Climate and Development
Climate and Development

Author: H.-J. Karpe

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 419

ISBN-13: 3642456707

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The Hamburg Congress on Climate and Development was conceived as a response to the worldwide interest on issues of climatic change and variability. It was intended as an interdisciplinary forum to bring together differing perceptions in a face to face dialogue. Even though concern over climate change has been on the international agenda of international interest became evident in the for over a decade, a new surge wake of two recent events. One was the widespread support received by the 1987 Brundtland Commission Report, Our Common Future, and the other was the 1988 Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer. Although the problem of the ozone layer related to a single category of sub stances (CFCs), it took many years and a dramatk discovery of the ozone hole in Antarctica to allow for a breakthrough leading to an international agreement. The problems associated with climatic change and variability are much more com plex and pervasive than those of the ozone layer, and a much wider range of national and international issues are involved. The discussions in the 1988 session of the General Assembly of the United Nations revealed a surge of interest and growing awareness of the international community of the issues involved. Before that, the June 1988Toronto Conference on "The Changing Atmosphere: Implications for Global Security" was a signifi cant effort in forging a consensus on desirable targets for global action.

Urban Microclimate
Urban Microclimate

Author: Evyatar Erell

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-06-25

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 1136539425

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The quality of life of millions of people living in cities could be improved if the form of the city were to evolve in a manner appropriate to its climatic context. Climatically responsive urban design is vital to any notion of sustainability: it enables individual buildings to make use of renewable energy sources for passive heating and cooling, it enhances pedestrian comfort and activity in outdoor spaces, and it may even encourage city dwellers to moderate their dependence on private vehicles. Urban Microclimate bridges the gap between climatology research and applied urban design. It provides architects and urban design professionals with an understanding of how the structure of the built environment at all scales affects microclimatic conditions in the space between buildings, and analyzes the interaction between microclimate and each of the elements of the urban landscape. In the first two sections of the book, the extensive body of work on this subject by climatologists and geographers is presented in the language of architecture and planning professionals. The third section follows each step in the design process, and in part four a critical analysis of selected case study projects provides a demonstration of the complexity of applied urban design. Practitioners will find in this book a useful guide to consult, as they address these key environmental issues in their own work.