Energy Efficiency, Human Activities and Climate Change

1992 ◽  
pp. 37-44
Author(s):  
Lee Schipper
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Human Activities

scholarly journals Strategies to Improve Urban Energy Efficiency for Urban Resilience

2021 ◽  
Vol 1203 (2) ◽  
pp. 022020
Author(s):  
Yalim Gültekin
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Urban Form ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Urban Resilience ◽  
Spatial Strategies ◽  
Urban Energy

Abstract Greenhouse gas (GHG), which is a determining factor in climate change is a result of human activities, namely climate change is human-caused (anthropogenic). Cities, where 60% of the world's population of approximately 7.3 billion living today, are responsible for 60-80% consumption of energy, which is the lifeblood of intense human activities, thus at least 70% of GHG. Nevertheless, cities are the cause of climate change and other global environmental problems, as well as the innovation centres and laboratories to deal with their impact. With climate change becoming more explicit and active in the 21st century, researchers, governments and international institutions question cities’ strength/vulnerability against these problems, especially their energy production and consumption patterns that cause GHG, and they anticipate that urban resilience be the motivating force for urban policies. The widespread and effective use of renewable energy is regarded as an influential tool against climate change. However, this should be endorsed by spatial strategies. In the light of this approach, this study evaluates the urban form, building design and production technologies that are focused on energy efficiency and renewable energy use.

Local Policy for a Protected Environmental Area Management: The Case of Limiting Motorized Vehicles in Park of Canigou in Pyrenées Orientales

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Air Traffic ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Individual Action ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Motorized Vehicles ◽  
Local Levels

“We regard the recent science –based consensual reports that climate change is, to a large extend, caused by human activities that emit green houses as tenable, Such activities range from air traffic, with a global reach over industrial belts and urban conglomerations to local small, scale energy use for heating homes and mowing lawns. This means that effective climate strategies inevitably also require action all the way from global to local levels. Since the majority of those activities originate at the local level and involve individual action, however, climate strategies must literally begin at home to hit home.”

scholarly journals The effects of ENSO, climate change and human activities on the water level of Lake Toba, Indonesia: a critical literature review

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendri Irwandi ◽  
Mohammad Syamsu Rosid ◽  
Terry Mart
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Level ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
Climate Projections ◽  
Continuous Increase ◽  
The Future

AbstractThis research quantitatively and qualitatively analyzes the factors responsible for the water level variations in Lake Toba, North Sumatra Province, Indonesia. According to several studies carried out from 1993 to 2020, changes in the water level were associated with climate variability, climate change, and human activities. Furthermore, these studies stated that reduced rainfall during the rainy season due to the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the continuous increase in the maximum and average temperatures were some of the effects of climate change in the Lake Toba catchment area. Additionally, human interventions such as industrial activities, population growth, and damage to the surrounding environment of the Lake Toba watershed had significant impacts in terms of decreasing the water level. However, these studies were unable to determine the factor that had the most significant effect, although studies on other lakes worldwide have shown these factors are the main causes of fluctuations or decreases in water levels. A simulation study of Lake Toba's water balance showed the possibility of having a water surplus until the mid-twenty-first century. The input discharge was predicted to be greater than the output; therefore, Lake Toba could be optimized without affecting the future water level. However, the climate projections depicted a different situation, with scenarios predicting the possibility of extreme climate anomalies, demonstrating drier climatic conditions in the future. This review concludes that it is necessary to conduct an in-depth, comprehensive, and systematic study to identify the most dominant factor among the three that is causing the decrease in the Lake Toba water level and to describe the future projected water level.

scholarly journals Response of LUCC on Runoff Generation Process in Middle Yellow River Basin: The Gushanchuan Basin

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caihong Hu ◽  
Li Zhang ◽  
Qiang Wu ◽  
Shan-e-hyder Soomro ◽  
Shengqi Jian
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Yellow River ◽  
Trend Test ◽  
Generation Process ◽  
Runoff Generation ◽  
Contribution Rate ◽  
Runoff Reduction ◽  
Runoff Change ◽  
Significant Downward Trend

Runoff reduction in most river basins in China has become a hotpot in recent years. The Gushanchuan river, a primary tributary of the middle Yellow river, Northern China, showed a significant downward trend in the last century. Little is known regarding the relative contributions of changing environment to the observed hydrological trends and response on the runoff generation process in its watershed. On the basis of observed hydrological and meteorological data from 1965–2010, the Mann-Kendall trend test and climate elasticity method were used to distinguish the effects of climate change and human activities on runoff in the Gushanchuan basin. The results indicate that the runoff in the Gushanchuan Basin has experienced significant declines as large as 77% from 1965 to 2010, and a mutation point occurred around 1997; the contribution rate of climate change to runoff change is 12.9–15.1%, and the contribution rate of human activities to runoff change is 84.9–87.1%. Then we divided long-term data sequence into two stages around the mutation point, and analyzed runoff generation mechanisms based on land use and cover changes (LUCC). We found that the floods in the Gushanchuan Basin were still dominated by Excess-infiltration runoff, but the proportion in 1965–1997 and 1998–2010 decreased gradually (68.46% and 45.83% in turn). The proportion of Excess-storage runoff and Mixed runoff has increased, which means that the runoff is made up of more runoff components. The variation law of the LUCC indicates that the forest area increased by 49.61%, the confluence time increased by 50.42%, and the water storage capacity of the watershed increased by 30.35%.

Assessing the relative role of climate change and human activities in sandy desertification of Ordos region, China

2009 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 855-868 ◽  
Author(s):  
DuanYang Xu ◽  
XiangWu Kang ◽  
ZhiLi Liu ◽  
DaFang Zhuang ◽  
JianJun Pan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Relative Role ◽  
Sandy Desertification

scholarly journals Relative Contribution of the Xiaolangdi Dam to Runoff Changes in the Lower Yellow River

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 521
Author(s):  
Qinghe Zhao ◽  
Shengyan Ding ◽  
Xiaoyu Ji ◽  
Zhendong Hong ◽  
Mengwen Lu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Yellow River ◽  
Dam Construction ◽  
Regulated Rivers ◽  
Flood Season ◽  
Abrupt Changes ◽  
Runoff Changes ◽  
Seasonal Runoff

Human activities are increasingly recognized as having a critical influence on hydrological processes under the warming of the climate, particularly for dam-regulated rivers. To ensure the sustainable management of water resources, it is important to evaluate how dam construction may affect surface runoff. In this study, using Mann–Kendall tests, the double mass curve method, and the Budyko-based elasticity method, the effects of climate change and human activities on annual and seasonal runoff were quantified for the Yellow River basin from 1961–2018; additionally, effects on runoff were assessed after the construction of the Xiaolangdi Dam (XLD, started operation in 2001) on the Yellow River. Both annual and seasonal runoff decreased over time (p < 0.01), due to the combined effects of climate change and human activities. Abrupt changes in annual, flood season, and non-flood season runoff occurred in 1986, 1989, and 1986, respectively. However, no abrupt changes were seen after the construction of the XLD. Human activities accounted for much of the reduction in runoff, approximately 75–72% annually, 81–86% for the flood season, and 86–90% for the non-flood season. Climate change approximately accounted for the remainder: 18–25% (annually), 14–19% (flood season), and 10–14% (non-flood season). The XLD construction mitigated runoff increases induced by heightened precipitation and reduced potential evapotranspiration during the post-dam period; the XLD accounted for approximately 52% of the runoff reduction both annually and in the non-flood season, and accounted for approximately −32% of the runoff increase in the flood season. In conclusion, this study provides a basic understanding of how dam construction contributes to runoff changes in the context of climate change; this information will be beneficial for the sustainable management of water resources in regulated rivers.

Cleaner, greener data centres

ITNOW ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 18-20
Author(s):  
John Booth
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Data Centre ◽  
Eu Directives ◽  
Data Centres

Abstract John Booth MBCS, Data Centre Energy Efficiency and Sustainability Consultant at Carbon3IT, explores the detrimental trajectory of data centre energy use, against a backdrop of COP26, climate change and proposed EU directives.

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