A new test cell for the evaluation of thermo-physical performance of facades building components

How do the new building façade components work under real climatic conditions? The question is especially related to the dynamic behaviour of new and complex components such as the ventilated walls, the Phase Change Material, or others that use nano-technologies and aerogels. One of the objectives of the undergoing research activity, named Abitare Mediterraneo, is the evaluation of their thermal behaviour through the use of an outdoor test cell, in order to reproduce under the real external conditions the performance of these components, and consequently define the main thermal parameters such as the attenuation factor and the thermal inertia, characterising the component; moreover, the results will be used to write new algorithms for dynamic simulation tools allowing an appropriate evaluation of the complex behaviour of the whole building at a real scale condition. The new test cell is realised in Florence, Italy. The design starts from the study of the experience of the existing PASSYS test cells, overtaking the main weakness of the building structure and of the heat-flux sensors.     

超大城市行政区气候环境敏感性多尺度 影响机制可视化与对策研究——以北京市 丰台区为例

气候环境研究具有多尺度层级的特征，城市气候环境改善需要从不同尺度关注不同层面问题，已有诸多研究成果表明，城市物理环境对气候改善具有决定性作用。以存量时代城市更新改造为背景，从“多尺度”视角切入，重点关注城市气候环境改善在不同尺度层级的途径与方法，共同指导城市更新改造的具体操作。以北京市丰台区为研究对象，利用城市环境气候地图分析城市片区内气候环境敏感性分级。首先，对建成环境影响要素进行综合分析，结果显示，丰台区中部气候环境敏感性高的区域，其建筑密度大、建筑高度高、植被覆盖率低、路网密度高。其次，引入网格化分割降级气候环境分析尺度，将敏感单元落在城市街区尺度内，研究得到丰台区5个气候高敏感片区，其中4个为批发市场城市功能，具有典型性。最后，针对典型敏感片区建成环境特征，总结街区改造策略，提出多尺度气候环境分析的重要性，以及基于微气候改善的精细化途径，这是存量时代城市应对气候环境变化的有效方案。     

Climate Change and Future Long-Term Trends of Rainfall at North-East of Iraq

Iraq is facing water shortage problem despite the presence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. In this research, long rainfall trends up to the year 2099 were studied in Sulaimani city northeast Iraq to give an idea about future prospects. The medium high （A2） and medium low B2 scenarios have been used for purpose of this study as they are more likely than others scenarios, that beside the fact that no climate modeling canter has performed GCM （global climate model） simulations for more than a few emissions scenarios （HadCM3 has only these two scenarios） otherwise pattern scaling can be used for generating different scenarios which entail a huge uncertainty. The results indicate that the average annual rainfall shows a significant downward trend for both A2 and B2 scenarios. In addition, winter projects increase/decrease in the daily rainfall statistics of wet days, the spring season show very slight drop and no change for both scenarios. However, both summer and autumn shows a significant reduction in maximum rainfall value especially in 2080s while the other statistics remain nearly the same. The extremes events are to decrease slightly in 2080s with highest decrease associated with A2 scenario. This is due to the fact that rainfall under scenario A2 is more significant than under scenario B2. The return period of a certain rainfall will increase in the future when a present storm of 20 year could occur once every 43 year in the 2080s. An increase in the frequency of extreme rainfall depends on several factors such as the return period, season of the year, the period considered as well as the emission scenario used.     

气候变化相关标准对我国的影响

本文针对目前国际标准化组织和一些发达国家陆续出台的一系列气候变化相关标准,分析其对我国产业发展带来的影响以及我国在应用这些标准上存在的技术瓶颈。     

A wind-tunnel study of flow distortion at a meteorological sensor on top of the BT Tower, London, UK

High quality wind measurements in cities are needed for numerous applications including wind engineering. Such data-sets are rare and measurement platforms may not be optimal for meteorological observations. Two years' wind data were collected on the BT Tower, London, UK, showing an upward deflection on average for all wind directions. Wind tunnel simulations were performed to investigate flow distortion around two scale models of the Tower. Using a 1:160 scale model it was shown that the Tower causes a small deflection (ca. 0.5°) compared to the lattice on top on which the instruments were placed (ca. 0-4°). These deflections may have been underestimated due to wind tunnel blockage. Using a 1:40 model, the observed flow pattern was consistent with streamwise vortex pairs shed from the upstream lattice edge. Correction factors were derived for different wind directions and reduced deflection in the full-scale data-set by <3°. Instrumental tilt caused a sinusoidal variation in deflection of ca. 2°. The residual deflection (ca. 3°) was attributed to the Tower itself. Correction of the wind-speeds was small (average 1%) therefore it was deduced that flow distortion does not significantly affect the measured wind-speeds and the wind climate statistics are reliable.     

Trends and periodicities in observed temperature,precipitation and runoff in a desert catchment: case study for the Shiyang River Basin in Northwestern China

The Mann–Kendall test, wavelet analysis was used to analyse the long‐term trends and periodicities in temperature, precipitation and streamflow in China's Shiyang River Basin since 1950. The Principal components analysis (PCA) was used to quantify the impacts of climate change and human activities on water resources. The annual mean air temperature has increased, consistent with increasing global temperatures. The annual precipitation fluctuated but has generally increased since the 1990s. The air temperature and precipitation showed changes on periods ranging from 2 to 28 years. The correlation between annual runoff and precipitation variation was 0.61 (P < 0.05), indicating precipitation is the main source of the runoff. Human activities played the dominant role in the lower reaches, accounting for 58.5% of the total effect. The results have important implications for water resources management to support harmonisation of the relationship between humans and nature to combat the effect of climate.     

Complexity‐reduced in the hydroclimatological modelling of aquifer's discharge

Climate variability induces considerable interannual fluctuations in spring discharge, especially in mountain areas, where groundwater is recharged mainly by rain and snow melt. This study presents the discharge climatological model (DISCLIM), which was developed to test a complexity‐reduced approach to perform historical reconstruction in the lack of physical assumptions. The Mount Cervialto aquifer (Southern Italy) is the test site, where a powerful karst spring is monitored since the 1920s and is very sensitive to climatic conditions. DISCLIM incorporates seasonal precipitation and climate indicators only. Despite its simplicity, DISCLIM has been able to well estimate the yearly fluctuations of discharge hydrological, explaining about 90% of the interannual variability at the calibration stage, and more than 80% at validation stage. This means that DISCLIM can be easily used for estimating the discharge in historical times, when no all the hydrological balance data are available for the purpose.     

纳米比亚铜矿铜地表富集成因及意义

通过对纳米比亚北部、中部和南部的热水喷流沉积型铜矿、夕卡岩型铜矿和斑岩型铜矿的观察,发现这些不同类型的铜矿有一个共同的特征:即铜在地表以碳酸盐(主要是孔雀石)的形式富集.研究认为,产生这种富集的原因是由于纳米比亚的气候干旱.干旱的气候使地表腐殖质缺乏,地表呈现碱性环境,因而不仅形成了遍布纳米比亚地表的钙结砾岩,也导致了地表铜的富集和氧化带铜的变贫.这种上移的水成异常呈现高值而局限、异常迁移少的特点.这种铜的地表富集与纳米比亚的土壤型铀矿的成因一致.     

The limited role for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies in a sustainable Australian energy future

There is considerable debate regarding the potential role of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies in reducing Australia's greenhouse emissions. The latest climate change science suggests that major (60% or more by 2050), rapid (peaking within 20 years) cuts in global emissions may be required to avoid dangerous climate change. There are a number of existing abatement options including energy efficiency, various renewable energy technologies, nuclear power and fuel switching to natural gas; as well as emerging options including CCS. We outline a simple technology assessment framework for policymakers to evaluate these different options given the climate change imperative. This framework includes technology status, delivered energy services, present and possible future costs, potential scale of abatement, potential speed of deployment and other possible social outcomes. Application of this framework to CCS suggests that it should be considered as a promising, but still somewhat unproven, option that potentially offers very significant abatement potential and good integration into the existing energy industry. There are, however, some outstanding questions regarding its effectiveness and safety, its abatement is likely to come at significant cost, and it is unlikely to be able to make a significant contribution for well over a decade. The Australian policy implications are that while government support for R&D and Demonstration of CCS is appropriate and should in our view be expanded, the major priority should be to support greater deployment of existing abatement options including energy efficiency, efficient gas-fired generation and cogeneration and renewable energy. Such policy support is noticeably lacking at present.     

Statehouse Versus Greenhouse

Problem: In the absence of U.S. federal action to address the problem of climate change, a diverse array of nonfederal policy entrepreneurs and climate action planners has produced an impressive body of plans and policies to fight climate change at the regional, state, and local levels. Their actions are highly laudable, but have they actually reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions?

Purpose: This article evaluates the work of a group of innovative state-level policy entre-preneurs whose actions were chronicled by Barry Rabe, and a set of 29 state climate action plans systematically analyzed by Stephen Wheeler. It compares states with and without climate policy entrepreneurs and states with and without climate action plans, asks if either plans or entrepreneurs have been successful in reducing CO2 emissions, and identifies the elements within plans that are associated with the greatest reductions.

Methods: The analysis uses multiple regression models to explain changes in per capita CO2 emissions attributable to residen-tial, commercial, transportation, and total nonindustrial end users from 1990 to 2007. A package of control variables accounts for political, social, climatic, economic, and urban form factors, while policy variables isolate the effects of climate policy entrepre-neurs, climate action planners, and specific policy recommendations within climate action plans.

Results and conclusions: State-level climate actions reduce GHG emissions by a measurable but modest amount: about one half metric ton per person per year. This represents 2–3% of the average American's 24-ton annual total GHG emissions. The reduction is small in comparison to the magnitude of the problem, but a substantial tax increase or population shift away from sprawling areas would be necessary to achieve the same reduction. specific policies I find to be associated with lower emissions include: building efficiency in both residential and commercial sectors, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) policies in the commercial sector, and California's vehicle efficiency standards in the transportation sector.

Takeaway for practice: It is encouraging that we can already identify emission reduc-tions related to state climate action. However, the observed reductions remain small com-pared to the scope of the problem. These findings should persuade states without plans to begin the planning process while encourag-ing states with plans to encourage more entrepreneurship aimed at developing a second generation of policy options for stabilizing our planet's climate with or without federal action.

Research support: None.