Mangrove conversion and aquaculture development in Vietnam: A remote sensing-based approach for evaluating the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

Remote sensing data have been proposed as a potential tool for monitoring environmental treaties. However, to date, satellite images have been used primarily for visualization, but not for systematic monitoring of treaty compliance. In this paper, we present a methodology to operationalize the use of satellite imagery to assess the impact of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. The approach uses time series analysis of landscape pattern metrics to assess land cover conditions before and after designation of Ramsar status to monitor compliance with the Convention. We apply the methodology to two case studies in Vietnam and evaluate the success of Ramsar using four metrics: (1) total mangrove extent; (2) mangrove fragmentation; (3) mangrove density; and (4) aquaculture extent. Results indicate that the Ramsar Convention did not slow the development of aquaculture in the region, but total mangrove extent has remained relatively constant, primarily due to replanting efforts. Yet despite these restoration efforts, the mangroves have become fragmented and survival rates for replanting efforts are low. The methodology is cost effective and especially useful to evaluate Ramsar sites that rely mainly on self-reporting methods and where third parties are not actively involved in the monitoring process. Finally, the case study presented in this paper demonstrates that with the appropriate satellite record, in situ measurements and field observations, remote sensing is a promising technology that can help monitor compliance with international environmental agreements.     

城市雨水利用在区域规划环评中的可行性分析

我国目前正处于城市化快速发展阶段,随之而来的城市雨水资源的大量流失和污染严重的雨水径流及由此引起的城市洪灾和生态环境破坏等问题引起了人们的高度关注。对开发区雨水利用可行性分析结果表明:开发区雨水收集量可占总用水量的2.5%—8.0%,可节约用水费用12%—20%;与污水回用相比,在污水量小于5 000 m3/d时,采用雨水收集利用更加经济可行。因此,提出在区域规划层次上,应提高对城市雨水利用对策的重视,充分发挥区域规划环境影响评价宏观控制、协调的作用。     

Environmentalities of urban climate governance in Maputo,Mozambique

Interest in the role that cities can play in climate change as sites of transformation has increased but research has been limited in its practical applications and there has been limited consideration of how policies and technologies play out. These challenges necessitate a re-thinking of existing notions of urban governance in order to account for the practices that emerge from governments and a plethora of other actors in the context of uncertainty. We understand these practices to constitute adaptive governance, underpinned by social learning guiding the actions of the multiplicity of actors. The aim here is to unpack how social learning for adaptive governance requires attention to competing understandings of risk and identity, and the multiplicity of mechanisms in which change occurs or is blocked in urban climate governance. We adopt a novel lens of ‘environmentalities’ which allows us to assess the historical and institutional context and power relations in the informal settlements of Maputo, Mozambique. Our findings highlight how environmental identities around urban adaptation to climate change are constituted in the social and physical divisions between the formal and informal settlements, whilst existing knowledge models prioritise dominant economic and political interests and lead to the construction of new environmental subjects. While the findings of this study are contextually distinct, the generalizable lessons are that governance of urban adaptation occurs and is solidified within a complex multiplicity of socio-ecological relations.     

Contesting climate justice in the city: Examining politics and practice in urban climate change experiments

Debates about climate justice have mainly occurred at the international scale, and have focussed on the rights and responsibilities of nation-states to either be protected from the effects of climate change, or to take action to reduce emissions or support adaptation. In this paper, we argue that it is both productive and necessary to examine how climate justice is being pursued at the urban scale, which brings into focus the need for attention to issues of recognition as well as rights and responsibilities. Building on work from environmental justice, which has conceptualized justice as trivalent, we propose that climate justice can be understood as a pyramid, the faces of which are distributions, procedures, rights, responsibilities and recognition. We then apply this conceptual framework to examine climate change interventions in five cities; Bangalore, Monterrey, Hong Kong, Philadelphia and Berlin. Arguing that the politics and practices of urban climate change interventions are constantly engaging with and refracting the idea of justice, we examine how justice was articulated, practiced and contested across our cases. The perspective of recognition emerges as a particularly useful entry point through which to explore the types of rights, responsibilities, distributions and procedures required to respond justly to climate change. We conclude by reflecting on our framework, arguing that it is useful both as an analytical device to interrogate climate justice and to shape the design of climate change interventions which seek to ensure climate justice.     

International targets and environmental policy integration: The 2010 Biodiversity Target and its impact on international policy and national implementation in Latin America and the Caribbean

International environmental policy has evolved from a focus on single issues to more integrated approaches under the framework of sustainable development. This transition has been accompanied by a growing use of targets among international organisations. Targets have long been used in industry and corporate planning, but some have questioned their relevance in the ambit of environmental and sustainable development policy. This paper addresses the question of whether international targets help advance environmental policy integration in international governance. It explores whether the international target of significantly reducing the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010, adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 2002, enabled co-ordination and coherence in international biodiversity governance. The effects of the Target on the cluster of biodiversity-related conventions and their implementation in countries of Latin America and the Caribbean are examined. The analysis is based on official documents and interviews with secretariat officials, international experts and national focal points conducted between September 2011 and April 2012. A claim is made that the 2010 Biodiversity Target was, in essence, a conservation goal that did not fully honour the CBD's sustainable development mission. The Target triggered increased co-operation in the biodiversity cluster without bringing greater alignment of policies and implementation activities around the CBD's sustainability principles. The study suggests that, if targets are to advance EPI among international institutions, they need to be appropriated by relevant stakeholders and supported by implementation strategies that secure their continuous commitment.     

Observed winds,turbulence, and dispersion in built-up downtown areas of Oklahoma City and Manhattan

Wind and tracer data from the Oklahoma City Joint Urban 2003 (JU2003) and the Manhattan Madison Square Garden 2005 (MSG05) urban field experiments are being analyzed to aid in understanding air flow and dispersion near street-level in built-up downtown areas. The mean winds are separately calculated for groups of anemometers having similar exposures such as “near street level” and “on building top”. Several general results are found, such as the scalar wind speed at street level is about 1/3 of that at building top. Turbulent standard deviations of wind speed components and temperature, and vertical fluxes of momentum and sensible heat, are calculated from sonic anemometers near street level at 20 locations in JU2003 and five locations in MSG05, and from two rooftop locations in MSG05. The turbulence observations are consistent with observations in the literature at other cities, although the JU2003 and MSG05 data are unique in that many data are available near street level. For example, it is found that the local (i.e., at the measuring height) averages about 1.5 and the local averages about 0.25 in the two cities, where is the standard deviation of vertical velocity fluctuations, is the friction velocity, and u is the wind speed. The ratio of temperature fluctuations to temperature scale, , averages about −3 in both cities, consistent with similarity theory for slightly unstable conditions, where is the standard deviation of temperature fluctuations, and is the temperature scale. The calculated Obukhov length, L, is also consistent with slightly unstable conditions near street level, even at night during JU2003. The SF₆ tracer concentration observations from JU2003 are analyzed. Values of for the continuous releases are calculated for each release and arc distance, where is the 30-min average arc maximum concentration, Q is the continuous source emission rate, and u is the spatial-averaged wind speed in the downtown area. The basic characteristics of the JU2003 plot of averaged agree reasonably well with similar plots for other urban experiments in Salt Lake City and London (i.e., at . A is found to be about 3 during the day and about 10 during the night.     

Unexploited opportunities in understanding liveable and biodiverse cities. A review on urban biodiversity perception and valuation

Many researchers and policymakers from various disciplines highlight the role of urban biodiversity in delivering ecosystem services to enhance human wellbeing in a rapidly urbanising world. This suggests powerful synergies between approaches that are often disciplinarily separated, aiming either at human wellbeing or biodiversity conservation. Strategies towards liveable and biodiverse cities would gain support from insights into the people-biodiversity interface in cities. Yet, the question of which scale of biodiversity (from ecosystems to genes) benefits urban people in general and different socio-cultural groups in particular, remains largely open. To assess the current scientific knowledge as well as potential for further research, we systematically reviewed literature on people’s perception and valuation of urban biodiversity (200 studies). We also quantified the outcomes of studies in terms of the effects of biodiversity on valuation for studies that addressed biodiversity valuation below the ecosystem scale. We found that the current literature is critically biased in four ways. (1) Most studies cover temperate climates, while regions with the most pronounced urban growth are underrepresented. (2) Studies focus on urban forests and parks while important informal greenspaces are largely neglected. (3) Biodiversity is mostly addressed at the ecosystem scale (habitat or land-use types) while diversity at the species community or gene scale—key issues in biodiversity conservation—is covered to a much lesser extent. Most studies below the ecosystem scale show positive biodiversity effects, but universal patterns are not apparent due to the scarcity and low comparability of research. (4) Almost no studies consider the cultural diversity of urban residents by systematically targeting people from different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds or specific age groups. Our review reveals critical knowledge gaps about the people-biodiversity interface in cities, both in approaching cultural and biological diversity (‘biocultural diversity’). This shows unexploited opportunities and future directions in linking usually separated strategies on enhancing human wellbeing and biodiversity conservation in sustainable cities.     

城市下垫面对河谷城市兰州冬季热岛效应及边界层结构的影响

利用中尺度数值模式WRF耦合单层城市冠层模块UCM,引入2005年MODIS土地利用类型资料,在对2005年1月25—28日兰州市热岛现象进行高分辨率数值模拟的基础上,设计了去除城市下垫面敏感性试验,探讨了城市下垫面对城市边界层的影响程度。结果表明,城市下垫面能使近地层大气温度升高而风速减小,并且,在夜间表现更明显。由城市热岛强度日变化分析可知,城市下垫面对兰州市热岛强度的贡献率为44%。夜间,城市上空200 m以下的近地层大气保持了白天的混合层特征,热岛环流的上升运动促进了山风环流,使得上升气流到达地面以上600 m左右;白天,由于山峰加热效应,城市上空400—600 m存在一个脱地逆温层,城市热岛环流使得11—15时（北京时）市区近地层出现弱上升气流,抑制了谷风环流的形成及发展。城市下垫面的低反照率特性和建筑物的多次反射作用导致城市下垫面的净辐射通量大于非城市下垫面;城市下垫面由于建筑材料的不透水性,导致潜热通量远小于感热通量,而储热项所占比重明显增大。     

论中国城市生态健康与环境污染修复

从大气污染、水体污染、固体废弃物污染、噪声污染和土壤污染体等方面,对中国城市生态健康面I临的问题和环境污染现状进行了分析研究。结果表明,城市环境污染形势依然严峻,城市生态健康受到严重威胁,日益成为制约城市健康发展的主要因素。在此基础上,提出了中国城市环境污染修复的建议,认为保持生态健康,城市环境污染的物理和化学修复措施结合生物修复,是构成生态修复的重要要素。在实际修复过程中,把物理修复、化学修复和生物修复更好地结合起来,才能形成有效的生态修复技术。应该进一步增强城市生态健康意识,复合的城市生态系统还需用系统、生态的方法对城市环境污染进行修复,以实现可持续发展和构建和谐社会。     

太阳能光伏屋顶对城市热环境及能源供需影响的模拟

太阳能光伏屋顶的安装在一定程度上能缓解城市化带来的能源危机和城市热环境的破坏。将太阳能板的传热模型引入WRF模式的多层城市冠层方案中,选取了2017年7月21—27日一次典型的高温热浪天气过程,在线模拟太阳能屋顶两种安装形式(贴覆式和支架式)对城市热环境及能量平衡的影响。结果表明:(1)贴覆式太阳能屋顶可使白天2 m气温最多降低0.29°C,降温效果优于支架式屋顶,但夜间温度下降较小。支架式屋顶白天最大降温0.23°C,夜间降温效果明显,与普通屋顶相比,温度最多降低了0.60°C。(2)太阳能屋顶白天确实可以起到降温效果,抑制白天边界层的发展高度,降低边界层的厚度。(3)太阳能屋顶除了对城市气象的影响外,最重要的是它对能源的贡献。从结果来看,太阳能电池板产生的电能可以满足商业区54.5%的空调消耗。     

Relating root causes to local risk conditions: A comparative study of the institutional pathways to small-scale disasters in three urban flood contexts

The continued rise of global disaster losses pushes our attention yet further to the causal factors that drive risks, beyond the frame of standardised risk assessment models. A key gap in our understanding of the causality of disasters remains establishing how spatially and temporally distant factors – ‘root causes’ – drive local risk conditions. This is particularly the case for small-scale but high-impact disasters. It includes understanding the role that institutions play in influencing such pathways of risk production. This paper addresses this question using a holistic approach to risk analysis that links past drivers to contemporary conditions. We apply this in three case studies of coastal flood management in urban areas of differential size and integration within the European Union - Rethymno (Crete), Genoa (Italy) and St Maarten (Dutch Caribbean). The paper reveals the importance of local institutions in mediating the impacts of higher-level economic and political changes on local risks. It provides new empirical evidence of the relationship between austerity, institutional reform and local disaster risk reduction. The analysis supports a stronger causal epistemology of resilience to disasters but also leads to re-consideration of the institutional entry points for risk reduction, and the importance of considering context and trade-offs.     

甘肃省城市环境气象工作的进展与设想

“九五”期间 ,甘肃省城市环境气象工作先后开展了兰州生活气象指数、紫外线、医疗气象、空气质量等方面的预报业务服务工作 ,并建立了甘肃省省级城市专业气象服务系统。提出“十五”以后城市环境气象工作的设想 ,要加快城市环境气象监测系统的建设 ;加强城市环境气象基础性工作的研究 ;加大城市精细预报技术的研究 ;扩大城市环境气象工作的范围和领域     

2008年南京市热岛效应演变特征及其对城市居民生活影响

利用2008年南京市23个自动气象观测站气温资料,分析南京市城市热岛效应的空间分布及其变化特征。结果表明：南京市的热岛中心主要分布在人口和建筑物密集的鼓楼、白下区和建邺区,下关、江宁和浦口等城区气温较低;2008年南京市平均城市热岛强度为1.6℃,四季热岛强度呈秋季、春季、冬季和夏季依次减弱;南京市城市热岛效应对城市居民生活影响较大。南京市热岛效应的逐渐增强,将导致夏季空调使用量的增加,增加能耗对创建低碳城市、建设和谐城市生活产生消极影响。     

南京冬季城、郊下垫面能量平衡特征分析

本文利用2006年2月17日-3月2日在南京市区和郊区测得的辐射、湍流通量和脉动风速资料,定量分析了城、郊不同下垫面辐射收支、热量平衡特征及各分量的变化,结果表明:(1)不同天气条件下辐射平衡特征城、郊有一定差异,在晴天时差异最大,在下雪天时差异最小,但多云时更接近各辐射分量城、郊差异的平均特征;(2)城、郊下垫面感热和潜热分布不均,尤其是潜热城、郊对比有较大差异;(3)观测期间平均波文比(Qh/Qe)市区为7.8,与荒漠干旱地区接近,郊区为1.8.     

城市化发展与气象环境影响的观测与分析研究

通过分析2002年7月12日和2006年5月4日Landsat-5高分辨率资源卫星资料,表明南京市热岛分布特征与南京市的城市建设和区域经济发展的空间特征相当一致,土地利用类型、地表反照率、叶面积指数、植被覆盖度等地表参数分布与城市热岛分布相吻合.运用数值模拟手段对南京城市化对边界层特性产生的影响进行研究,结果表明,随着城市发展,地表反照率减小、植被减少、地表湿度降低,使蒸发耗热减小、感热通量增多,城市波恩比增加,地表和大气间的热交换增强.     

2008年南京市热岛效应演变特征及其对城市居民生活影响

利用2008年南京市23个自动气象观测站观测的气温资料,分析南京市城市热岛效应的空间分布及其变化特征。结果表明：南京市的热岛中心主要分布在人口和建筑物密集的鼓楼,白下和建邺区,下关、江宁和浦口等城区气温较低;2008年南京市平均城市热岛强度为1.6℃,四季热岛强度呈秋季、春季、冬季、夏季依次减弱;南京市城市热岛效应对城市居民生活影响较大。南京市热岛效应的逐渐增强,将导致夏季空调使用量的增加,增加能耗对创建低碳城市、建设和谐城市生活产生消极影响。     

More than planning: Diversity and drivers of institutional adaptation under climate change in 96 major cities

A key challenge for effective, ongoing urban climate adaptation is to adapt institutions within urban governance. While an extensive foundation of empirical knowledge on urban climate adaptation has accumulated over the last decade, our image of institutional adaptation continues to be dominated by a focus on planning. Whilst understandable, this can obscure a fuller range of areas in which institutional adaptation to climate change is being pursued. Furthermore, methodological path dependency in large-N analysis via a common focus on analyzing formal planning documents risks a skewed perspective as such documents may only offer a partial view. Building on the rich range of work to date assessing climate adaptation in cities, and notwithstanding continued major gaps such as in small-medium cities, we now need to find ways to examine the diversity of institutional adaptation occurring in practice, and to comparatively draw on the situated interpretive knowledge of case experts within individual cities to do so. With this aim in mind, this paper explores institutional adaptation in a specific domain (urban water) in a sample of 96 major cities across six continents through a survey of 319 case experts, examining the diversity of institutional adaptation across contexts and exploratively probing its drivers. Findings show that multiple forms of institutional adaptation are being jointly pursued in cities across all continents, leaning towards ‘softer’ rather than ‘harder’ forms, but nonetheless revealing a wide range of activity. Patterns in drivers suggest a political explanation for institutional adaptation (e.g. involving change agents and political pressure) rather than a rational one (e.g. involving response to climate-related risks and/or extreme events). Overall, there is a need to combine parsimony with expanded interpretive sensibility in advancing large-N research on institutional adaptation diversity in comparative perspective.     

城市地表湍流观测数据的后处理及质量控制

涡动相关仪基于其观测原理,要求观测仪器所在地表平坦均匀,并要求湍流平稳及充分发展等.为了准确合理的运用观测数据,必须对原始数据进行严格的后处理及质量控制,城市复杂非均匀下垫面上的湍流观测数据进行后处理及质量控制更为重要.本文对2010年7月25日-8月5日架设在南京市委党校33 m高度上的涡动相关观测数据进行了包括野点的剔除、坐标旋转修正、WPL修正以及夜里静稳条件下的修正等后处理及质量控制.结果表明:由于观测期间天气状况较好,本次观测的数据质量相对较好,从而野点值剔除,对地表感热和潜热通量测量结果影响甚微.使用二次坐标旋转及平面拟合方法的结果对通量影响较为一致.而且,为了潜热和CO2通量数据的准确性,空气密度效应订正是必须的.本文观测数据基于夏季城市下垫面,所有时次湍流呈现不稳定层结,经过WPL订正,CO2通量增幅为6.5％,潜热通量增幅为12％;观测期间风速不大,主要风频方向上观测点附近无明显高大建筑,且观测点位置较高,σu,v,w/u*与-z/L基本上满足1/3次方律.经湍流平稳性IST检验,感热及动量通量质量较好.     

苏州夏季城市热岛现状及影响因子分析研究

利用2007年夏季常规和自动站气象观测资料,分析研究苏州城市热岛及其与影响因子关系.气温分布表明,市中心干将桥气温相对较高,而靠近太湖的新区镇湖镇、东山等郊区气温相对较低.苏州城市热岛强度日变化呈现双峰分布,两个峰值分别出现在10时和20时左右,最低值出现在16时左右.热岛强度与气象条件关系分析表明:(1)热岛强度受云量的影响较大;(2)与城区气温分布关系密切,相关系数为0.62;(3)与风向有关,城区风向为西风时的热岛强度大于东风时热岛强度;而城区热岛强度与风速关系不明显.另外相关站点的合理选取对城市热岛研究也十分重要.