Natural Hazards - Floods are the most frequent natural disaster and pose a very challenging threat to many cities worldwide. Understanding the flood dynamic is essential for developing strategies... 相似文献
To cope with water scarcity in drylands, stormwater is often collected in surface basins and subsequently stored in shallow aquifers via infiltration. These stormwater harvesting systems are often accompanied by high evaporation rates and hygiene problems. This is commonly a consequence of low infiltration rates, which are caused by clogging layers that form on top of the soil profile and the presence of a thick vadose zone. The present study aims to develop a conceptual solution to increase groundwater recharge rates in stormwater harvesting systems. The efficiency of vadose-zone wells and infiltration trenches is tested using analytical equations, numerical models, and sensitivity analyses. Dams built in the channel of ephemeral streams (wadis) are selected as a study case to construct the numerical simulations. The modelling demonstrated that vadose-zone wells and infiltration trenches contribute to effective bypassing of the clogging layer. By implementing these solutions, recharge begins 2250–8100% faster than via infiltration from the bed surface of the wadi reservoir. The sensitivity analysis showed that the recharge rates are especially responsive to well length and trench depth. In terms of recharge quantity, the well had the best performance; it can infiltrate up to 1642% more water than the reservoir, and between 336 and 825% more than the trench. Moreover, the well can yield the highest cumulative recharge per dollar and high recharge rates when there are limitations to the available area. The methods investigated here significantly increased recharge rates, providing practical solutions to enhance aquifer water storage in drylands.
Energy-intensive industries play an important role in low-carbon development, being particularly exposed to climate policies. Concern over possible carbon leakage in this sector poses a major challenge for designing effective carbon pricing instruments (CPI). Different methodologies for assessing carbon leakage exposure are currently used by different jurisdictions, each of them based on different approaches and indicators. This paper aims to analyse the extent to which the use of different methodologies leads to different results in terms of exposure to the risk of carbon leakage, using the Brazilian industry sector as a case study. Results indicate that carbon leakage exposure is an expected outcome of eventual CPI implementation in Brazilian industry. However, results vary according to the chosen methodology, so the definition of the criteria is paramount for assessing sectoral exposure to the risk of carbon leakage.
Key policy insights
Despite increasing discussion about the implementation of carbon pricing on the Brazilian industrial sector, the evaluation of carbon leakage risks is still neglected.
Assessments of the risk of carbon leakage are directly related to the indicators and criteria used by each methodology. Thus, a given subsector may present different levels of exposure to carbon leakage depending on the methodological choice.
More than a purely technical discussion, the methodological definition of carbon leakage risk is a political discussion – it can be well-conducted, leading to the success of a CPI, or even sabotaged, by implicitly subsidizing energy-intensive industries.
Despite a clear need, little research has been carried out at the regional-level to quantify potential climate-related impacts to electricity production and delivery systems. This paper introduces a bottom-up study of climate change impacts on California's energy infrastructure, including high temperature effects on power plant capacity, transmission lines, substation capacity, and peak electricity demand. End-of-century impacts were projected using the A2 and B1 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emission scenarios. The study quantifies the effect of high ambient temperatures on electricity generation, the capacity of substations and transmission lines, and the demand for peak power for a set of climate scenarios. Based on these scenarios, atmospheric warming and associated peak demand increases would necessitate up to 38% of additional peak generation capacity and up to 31% additional transmission capacity, assuming current infrastructure. These findings, although based on a limited number of scenarios, suggest that additional funding could be put to good use by supporting R&D into next generation cooling equipment technologies, diversifying the power generation mix without compromising the system's operational flexibility, and designing effective demand side management programs. 相似文献
Aragonite occurrences from two areas of the Western Alps are described. It is shown that aragonite has been formed under blueschist metamorphic conditions in the Western Vanoise, while it has been precipitated under sub-surface conditions in the Queyras region. An uplift (P, T) path of the aragonite-bearing rocks of the Western Vanoise is constructed using two independent methods: (1) temperature estimates using the Sr++ content of aragonite in the successive veins and (2) the kinetics of the aragonitecalcite solid-state transition. The uplift (P, T) path has an unusual shape with an important temperature decrease (100° to 150° C for a pressure decrease of 0.2 GPa) following blueschists metamorphism (P=0.7 GPa, T=300° C). Thermal models show that this unusual (P, T) path of the Western Vanoise can be explained if one maintains a low temperature (between 125° and 175° C) at the base of the tectonic unit containing the aragonite-bearing rocks during part of its burial history, followed by the whole of its exhumation. A tectonic scenario is proposed to account for the observed and modelled (P, T) path. 相似文献
The diatom biostratigraphy of the topmost sediment meter of Rotsee, Central Switzerland, is characterized by a major change fromCyclotella comensis-dominated toStephanodiscus hantzschii/S. parvus-dominated assemblages. A comparison between old phytoplankton samples, taken between 1910–1930, and subfossil diatom assemblages is used for dating the upper 35 cm of the core. There is evidence that the change in dominant diatoms occurred in 1919/20, thus before the opening of an artificial inlet in 1922, and is due to increasing eutrophication. Furthermore, the sedimentary carbonate content can be used as a good indicator for past phytoplankton productivity in Rotsee. 相似文献
A succession of fine dark and light laminations, covering a time span of ca 6,000 years (Allerød to Atlantic), was observed in the sediment of Soppensee, Central Switzerland. These laminations, consisting of dark, organic and diatom-rich winter/spring layers and light calcite summer layers, are shown to be varves by means of several independent pollen and diatom analyses, as well as thin-section studies of the sediment micro-structure. 相似文献