Pollution control can help mitigate future climate change impact on European grayling in the UK

The Mediterranean is recognized among the most responsive regions to climate change, with annual temperatures projected to increase by 1–5 °C until 2100. Large cities may experience an additional stress discomfort due to the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. In the present study, the WRF-ARW numerical weather prediction model was used to investigate the climate change impact on UHI for two Mediterranean cities, Rome and Thessaloniki. For this purpose, three 5-year time-slice simulations were conducted (2006–2010, 2046–2050, 2096–2100) under the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 emission scenario, with a spatial resolution of 2 km. In order to comprehensively investigate the urban microclimate, we analyze future simulation data across sections crossing urban/non-urban areas, and after grouping them into three classes depending on the location of the grid cells. The urban areas of both cities present increased average minimum temperature (Tmin) in winter/summer compared to other rural areas, with an UHI of ~+1.5–3 °C on average at night/early morning. Considering UHI under future climate change, we found no significant variations (~±0.2 °C). Finally, we found that the numbers of days with Tmin ≥ 20 °C will mostly increase in urban coastal areas until 2100, while the largest increase of minimum Discomfort Index (DImin) is expected in urban low-ground areas.

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Hygrothermal performance of log walls in a building of 18th century and prediction of climate change impact on biological deterioration

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202017215006 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 172 ◽

pp. 15006 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Petros Choidis ◽

Katerina Tsikaloudaki ◽

Dimitrios Kraniotis

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Climate Change Impact ◽

Future Climate ◽

Future Climate Change ◽

Main Body ◽

Biological Degradation ◽

Historical Structures ◽

Hygrothermal Performance ◽

Change Impact ◽

The Impact

Several studies underline the dramatic changes that are expected to take place in nature and environment due to climate change. The latter is also expected to affect the built environment. Particular emphasis is currently given to the impact of climate change on historical structures. Within this context, it is important to use simple methods and novel tools in order to investigate specific case studies. In this study, the climate change impact on the hygrothermal performance of the log walls in a historic timber building is presented. The building under investigation is the Fadum storehouse, also known as ‘the coated house’, located in Tønsberg, Norway. The storehouse dates to the late 18th century. It has a particular design with the main features of stumps or piles up to which it stands and the ‘coating’ that covers its outer walls. The main damage of the construction is related to the biological degradation of the wood. The hygrothermal performance of the log walls, as well as the exterior and interior climate, have been monitored and the results have been used to validate a Heat, Air and Moisture transport (HAM) model. The validated HAM model is then used to examine the performance of the log walls for both current and potential future climate conditions. The transient hygrothermal boundary conditions serve as the input parameters to a biohygrothermal model that is used to investigate the biological deterioration of the building components. The findings reveal that currently there is no mould risk for the main body of the construction, which is in accordance with the visual inspection. The passive systems of the building are highly conducive to these results, since they protect it from driving rain and other sources of moisture and eliminate the potential impact of future climate change risk scenarios.

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