soft transportation policies have included air quality alert systems that encourage people not to drive on days when the air quality index is above a specified threshold and public education/action campaigns that focus on reducing automobile related travel. In this article, we evaluate the effectiveness of one such soft policy, the Clear the Air Challenge (CAC), in reducing ground-level ozone during the Wasatch Front's summer ozone season. Using daily ozone data and color-coded daily air quality designations from 2006 through 2012, we estimate a range of nonequivalent control group models. In only one of the models does the CAC generate a statistically significant but small reduction in ground-level ozone. Future research should assess the full range of costs and benefits to the public associated with such soft transport policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers the author's insights on the need for cities to be localized to achieve its greatness, boundaries and urbanization. Topics mentioned include the struggle to preserve locality and deepen the innovation and cooperation strategies, the consider to managed and planned cities as part of the solution to environmental crisis, and the focus of the study at Terreform urban research center on city limits of New York.

Beijing's local water resources have been overexploited and the ecological and environmental pressures exceed the carrying capacity of this densely populated megacity. This article examines the current status of Beijing's water resources with respect to its industrial, residential, and eco-environmental water usage and the challenges it may face in the near future. The article describes the context of water uses, the steps taken by Beijing to alleviate the water shortage problems, and challenges to Beijing's abilities to meet its urgent and future water needs. A multipronged strategy is proposed that aims at both the present problems and the anticipated future challenges. In particular, engineering and institutional approaches for Beijing's successful transition from overexploitation to sustainable utilization of water resources are explained. Actions include reasonable water utilization, water conservation, reclaimed wastewater, and importing water from neighboring areas. We conclude that Beijing must take additional steps in water resource management to ensure its sustainable development that involves continued urbanization sprawls and population growth. Future water resource management strategies should focus on strengthening water demand management through water conservation, efficient interbasin water transfers, use of nontraditional water resources, strategically reserving water supply, and promoting rehabilitation of the eco-environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The association of elements Cd, Co, Cr, Fe, Mn, Pb, Ti, and V with various geochemical phases in the sediments from the Olifants, Klein Olifants, Wilge rivers and a tributary of the Olifants River was studied using a four-step sequential extraction scheme. By employing enrichment factors, these elements were found to be contaminating the sediments. Sequential extraction enabled partitioning of the metals into exchangeable, reducible, oxidizable, and residual fractions. Most of the elements were found to exist in the residual fraction, characterized by stable compounds. Application of risk assessment code to the exchangeable fraction revealed that most of the elements posed a medium risk to aquatic life, with the exception of Co, Pb, and Mn, which were classified into the high-risk category. Non-residual/more bioavailable fractions were examined using statistics. Correlation analysis was employed to understand the interaction between the more bioavailable fractions of metals with the reducible phase consisting of oxides of Fe and Mn. These oxides contribute to the adsorption of trace metals onto sediments. Co, V, Pb, Cr, and Cd in the reducible fraction were found to be associated with Fe-oxides, while V, Cr, and Ti were associated with Mn-oxides, as indicated by significantly high correlation coefficients. Through cluster and factor analysis three anthropogenic activities associated with mining and use of coal and iron and steel manufacturing were found to be contributing metals to the sediments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eco-cities have attracted international attention from governments, corporations, academics and other actors seeking to use sustainable urban planning to reduce urban environmental impacts. China has devoted significant political will and economic resources to the development of new-build eco-city projects, reflecting the Chinese government's goals to build a 'harmonious society' in which environmental sustainability and social stability are mutually reinforcing. We critically analyse the case of the Sino-Singapore Tianjin eco-city to demonstrate that the eco-city's ecologically modernizing visions of eco-urbanism construct a protective environment for its residents that constrains broader consideration of social sustainability. Through analysis of the marketing and presentation of specific domestic and other spaces of the eco-city, we examine the application of ecologically modernizing construction and technology to the design of the city. We argue that the eco-city is discursively constructed as ecologically beneficial for its inhabitants rather than for the broader socio-environmental landscape. Our analysis of residential spaces in Tianjin eco-city introduces the question of what 'eco' means when considering the construction of eco-urban environments for the city's residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In soil surveys, the number of collected samples is commonly reduced by factors that hamper field activities, such as rugged terrain and lack of roads. Conditioned Latin hypercube (CLH) sampling has been used to properly capture soil variability across the landscape, whereas cost-constrained conditioned Latin hypercube (CCLH) sampling limits the sampling to areas of easy access. The objectives of this work were to: (i) compare the efficiency of CLH and CCLH sampling systems to create soil maps, considering the number of soil classes covered per system, (ii) compare both systems to map soil A horizon thickness, and (iii) generate a detailed soil map of the study area to assist in decision makings. The study was performed in Minas Gerais, Brazil. A digital elevation model (DEM) and its terrain derivatives were the basis for CLH and CCLH to determine the sampling points. The CCLH system also required a cost map that represented the difficulty of reaching every place in the area. At the sampling locations, soil information was observed, allowing for the creation of those maps that were further validated in the field. Kappa index, global index (Gl), RMSE, 1:1 ratio graphic, and R² were the comparison parameters. Conditioned Latin hypercube presented higher accuracy than CCLH to represent both soil classes and soil attributes, although the samples were spread out in the area. Cost-constrained conditioned Latin hypercube was less representative than CLH, but it may contribute to soil sampling in areas of difficult access, common in developing countries, such as Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The South African grassland biome is one of the most threatened biomes in South Africa. Approximately 45% of the grassland biome area is transformed, degraded or severely invaded by alien plants and the remaining natural areas are highly fragmented. In this fragmented landscape, the connectivity between habitat patches is very important to maintain viable populations. In this study we aimed to quantify connectivity of the grassland biome in Mpumalanga using graph theory in order to identify conservation priorities and to direct conservation efforts. Graph theory-based connectivity indices have the ability to combine spatially explicit habitat data with species specific dispersal data and can quantify structural and functional connectivity over large landscapes. We used these indices to quantify the overall connectivity of the study area, to determine the influence of abandoned croplands on overall connectivity, and to identify the habitat patches and vegetation types most in need of maintaining overall connectivity. Natural areas were identified using 2008 land cover data for Mpumalanga. Connectivity within the grassland biome of Mpumalanga was analysed for grassland species with dispersal distances ranging from 50 to 1000 m. The grassland habitat patches were mostly well connected, with 99.6% of the total habitat area connected in a single component at a threshold distance of 1000 m. The inclusion of abandoned croplands resulted in a 33% increase in connectivity at a threshold distance of 500 m. The habitat patches most important for maintaining overall connectivity were the large patches of continuous habitat in the upper and lower centres of the study area and the most important vegetation types were the Wakkerstroom Montane Grassland and the Eastern Temperate Freshwater Wetlands. These results can be used to inform management decisions and reserve design to improve and maintain connectivity in this biome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban heat island ( UHI) effect is an important impact factor of the regional climate and ecological environment. How to observe and analyse the spatial distribution of UHI has become an important issue of urban environmental research. In this paper, the near-surface air temperature of Beijing was derived based on the Landsat/ TM satellite imagery on 26 July 2011 to study the near-surface UHI. A statistical model at 195-m window size was established to estimate the air temperature, using land surface temperature, normalized difference vegetation index, altitude, and surface albedo as independent variables. The mean absolute error ( MAE) of the model was 0.87°C, and the R2 was 0.66, indicating that the method can be used to effectively estimate the air temperature. The air temperature distribution obtained from remote sensing revealed that the UHI effect in Beijing was very significant and showed a concentrated pattern. The heat island intensity was stronger in the southern part than in the northern part of the city. In addition, the relationship between the air temperature and impervious surfaces was analysed. The air temperature increased with increasing impervious surface coverage, and the rate of change depended on the impervious surface coverage. When the impervious surface coverage was below 40 per cent, the temperature increased rapidly with increasing impervious surface coverage, and when the impervious surface coverage was above 40 per cent, the temperature increased slowly. This study provides a new approach to monitor near-surface UHI and reveals its relationship with impervious surface, providing a scientific reference for urban planning and environmental assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I discuss historic and contemporary relationships between landscape design, housing and everyday uses of green space in urban China. By drawing together writing focused on theorizing nature and everyday life, I offer critical insights into urban political, economic, social and cultural change in Chinese cities. The paper begins with a review of religious philosophies and cultural traditions relating to the development of Chinese gardens and then discusses the impact of the introduction of 'western' style public parks alongside the emergence of modern urban planning and design. The second half of the paper traces how changing notions of nature and everyday life can be mapped onto housing development and associated urban social and spatial inequalities. In conclusion, I highlight how critical insights at the intersection of thinking on nature and everyday life can inform socially progressive urban development, planning and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farming, including family farming, is now dominated by vertically controlled operations that deplete the soil, pollute water, and produce food designed more to satisfy marketing requirements than human nutritional needs. Agricultural practices today are a result of abdicating control over our lives to a thoroughly industrialized culture, in which institutions are governed by the single criterion of efficiency--finding least-cost solutions. Standardization is a major part of that process. But living systems cannot be standardized. They require diversity and some degree of redundancy to adapt to changing environmental conditions. In the cultural contest between the machine and the garden, the machine has definitely won, but if we do not make room for the garden again, our victory will be our own funeral. New Agrarianism seeks to encourage diversity of species on each farm and across farms within entire landscapes. But farmers cannot carry out the restoration of ecologically-oriented agriculture on their own. They need support from cities: 1) in the form of markets to sell locally-grown produce at prices that will support their work, 2) in a new understanding of ecosystems that focuses on inhabited spaces and not just wilderness, and 3) in an orientation that questions whether efficiency should be the paramount value of our culture. Finally, the transition to more biologically-diverse human settlements can come about only if economic incentives are modified to remove the unrelenting pressure on farmers to expand their operations or go out of business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]