Global long-term mapping of surface temperature shows intensified intra-city urban heat island extremes

Surface temperatures are generally higher in cities than in rural surroundings. This phenomenon, known as Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI), increases the risk of heat-related human illnesses and mortality. Past global studies analysed this phenomenon aggregated at city scale or over seasonal and annual time periods, while human impacts strongly depend on shorter term heat stress experienced locally. Here we develop a global long-term high-resolution dataset of daytime SUHI, offering an insight into the space–time variability of the urban–rural temperature differences which is unprecedented at global scale. Our results show that across urban areas worldwide over the period 2003–2020, 3-day SUHI extremes are on average more than twice as high as the warm-season median SUHI, with local exceedances up to 10 K. Over this period, SUHI extremes have increased more rapidly than warm-season medians, and averaged worldwide are now 1.04 K or 31% higher compared to 2003. This can be linked with increasing urbanisation, more frequent heatwaves, and greening of the earth, processes that are all expected to continue in the coming decades. Within many cities there are hotspots where extreme SUHI intensity is 10–15 K higher compared to relatively cooler city parts. Given the limited human adaptability to heat stress, our results advocate for mitigation strategies targeted at reducing SUHI extremes in the most vulnerable and exposed city neighbourhoods.     

Finding a path for REDD+ between ODA and the CDM

Abstract

Strategies to mitigate anthropogenic climate change recognize that carbon sequestration in the terrestrial biosphere can reduce the build-up of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere. However, climate mitigation policies do not generally incorporate the effects of these changes in the land surface on the surface albedo, the fluxes of sensible and latent heat to the atmosphere, and the distribution of energy within the climate system. Changes in these components of the surface energy budget can affect the local, regional, and global climate. Given the goal of mitigating climate change, it is important to consider all of the effects of changes in terrestrial vegetation and to work toward a better understanding of the full climate system. Acknowledging the importance of land surface change as a component of climate change makes it more challenging to create a system of credits and debits wherein emission or sequestration of carbon in the biosphere is equated with emission of carbon from fossil fuels. Recognition of the complexity of human-caused changes in climate does not, however, weaken the importance of actions that would seek to minimize our disturbance of the Earth's environmental system and that would reduce societal and ecological vulnerability to environmental change and variability.

© 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.     

Climate change response in Europe: what’s the reality? Analysis of adaptation and mitigation plans from 200 urban areas in 11 countries

Urban areas are pivotal to global adaptation and mitigation efforts. But how do cities actually perform in terms of climate change response? This study sheds light on the state of urban climate change adaptation and mitigation planning across Europe. Europe is an excellent test case given its advanced environmental policies and high urbanization. We performed a detailed analysis of 200 large and medium-sized cities across 11 European countries and analysed the cities’ climate change adaptation and mitigation plans. We investigate the regional distribution of plans, adaptation and mitigation foci and the extent to which planned greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions contribute to national and international climate objectives. To our knowledge, it is the first study of its kind as it does not rely on self-assessment (questionnaires or social surveys). Our results show that 35 % of European cities studied have no dedicated mitigation plan and 72 % have no adaptation plan. No city has an adaptation plan without a mitigation plan. One quarter of the cities have both an adaptation and a mitigation plan and set quantitative GHG reduction targets, but those vary extensively in scope and ambition. Furthermore, we show that if the planned actions within cities are nationally representative the 11 countries investigated would achieve a 37 % reduction in GHG emissions by 2050, translating into a 27 % reduction in GHG emissions for the EU as a whole. However, the actions would often be insufficient to reach national targets and fall short of the 80 % reduction in GHG emissions recommended to avoid global mean temperature rising by 2 °C above pre-industrial levels.     

Thermodynamics and environmental constraints make the biosphere predictable – a response to Volk

In his critique of Kleidon (Clim Change 66:271–319, 2004), Volk (Clim Change 85:3–4, 2007) concludes that maximum entropy production (MEP) has no great relevance for biological evolution and the time history of life on Earth. I think that most of his points are not justified but rather reflect (a) a lack of appreciation of the central importance of entropy production as the “universal currency” that measures what keeps systems working, including the biosphere, (b) a misunderstanding of how biotic activity is embedded in the global entropy budget, and (c) a lack of distinction between optimal environmental conditions that maximize productivity and result from environmental tradeoffs versus optimal function of organisms to some internal tradeoffs. The examples that he uses to support his conclusions show flaws in that these mostly discuss single environmental effects and immediate system responses. Optimal environmental conditions, however, requires at least two effects that result in a trade-off, so it is not surprising that his examples seem to contradict optimality and MEP. And the immediate response of a system to change can be very different than the response in steady state, for which MEP applies. This is specifically important to be considered in the context of the “cheater” problem. In summary, I do not think that Volk makes convincing arguments that contradict MEP, although I certainly agree that there is a lot more work to be done to fully recognize the great importance that thermodynamics and MEP play in shaping the Earth’s biosphere and its evolutionary history.     

Nature-based environmental education of children: Environmental knowledge and connectedness to nature,together, are related to ecological behaviour

The promotion of environmental knowledge is viewed as a fundamental component of environmental education and a necessary prerequisite to ecological behaviour; however, it has little effect on actual behaviour. Nature-based environmental education, which combines the acquisition of environmental knowledge with the promotion of an intrinsic driver, namely connectedness to nature, is proposed as a holistic approach to increase ecological behaviour. This paper evaluates the effect of participation in nature-based environmental education in 4th to 6th graders (N = 255). As expected, increased participation in nature-based environmental education was related to greater ecological behaviour, mediated by increases in environmental knowledge and connectedness to nature. While both factors were similarly predicted by participation in nature-based environmental education, connectedness to nature explained 69% and environmental knowledge 2% of the variance in ecological behaviour. However, the design of our data do not evidence the causality of these relations, which are solely based on theoretical assumptions supported by literature. Nevertheless, the importance of fostering both environmental knowledge and connectedness to nature as complementary drivers of ecological behaviour, as offered by nature-based environmental education, should be researched further as a highly promising approach to fostering ecologically-motivated individuals.     

The climatic impacts of land surface change and carbon management, and the implications for climate-change mitigation policy

Strategies to mitigate anthropogenic climate change recognize that carbon sequestration in the terrestrial biosphere can reduce the build-up of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere. However, climate mitigation policies do not generally incorporate the effects of these changes in the land surface on the surface albedo, the fluxes of sensible and latent heat to the atmosphere, and the distribution of energy within the climate system. Changes in these components of the surface energy budget can affect the local, regional, and global climate. Given the goal of mitigating climate change, it is important to consider all of the effects of changes in terrestrial vegetation and to work toward a better understanding of the full climate system. Acknowledging the importance of land surface change as a component of climate change makes it more challenging to create a system of credits and debits wherein emission or sequestration of carbon in the biosphere is equated with emission of carbon from fossil fuels. Recognition of the complexity of human-caused changes in climate does not, however, weaken the importance of actions that would seek to minimize our disturbance of the Earth’s environmental system and that would reduce societal and ecological vulnerability to environmental change and variability.     

Basic analysis of climate and urban bioclimate of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Better understanding of urban microclimate and bioclimate of any city is imperative today when the world is constrained by both urbanisation and global climate change. Urbanisation generally triggers changes in land cover and hence influencing the urban local climate. Dar es Salaam city in Tanzania is one of the fast growing cities. Assessment of its urban climate and the human biometeorological conditions was done using the easily available synoptic meteorological data covering the period 2001–2011. In particular, the physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) was calculated using the RayMan software and results reveal that the afternoon period from December to February (DJF season) is relatively the most thermal stressful period to human beings in Dar es Salaam where PET values of above 35 °C were found. Additionally, the diurnal cycle of the individual meteorological elements that influence the PET index were analysed and found that air temperature of 30–35 °C dominate the afternoon period from 12:00 to 15:00 hours local standard time at about 60 % of occurrence. The current results, though considered as preliminary to the ongoing urban climate study in the city, provide an insight on how urban climate research is of significant importance in providing useful climatic information for ensuring quality of life and wellbeing of city dwellers.     

Personal experience with climate change predicts intentions to act

The public's willingness to engage in mitigation actions has not received as much attention as the level of belief in Global Warming (GW), especially on the international stage. Research in Western nations indicates that people systematically misunderstand GW and the actions required for mitigation. Important factors that influence judgments about mitigation actions include personal experiences, beliefs, knowledge, values, and worldviews. We present results of an international survey (25 samples from 24 countries) measuring general intentions to act and willingness to engage in specific actions. Our analysis reveals that endorsement of specific actions is (a) lower than general endorsement of mitigation, (b) accompanied by higher intra-individual variance, and (c) more strongly related to personal experiences with GW. This pattern can be attributed to the compatibility between the proximal construal of specific actions and the nature of the personal experience. Lastly we provide recommendations on how these findings can be used to encourage mitigation action.     

Numerical study of the nocturnal urban boundary layer

A two-dimensional time-dependent Earth-atmosphere model is developed which can be applied to the study of a class of atmospheric boundary-layer flows which owe their origin to horizontal inhomogeneities with respect to surface roughness and temperature. Our main application of the model is to explore the governing physical mechanisms of nocturnal urban atmospheric boundarylayer flow.A case study is presented in which a stable temperature stratification is assumed to exist in the rural upwind area. It is shown through integration of the numerical model that as this air passes over a city, the heat is redistributed due to increased surface friction (and hence increased turbulent mixing). This redistribution of heat results in the formation of an urban heat island.Additional numerical integrations of the model are conducted to examine the dependence of induced perturbations on: (1) the upwind temperature inversion; (2) the geostrophic wind speed; and (3) urbanization. The results show a linear relationship between heat-island intensity and the rural temperature inversion with the heat island increasing in intensity as the upwind inversion becomes stronger; that the heat-island intensity close to the surface is inversely proportional to the geostrophic wind; and that the effects of anthropogenic heat cause an increase in the perturbation temperature with the perturbation extending to higher altitudes. From this study, we conclude that with an upwind temperature inversion, a city of any size should generate a heat island as a result of increased surface roughness. The heat-island intensity should increase with city size because of two factors: larger cities are usually aerodynamically rougher; and larger cities have a larger anthropogenic heat output.Research supported in part by NSF Grant GA-16822.     

Urban Bias in Temperature Time Series – a Case Study for the City of Vienna, Austria

Compared with other large cities Vienna shows different urban development characteristics. The city has had a zero population growth during 1951–1995, a period of rapid growth elsewhere. In spite of its stagnating population of about 1,6 million Vienna has had development in other areas: a doubling of living floor space, a two and a half-fold increase in total energy consumption, a 60% rise of traffic area. In contrast, forests have been reduced by 20% and grasslands within the city borders by 30%. Of the 34 temperature recording stations in the study area of 1450 km², nine series passed the quality tests after careful homogenization. Three of these were in the rural environment and were used as reference series for the urban temperature excess at the other six stations in the urbanized area. The urban excess temperatures vary from site to site: from 0.2 K in suburban areas up to 1.6 K in densely built-up areas. The Vienna case study illustrates two features of more than local interest which should be considered in urban climatology as well as in time series studies where the urban temperature excess is regarded as a bias. Firstly, in a city with constant population the urban heat excess shows significant to strongly significant trends of up to 0.6 K in 45 years due to changes in urban morphology and energy consumption. Secondly, the urban heat island and its trend cannot be regarded simply for the city as a whole. There are different absolute levels, different annual variations and different increases of the urban temperature excess in different parts of a city. The urban effect is more strongly influenced by the local surroundings of the site than by the city as a whole. So, if possible, urban heat islands should not be described by a two station approach only (the typical airport-downtown comparison), nor should it rely on regression between population number and heat island.     

Longwave incoming radiation in the Tropics: results from field work in three African cities

Summary This study investigates differences in longwave incoming radiation (L↓) within and between three African cities, Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), and Gaborone (Botswana), during the dry season, and evaluates the performance of a model to simulate these fluxes. In each city, direct observations of L↓, shortwave incoming radiation (K↓), air temperature, air humidity, and total suspended particle (TSP) concentration for three land uses (CBD, green residential, and traditional residential) were taken. The observed L↓ flux decreases with increasing latitude, and temperature becomes an increasingly important factor in governing L↓ variations further from the Equator. Humidity, as well as particle loading, differs significantly between the three cities. Differences between observed and modelled ɛ_sky for rural stations near all cities showed a clear diurnal variation, with maximum differences of 0.08 between day and night. This diurnal difference was incorporated in the model and, for urban areas the model overestimates L↓ by around 25 Wm⁻². However, this model performs equally well regardless of the land use considered in any of the cities. The residual (difference between observed and modelled urban L↓) did not show any correlation with particulate pollution. However, the difference between observed and calculated ɛ_sky is around 0.05 higher in Ouagadougou compared to the other cities, likely due to the heavy dust load observed here. It is concluded that tropical urban longwave radiation is not dramatically different from the mid latitudes.     

Approaches to defining a planetary boundary for biodiversity

The idea that there is an identifiable set of boundaries, beyond which anthropogenic change will put the Earth system outside a safe operating space for humanity, is attracting interest in the scientific community and gaining support in the environmental policy world. Rockstrom et al. (2009) identify nine such boundaries and highlight biodiversity loss as being the single boundary where current rates of extinction put the Earth system furthest outside the safe operating space. Here we review the evidence to support a boundary based on extinction rates and identify weaknesses with this metric and its bearing on humanity's needs. While changes to biodiversity are of undisputed importance, we show that both extinction rate and species richness are weak metrics for this purpose, and they do not scale well from local to regional or global levels. We develop alternative approaches to determine biodiversity loss boundaries and extend our analysis to consider large-scale responses in the Earth system that could affect its suitability for complex human societies which in turn are mediated by the biosphere. We suggest three facets of biodiversity on which a boundary could be based: the genetic library of life; functional type diversity; and biome condition and extent. For each of these we explore the science needed to indicate how it might be measured and how changes would affect human societies. In addition to these three facets, we show how biodiversity's role in supporting a safe operating space for humanity may lie primarily in its interactions with other boundaries, suggesting an immediate area of focus for scientists and policymakers.     

Urban reactions to the global warming issue: Agenda setting in Toronto and Chicago

Little research has been done about what cities could or should do concerning potential global warming. A few cities have adopted programs to deal with impacts they perceive may occur, and a worldwide network of 100 cities involved with CO₂ reduction has recently emerged. Global warming is a new issue for cities and most are only dimly aware of how it may affect them. Toronto, through the efforts of a few leaders, has become a pioneer in the development of an urban response program to global warming. It has charged a city agency to deal with global warming issues, in particular emissions reduction. Chicago is aware of the issue and is concerned about the negative impacts global warming could produce. While behind Toronto, Chicago is moving forward in a number of areas. These two cities illuminate the policy-making process for global warming at the urban level and the role {atpolicy entrepreneurs} can play at this level. In comparing the two cities, a common model of policy development is utilized.     

Mapping the diversity of regulating ecosystem services in European cities

This paper presents the first analysis of the diversity of regulating ecosystem services (ESS)—key variables for global environmental sustainability and change in an urban era—across a globally important part of the urban world, urban Europe. We map the first pan-European pattern of regulating ecosystem services in urban core areas and their associated hinterlands and discuss data against the background of each city's land-use development history and planning culture. Upon selecting more than 300 cities, we used the Urban Atlas database and a straightforward calculation method to map three regulating ecosystem services. The main results of this study show (a) a heterogeneous distribution of regulating ecosystem services across European cities, (b) considerable provisioning differences between core cities and the hinterland, (c) a grouping of European regions according to their potential for urban ecosystem service provisioning and (d) an ecosystem services supply ranking for European cities. Considerable differences in urban ecosystem services were found among northern countries, such as Sweden and Finland, which are rich in supplying ecosystem services compared to the UK and Belgium, which, similar to Spanish and Greek cities, are characteristically low in ecosystem services provision. Our results provide the first overall picture of regulating services in urban EU-Europe and serve to inform decisions on the key aspects of future European policy and strategies involving urban nature, green spaces and health.     

Synoptic comparison of cold events in winter and summerin Melbourne and Perth

Summary  Unseasonably cold weather episodes have the potential to cause dislocation to many aspects of society, regardless of the season in which they occur. In this work we devise a method for quantitatively identifying extreme cold events in such a way that it is not biased to the winter season (as is usual in most other studies). We have applied this method to the daily maximum temperatures (over the period January 1972 to June 1991) in the southern Australian cities of Melbourne and Perth. We identify 10 cold events in winter and summer for the cities. Analyses were performed to determine the synoptic environment in which these events occurred. The most common synoptic type in these samples was the ‘classic’, which is characterised by, amongst other factors, the passage of a cold front over the city on the day of the outbreak, and the transport of air from subantarctic latitudes. Melbourne recorded five such events in summer and six in winter, while seven and eight occurred in the two seasons for Perth. The circulation features and characteristics of other synoptic types identified with these episodes is also examined. The mean synoptic anomalies which are coincident with these cold events are analysed. For both cities and seasons there is a ‘high-low’ anomalous dipole in the regional MSLP pattern, with the high located in the ‘upstream’ quadrant from the anomalous cyclone. Having said this, the relative importance of the two features of the dipole in being associated with the cold event strongly depended on the city and season under consideration. The research shows that the regional structures associated with cold events in Melbourne and Perth bear some similarity, but also display a number of significant differences. These differences are associated partly with the different climatological and synoptic settings in which these cities find themselves, and the nature of their seasonality. Received October 10, 1999/Revised April 7, 2000     

Daily maximum urban heat island intensity in large cities of Korea

Summary This study investigates the characteristics of the daily maximum urban heat island (UHI) intensity in the six largest cities of South Korea (Seoul, Incheon, Daejeon, Daegu, Gwangju, and Busan) during the period 1973–2001. The annually-averaged daily maximum UHI intensity in all cities tends to increase with time, but the rate of increase differs. It is found that the average annual daily maximum UHI intensity tends to be smaller in coastal cities (Incheon and Busan) than in inland cities (Daejeon, Daegu, and Gwangju), even if a coastal city is larger than an inland city.A spectral analysis shows a prominent diurnal cycle in the UHI intensity in all cities and a prominent annual cycle in coastal cities. A multiple linear regression analysis is undertaken in order to relate the daily maximum UHI intensity to the maximum UHI intensity on the previous day (PER), wind speed (WS), cloudiness (CL), and relative humidity (RH). In all cities, the PER variable is positively correlated with the daily maximum UHI intensity, while WS, CL, and RH variables are negatively correlated with it. The most important variable in all cities is PER, but the relative importance of the other three variables differs depending on city. The total variance explained by the multiple linear regression equation ranges from 29.9% in Daejeon to 44.7% in Seoul. A multidimensional scaling analysis performed with a correlation matrix obtained using the daily maximum UHI intensity data appears to distinguish three city groups. These groupings are closely connected with distances between cities. A multidimensional scaling analysis undertaken using the normalized regression coefficients obtained from the multiple linear regression analysis distinguishes three city groups. Notably, Incheon and Busan form one group, whose points in the two-dimensional space are very close. The results of a cluster analysis performed using the multivariate data of PER, WS, RH, and CL are consistent with those of the multidimensional scaling analysis. The analysis results in this study indicate that the characteristics of the UHI intensity in a coastal city are in several aspects different from those in an inland city.     

The chemistry of heavy haze over Urumqi,Central Asia

A sampling campaign of aerosols over Urumqi from 2001–2007 and soil samples in the surrounding areas were carried out to investigate the severe air pollution in Urumqi, a typical inland city, located in the center of Asia. Urumqi is one of the heavy polluted cities in the world, as the days of haze spanned over one third of the year and accounted for 60–80% of the heating period for the past 6 years. High concentration of fine aerosols, frequent occurrence, and rapid formation of heavy haze were the three main characteristics. With comparison of the pollution elements, As, Cd, and S, and the ratio of Ca/Al in aerosols and soils in those sites located on the south of Jungger Basin as tracers, it was found that As, Cd, and S highly enriched in the aerosols over urban Urumqi were not only from the re-suspended road dust but also from the soil transported from south of the Jungger Basin. Different from the most cities in China, the high concentration of sulfate in Urumqi was partially from the primary soil dust transported from the surrounding areas. The mixing of the local anthropogenic aerosols with the soil transported from outside the city was the main source of the high sulfate concentration. Ammonium salts were higher than the summed equivalents of SO₄²⁻, NO₃⁻, and Cl⁻ in Urumqi and much higher than that in other Chinese cities. The total water soluble ions and the total ammonium salts were as high as 57.8% and 51.0% in PM_2.5. The high concentration of soluble salts with high hygroscopicity, especially ammonium and sulfate salts, were the main factors contributing to the heavy haze over Urumqi.     

Relationships between Synoptic Climatology and Atmospheric Pollution at 4 US Cities

Summary  An evaluation of the impacts of weather on pollution, specifically, ozone and total suspended particulates concentration for Summer, is examined in four cities in the U.S.: Birmingham, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Seattle. These cities were selected because of their different climate regimes and their generally good pollutant and meteorological datasets. This paper uses a synoptic climatological approach, which combines a number of atmospheric factors, to better identify the relationships between atmospheric pollution and climatological conditions. Synoptic events represent holistic units of atmospheric conditions which commonly occur at a given locale, and possess specific weather and pollution characteristics. A number of weather variables, including temperature, are used in the development of a synoptic index, which can be used to identify synoptic events associated with specific pollution episodes. Results from the analysis illustrate that there is a substantial difference in pollution loads under different synoptic patterns, and that the cities do have substantially different relationships. Information from this study could be used to assist in the analysis of the differential impacts of weather and pollution upon human morbidity. Specific information as to the linkages between the synoptic weather patterns, pollution concentrations, and human health could be used in the development of weather/health watch-warning systems to alert the public that a synoptic episode is imminent. Received September 18, 1998     

It is a moral issue: The relationship between environmental self-identity,obligation-based intrinsic motivation and pro-environmental behaviour

In order to effectively mitigate climate change, people need to adopt environmentally-friendly actions. We argue that some people act in an environmentally-friendly manner without external incentives to do so, but rather because they are intrinsically motivated to do so. There is some initial evidence to suggest that this is particularly likely for people with a strong environmental self-identity. However, not much is known about how environmental self-identity influences pro-environmental actions. In this research, we aimed to test whether, and if so, via which process environmental self-identity is related to environmentally-friendly behaviour. We conducted three studies to test our hypotheses. In the first study, our hypotheses were confirmed in a sample of the general population using a correlational design. In the second study, we replicated our findings with a different indicator of moral obligation and with a different dependent variable. In the third study, we tested our model in an experimental design. Again, we found support for our hypotheses that environmental self-identity is related to one's obligation-based intrinsic motivation (that is, feelings of moral obligation) to act pro-environmentally, which in turn affects pro-environmental actions. As expected, the obligation-based intrinsic motivation mediates the relationship between environmental self-identity and environmentally-friendly behaviour. Our findings suggest that strengthening environmental self-identity may be a cost-effective way to promote pro-environmental actions, as people with a strong environmental self-identity are likely to act in an environmentally-friendly manner without an external incentive to do so.     

Urban greenspace as a climate change adaptation strategy for subtropical Asian cities: A comparative study across cities in three countries

Interest in nature-based approaches for climate change adaptation in cities is growing. Whilst there is a growing field of scholarship in a European and North America setting, research on the policy and governance of urban greenspace for climate adaptation in subtropical Asia is limited. Given the different development patterns, environmental characteristics and governance arrangements in subtropical cities, plus their comparatively large population and high climate risk, this is a significant knowledge gap. In response, this paper evaluates competences – skill sets, capabilities, and supporting policy and legislation – to enact adaptation through greenspace across different governance contexts; and assesses how international rhetoric on nature-based adaptation becomes localised to subtropical Asian city settings. We conduct interviews with stakeholders, plus review of relevant policy and city-specific research, for three cities with different governance and development contexts: Hanoi (Vietnam); Taipei (Taiwan); and Fukuoka (Japan). Across all three cases, we find that institutional structures and processes for connecting different remits and knowledge systems are a bigger challenge than a lack of appropriate policy or individuals with the required technical knowledge. However, opportunities for civil society participation and consideration of justice issues vary between the cities according to the socio-political context. These findings illustrate the value of individuals and organisations able to work across institutional boundaries in linking greenspace and adaptation agendas for subtropical Asian cities; and the importance of competence in collaboration with developers and civil society so that the rapid development or regeneration seen in subtropical Asian contexts does not tend towards green climate gentrification. More broadly, our findings show that the diverse nature of subtropical Asian cities means the role of greenspace in climate adaptation is likely to be context-specific, and thus that caution must be exercised against uncritically importing best practices from exemplar cases elsewhere.