Climate change vulnerability assessment in the new urban planning process in Tanzania

Climate change vulnerability assessment is an essential tool for identifying regions that are most susceptible to the impacts of climate change and designing effective adaptation actions that can reduce vulnerability and enhance long-term resilience of these regions.This study explored a framework for climate change vulnerability assessment in the new urban planning process in Jangwani Ward,Tanzania.Specifically,taking flood as an example,this study highlighted the steps and methods for climate change vulnerability assessment in the new urban planning process.In the study area,95 households were selected and interviewed through purposeful sampling.Additionally,10 respondents(4 females and 6 males)were interviewed for Focus Group Discussion(FGD),and 3 respondents(1 female and 2 males)were selected for Key Informant Interviews(KII)at the Ministry of Lands,Housing and Human Settlements Development.This study indicated that climate change vulnerability assessment framework involves the assessment of climatic hazards,risk elements,and adaptive capacity,and the determination of vulnerability levels.The average hazard risk rating of flood was 2.3.Socioeconomic and livelihood activities and physical infrastructures both had the average risk element rating of 3.0,and ecosystems had the average risk element rating of 2.9.Adaptive capacity ratings of knowledge,technology,economy or finance,and institution were 1.6,1.9,1.4,and 2.2,respectively.The vulnerability levels of socioeconomic and livelihood activities and physical infrastructure were very high(4.0).Ecosystems had a high vulnerability level(3.8)to flood.The very high vulnerability level of socioeconomic and livelihood activities was driven by high exposure and sensitivity to risk elements and low adaptive capacity.The study recommends adoption of the new urban planning process including preparation,planning,implementation,and monitoring-evaluation-review phases that integrates climate change vulnerability assessment in all phases.

Local Climate Change Induced by Urbanization on a South China Sea Island

The South China Sea is a hotspot for regional climate research.Over the past 40 years,considerable improvement has been made in the development and utilization of the islands in the South China Sea,leading to a substantial change in the land-use of the islands.However,research on the impact of human development on the local climate of these islands is lacking.This study analyzed the characteristics of local climate changes on the islands in the South China Sea based on data from the Yongxing Island Observation Station and ERA5 re-analysis.Furthermore,the influence of urbanization on the local climate of the South China Sea islands was explored in this study.The findings revealed that the 10-year average temperature in Yongxing Island increased by approximately 1.11℃from 1961 to 2020,and the contribution of island development and urbanization to the local warming rate over 60 years was approximately 36.2%.The linear increasing trend of the annual hot days from 1961–2020 was approximately 14.84 days per decade.The diurnal temperature range exhibited an increasing trend of 0.05℃per decade,whereas the number of cold days decreased by 1.06days per decade.The rapid increase in construction on Yongxing Island from 2005 to 2021 led to a decrease in observed surface wind speed by 0.32 m s^(-1)per decade.Consequently,the number of days with strong winds decreased,whereas the number of days with weak winds increased.Additionally,relative humidity exhibited a rapid decline from 2001 to 2016 and then rebounded.The study also found substantial differences between the ERA5 re-analysis and observation data,particularly in wind speed and relative humidity,indicating that the use of re-analysis data for climate resource assessment and climate change evaluation on island areas may not be feasible.

Spatiotemporal Evolution Characteristics of Urban Land Surface Temperature Based on Local Climate Zones in Xi’an Metropolitan,China

Local climate zones(LCZs)are an effective nexus linking internal urban structures to the local climate and have been widely used to study urban thermal environment.However,few studies considered how much the temperature changed due to LCZs transformation and their synergy.This paper quantified the change of urban land surface temperature(LST)in LCZs transformation process by combining the land use transfer matrix with zonal statistics method during 2000–2019 in the Xi’an metropolitan.The results show that,firstly,both LCZs and LST had significant spatiotemporal variations and synchrony.The period when the most LCZs were converted was also the LST rose the fastest,and the spatial growth of the LST coincided with the spatial expansion of the built type LCZs.Secondly,the LST difference between land cover type LCZs and built type LCZs gradually widened.And LST rose more in both built type LCZs transferred in and out.Finally,the Xi’an-Xianyang profile showed that the maximum temperature difference between the peaks and valleys of the LST increased by 4.39℃,indicating that localized high temperature phenomena and fluctuations in the urban thermal environment became more pronounced from 2000 to 2019.

Variations in Surface Urban Heat Island and Urban Cool Island Intensity:A Review Across Major Climate Zones

The climate has an impact on the urban thermal environment,and the magnitude of the surface urban heat island(SUHI)and urban cool island(UCI)vary across the world’s climatic zones.This literature review investigated:1)the variations in the SUHI and UCI intensity under different climatic backgrounds,and 2)the effect of vegetation types,landscape composition,urban configuration,and water bodies on the SUHI.The SUHI had a higher intensity in tropical(Af(tropical rainy climate,Köppen climate classification),Am(tropical monsoon climate),subtropical(Cfa,subtropical humid climate),and humid continental(Dwa,semi-humid and semi-arid monsoon climate)climate zones.The magnitude of the UCI was low compared to the SUHI across the climate zones.The cool and dry Mediterranean(Cfb,temperate marine climate;Csb,temperate mediterranean climate;Cfa)and tropical climate(Af)areas had a higher cooling intensity.For cities with a desert climate(BWh,tropical desert climate),a reverse pattern was found.The difference in the SUHI in the night-time was greater than in the daytime for most cities across the climate zones.The extent of green space cooling was related to city size,the adjacent impervious surface,and the local climate.Additionally,the composition of urban landscape elements was more significant than their configuration for sustaining the urban thermal environment.Finally,we identified future research gaps for possible solutions in the context of sustainable urbanization in different climate zones.

Review on the Impact of Climate Change on Great Lakes Region’s Agriculture and Water Resources

This study investigates the multifaceted impacts of climate change on the Midwest region of the United States, particularly the rising temperatures and precipitation brought about by hot weather activities and technological advances since the 19th century. From 1900 to 2010, temperatures in the Midwest rose by an average of 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit, which would also lead to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Precipitation is also expected to increase due to increased storm activity and changes in regional weather patterns. This paper explores the impact of these changes on urban and agricultural areas. In urban areas such as the city of Chicago, runoff from the increasing impervious surface areas poses challenges to the drainage system, and agriculture areas are challenged by soil erosion, nutrient loss, and fewer planting days due to excessive rainfall. Sustainable solutions such as no-till agriculture and the creation of grassland zones are discussed. Using historical data, recent climate studies and projections, the paper Outlines ways to enhance the Midwest’s ecology and resilience to climate change.

Climate Protection in Urban Transport--Six Scenario Studies in Germany： More Climate Protection, Fewer Carbon Dioxide Emissions, Less Car Traffic

Six German scenario studies on urban passenger transport for Munich 2058, Wuppertal 2050, Eastern Ruhr Region 2030, Tuebingen 2030, Cologne 2020 and Hanover Region 2020 investigate the key question： With which strategies and on what kind of scale, is it possible to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of urban passenger transport to accomplish the 2℃ climate protection goal with a consequently huge reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 80% to 95% by 2050 in relation to the base year 1990？ The scenarios show that the major challenge of a ＂climate-friendly city transport＂ can be achieved by appropriate measures （regarding direction and scale）： in small and medium-sized cities, large cities, cities of over a million people, and metropolitan regions. The scenarios demonstrate the extent to which the considered measures contribute to the CO2 reduction, and which gap to the achievement of the goal remains if that which is currently regarded as realistic in practice is really implemented in future. Thus, they illustrate the conflict between that which is necessary for climate protection and that which is currently considered feasible in politics. The scenarios show that it is essential to act quickly and appropriately, and not hesitantly or without conviction.

An Integrative Collaborative Project Approach to Climate-Change Resilience and Urban/Regional Sustainability for the Mexico-Lerma-Cutzamala Hydrological Region

In a rapidly urbanizing world, the social, economic, and ecological complexities of cities require conceptual and operational innovations to enhance climate resilience and sustainability. We describe our Integrative Collaborative Project (ICP) approach to co-create climate resilience in the Mexico-Lerma-Cutzamala Hydrological Region (MLCHR). In recent years, it has suffered from frequent natural disasters, and under climate change scenarios, the intensity and frequency of extreme events, including severe floods, droughts, heat waves and landslides are expected to increase. ICPs are framed as socio-technical capacity building enterprises, with networks operating at multiple scales. The approach differs from other integrative efforts, which tend to be top-down with scant civil society co-ownership, and focus on limited aspects like indicators/assessment, or institutional capacity building. We reimagine all operational stages, from creative thinking, through ethos and concept, assessment, planning, project design, implementation and management, and monitoring and evaluation. The design of ICPs is informed by six integrative domains: 1) project ethos, concept, and framing;2) sectors, topics, and issues;3) spatial and temporal scales;4) stakeholder interests, relationships and capacities;5) knowledge types, models and methods;and 6) socio-technical capacities and networks. Empirically, the approach is based on participatory development practices, pilot project work tackling sustainable water and sanitation in Mexico, and a synthesis of rich experiential knowledge spanning 20 years. The theoretical basis considers a pragmatic knowledge frame, socio-technical transitions literature, and education for social transformation. We describe forward-looking operational details of the Pilot ICP for the Mexico-Lerma-Cutzamala Hydrological Region, with our three-university partnership as catalyst, and a new breed of socio-technical enterprise organization as a key partner, engaging stakeholders at municipal and regional scales.

Impact of Anthropogenic Heat Release on Regional Climate in Three Vast Urban Agglomerations in China

We simulated the impact of anthropogenic heat release （AHR） on the regional climate in three vast city agglomerations in China using the Weather Research and Forecasting model with nested high-resolution modeling.Based on energy consumption and high-quality land use data,we designed two scenarios to represent no-AHR and current-AHR conditions.By comparing the results of the two numerical experiments,changes of surface air temperature and precipitation due to AHR were quantified and analyzed.We concluded that AHR increases the temperature in these urbanized areas by about 0.5℃-1℃,and this increase is more pronounced in winter than in other seasons.The inclusion of AHR enhances the convergence of water vapor over urbanized areas.Together with the warming of the lower troposphere and the enhancement of ascending motions caused by AHR,the average convective available potential energy in urbanized areas is increased.Rainfall amounts in summer over urbanized areas are likely to increase and regional precipitation patterns to be altered to some extent.

Urbanization Impact on Regional Climate and Extreme Weather:Current Understanding,Uncertainties,and Future Research Directions

Urban environments lie at the confluence of social,cultural,and economic activities and have unique biophysical characteristics due to continued infrastructure development that generally replaces natural landscapes with built-up structures.The vast majority of studies on urban perturbation of local weather and climate have been centered on the urban heat island(UHI)effect,referring to the higher temperature in cities compared to their natural surroundings.Besides the UHI effect and heat waves,urbanization also impacts atmospheric moisture,wind,boundary layer structure,cloud formation,dispersion of air pollutants,precipitation,and storms.In this review article,we first introduce the datasets and methods used in studying urban areas and their impacts through both observation and modeling and then summarize the scientific insights on the impact of urbanization on various aspects of regional climate and extreme weather based on more than 500 studies.We also highlight the major research gaps and challenges in our understanding of the impacts of urbanization and provide our perspective and recommendations for future research priorities and directions.

The Characteristics of Climate Change in Urbanization in Chengdu

Based on the meteorological data in the recent 50 years,the climate variation characteristics of Chengdu City in urbanization were analyzed.The results showed that in the early of 1990s',the heat island effects and the dry island effects were appeared.The precipitation at the end of 1990s' to 2008 had a significant decrease.At the main flood season the rainfall in urban district was a little bigger than that in the suburb.The possible reasons were that frequent human activities in urban district resulted in large amount of aerosol particles,which increase the condensation nucleus and were beneficial to form more precipitation.

Enhancing coastal areas governance for sustainable tourism in the context of urbanization and climate change in eastern Thailand

Coastal areas in the eastern sub-region of Thailand,a popular destination in Southeast Asia,are facing rapid tourism-related urbanization and associated consequences of environment and climate change(CC).Thus,this study aims to analyze the relationships between tourism,coastal areas,the environment,and CC in the context of tourism urbanization;and recommend strategies for enhancing the governance of coastal areas.Three popular destinations were selected as study areas,Koh Chang,Koh Mak,and Pattaya.Group discussions,questionnaire surveys,in-terviews,and observation were used for primary data collection together with secondary data.The results show that the development of these destinations has been incompatible with the coastal environment and CC patterns.Rapid urbanization from tourism development is the main driver of environmental changes and makes the areas vulnerable to CC-related risks.While water scarcity and pollution are found the most critical environmental issues of the destinations,coastal areas are negatively affected in terms of increased air and water pollution and resource degradation.They have also been exposed to different CC-related problems while the risks of accumulative impacts of both environment and CC have not been adequately recognized or addressed.Although some measures have provided synergies of improved environment and increased climate resilience,possible conflicts and gaps were also found.Public infrastructure integration and optimization to enhance coastal areas'environment and climate resilience are suggested.

Detecting Urban Warming Signals in Climate Records

Determining whether air temperatures recorded at meteorological stations have been contaminated by the urbanization process is still a controversial issue at the global scale. With support of historical remote sensing data, this study examined the impacts of urban expansion on the trends of air temperature at 69 meteorological stations in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei Province over the last three decades. There were significant positive relations between the two factors at all stations. Stronger warming was detected at the meteorological stations that experienced greater urbanization, i.e., those with a higher urbanization rate. While the total urban area affects the absolute temperature values, the change of the urban area （urbanization rate） likely affects the temperature trend. Increases of approximately 10% in urban area around the meteorological stations likely contributed to the 0.13~C rise in air temperature records in addition to regional climate warming. This study also provides a new approach to selecting reference stations based on remotely sensed urban fractions. Generally, the urbanization-induced warming contributed to approximately 44.1% of the overall warming trends in the plain region of study area during the past 30 years, and the regional climate warming was 0.30℃ （10 yr）-1 in the last three decades.

Effects of Climate Warming on Phenological Characteristics of Urban Forest in Shenyang City,China

Change in plant phenology is one of the most sensitive ecological responses to climate warming. Little information is known about the effects of climate warming on phenology of urban tree species in the northern forest of China. In this study, we investigated the phenological characteristics of the main tree species in the urban forest of Shengyang City in China and the correlation between phenology and atmospheric temperature from the discontinuous data during past 42 years over three time periods(from 1962 to 1965, 1977 to 1978, and 2000 to 2005). The results showed that the annual average temperature in Shenyang City showed an increasing trend and increased by 0.96℃ from 1962 to 2005 due to climate warming. The germination phenology of the urban trees was negatively correlated with the temperature in winter and early spring. The leafing phenology was mainly influenced by the temperature in spring before leafing. Influenced by climate warming, the germination, leafing, and flowering phenologies of this urban forest in 2005 were 14, 13, and 10 days earlier than those in 1962, respectively. We inferred that further warming in winter might prolong the growing season of urban trees in the northern forest of China.

Impact of Anthropogenic Aerosols on Summer Precipitation in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Urban Agglomeration in China:Regional Climate Modeling Using WRF-Chem

The WRF model with chemistry （WRF-Chem） was employed to simulate the impacts of anthropogenic aerosols on summer precipitation over the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration in China. With the aid of a high-resolution gridded inventory of anthropogenic emissions of trace gases and aerosols, we conducted relatively long-term regional simulations, considering direct, semi-direct and indirect effects of the aerosols. Comparing the results of sensitivity experiments with and without emissions, it was found that anthropogenic aerosols tended to enhance summer precipitation over the metropolitan areas. Domain-averaged rainfall was increased throughout the day, except for the time around noon. Aerosols shifted the precipitation probability distribution from light or moderate to extreme rain. Further analysis showed that the anthropogenic aerosol radiative forcing had a cooling effect at the land surface, but a warming effect in the atmosphere. However, enhanced convective strength and updrafts accompanied by water vapor increases and cyclone-like wind shear anomalies were found in the urban areas. These responses may originate from cloud microphysical effects of aerosols on convection, which were identified as the primary cause for the summer rainfall enhancement.

Capacity Building for the Integration of Climate Adaptation into Urban Planning Processes: The Dutch Experience

The institutions of the Dutch (urban) planning system face four challenging characteristics of climate adaptation measures. These measures are uncertain in their effects, in competition with other interests, multifaceted, and inherently complex. Capacity building is a key issue for the implementation of climate adaptation measures in urban planning processes, which aim to achieve Climate-Proof Cities (CPC). For successful capacity building, it is important to define the relevant stakeholders and tailor the adaptation strategies first to (the position of) these stakeholders and next to the specific urban conditions and issues. In addition, scientific insights and tools can be of assistance, and the use of climate maps can help to create a common language. Such common understanding of climate problems can lead to “goal entwinement” between actors, which can support the implementation of climate adaptation strategies in urban planning. Awareness, recognition and urgency are the most important components of this common understanding, which may differ for each stage in every urban planning process. In order to overcome the pragmatism that rules in day-to-day urban planning processes, multi-level arrangements between different tiers of government must be employed to improve the penetration of climate adaptation measures. After all, it still remains a soft interest in a hard process.

Influence of Vegetation on the Climate

With the growth of the cities, the environment ended up being altered and, among others, the natural cover and native vegetation were replaced by a built environment, which contributed to deep environmental disturbances. One of them, climate change, has attracted attention in recent decades, and can no longer be ignored without greatly compromising the quality of life of human beings. From the scenario in which we are inserted, it became necessary to investigate which factors significantly influence climate change in urban centers. The Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro was the center of this study. From this scenario, the influence of green and wooded areas on urban thermal behavior was analyzed. In this sense, three types of soil surface exposure were studied experimentally during four periods of the year.

Urban transport policy response to global climate change in China

Accompanying with the economic development and the process of industrialization and urbanization in China, the energy consumption and greenhouse gases emission of transport sector increased rapidly. From the viewpoint of how the urban traffic management department should cope with the global climate change, based on the economy, institutional reform, planning and policies in China, the paper analyzed the main important problems and obstacles in the development of urban transport, put forward the corresponding policy recommendations which could lead the urban transport system transform to low carbon emission and become more suitable to the climate change.

Recent Trends and Future Predictions until 2060 of Urban Warming in Four Israeli Cities Employing the RegCM Climate Model

During periods of global warming (GW), expected increases in urban temperatures can have adverse impacts on city climate and thermal discomfort due to combined urban and global warming effects. The different climates in four cities in Israel are studied for the purpose of differentiating global vs. urban warming. Trends in urban and nearby rural areas were compared in order to estimate the urbanization effect on the local climate zones. Daily 06:00 and 15:00 Local Time (LT) temperatures for July 1980-2014 were investigated. The linear relationship between the urban warming and population growth observed in present climate data is assumed to continue into the near future. The Regional Climate Model (RegCM) temperature trends into the 21st century are assumed to represent primarily the GW because of the relatively coarse grid interval of 25 km. Hence, this study first differentiates between global and local warming past trends, and then uses this past result to make future projections that consider both factors. A unique feature of this study is the large climatic variety over Israel—a small country that encompasses no less than 5 different K?ppen climatic zones. The urban minus rural temperature (1980-2014) changes, ΔTu-r, show more intense warming in the afternoon in all 4 cities. For instance, in Jerusalem and Eilat, the ΔTu-r has increased by ~1.2°C. Following the RegCM predictions, by 2060 with “No population growth”, this temperature increase is expected to continue, by 1.114°C and 1.119°C, respectively. If, however, these cities grow rapidly, air temperature will increase by 2.937°C - 4.129°C and 2.778°C - 3.939°C, respectively.

Factors Influencing the Spatial Variability of Air Temperature Urban Heat Island Intensity in Chinese Cities

Few studies have investigated the spatial patterns of the air temperature urban heat island(AUHI)and its controlling factors.In this study,the data generated by an urban climate model were used to investigate the spatial variations of the AUHI across China and the underlying climate and ecological drivers.A total of 355 urban clusters were used.We performed an attribution analysis of the AUHI to elucidate the mechanisms underlying its formation.The results show that the midday AUHI is negatively correlated with climate wetness(humid:0.34 K;semi-humid:0.50 K;semi-arid:0.73 K).The annual mean midnight AUHI does not show discernible spatial patterns,but is generally stronger than the midday AUHI.The urban–rural difference in convection efficiency is the largest contributor to the midday AUHI in the humid(0.32±0.09 K)and the semi-arid(0.36±0.11 K)climate zones.The release of anthropogenic heat from urban land is the dominant contributor to the midnight AUHI in all three climate zones.The rural vegetation density is the most important driver of the daytime and nighttime AUHI spatial variations.A spatial covariance analysis revealed that this vegetation influence is manifested mainly through its regulation of heat storage in rural land.

Climate Chang Impacts on Coastal Urban Settlements in Nigeria

At present,there are substantial scientific uncertainties about the nature and magnitude of climate change impacts that might result from an effective doubling of CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere of the coastal urban settlements of Nigeria.This is because a large percentage of Nigeria’s urban population lives in coastal cities.This study examines the potential impact of climate change on the coastal cities of Lagos and Port Harcourt using the Model for the Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Induced Climate Change（Magicc-Scengen）and Geographical Infor-