Making cities resilient to climate change: identifying “win–win” interventions

Urbanisation is truly a global phenomenon. Starting at 39% in 1980, the urbanisation level rose to 52% in 2011. Ongoing rapid urbanisation has led to increase in urban greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Urban climate change risks have also increased with increase in climate-induced extreme weather events and more low-income urban dwellers living in climate sensitive locations. Despite increased emissions, including GHGs and heightened climate change vulnerability, climate mitigation and adaptation actions are rare in the cities of developing countries. Cities are overwhelmed with worsening congestion, air pollution, crime, waste management, and unemployment problems. Lack of resources and capacity constraints are other factors that discourage cities from embarking on climate change mitigation and adaptation pathways. Given the multitude of problems faced, there is simply no appetite for stand-alone urban climate change mitigation and adaptation policies and programmes. Urban mitigation and adaptation goals will have to be achieved as co-benefits of interventions targeted at solving pressing urban problems and challenges. The paper identifies administratively simple urban interventions that can help cities solve some of their pressing service delivery and urban environmental problems, while simultaneously mitigating rising urban GHG emissions and vulnerability to climate change.     

Predictive tool for an accurate estimation of carbon dioxide transport properties

In the present work, simple-to-use predictive tool, which is simpler than current available models and involves a fewer number of parameters, requiring less complicated and shorter computations, is formulated to arrive at an appropriate estimation of the transport properties (namely viscosity and thermal conductivity) of carbon dioxide (CO₂) as a function of pressure and temperature. The correlation developed accurately works for temperatures between 260 and 450 K as well as pressures between 10 and 70 MPa which is the range of pressure that is widely considered in CO₂ sequestration. Results have been compared with the reported data and excellent agreement has been obtained between the predicted results and observed values. The average absolute deviations were found to be 1.1 and 1.3% for viscosity and thermal conductivity of carbon dioxide respectively. Proposed simple predictive tool and can be of immense practical value for the engineers to have a quick check on the transport properties (namely viscosity and thermal conductivity) of carbon dioxide at various temperatures and pressures without performing any experimental measurements. In particular, personnel dealing with regulatory bodies of greenhouse gas control and process industries would find the proposed approach to be user friendly involving transparent calculations with no complex expressions.     

Highly efficient solar light-driven BiOX (X=Br/Cl/I) and BiOY heterojunction (Y=Br/Cl) nano photocatalysts in suspended and immobilised forms for malachite green dye wastewater treatment

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - A novel BiOY (Y = Br/Cl) heterojunction nanocatalyst was synthesised chemically and compared with three different BiOX (X = Br/Cl/I) nanocatalysts as...     

New correlations predict aqueous solubility and density of carbon dioxide

In this paper, new correlations for predicting density and the solubility of carbon dioxide in pure water as well as the aqueous sodium chloride solutions are developed, where using the generated interaction parameters, the solubility model is applied to correlate the carbon dioxide solubilities in aqueous solutions for temperatures between 300 and 400 K and pressures from 50 to 700 bar. The correlation developed for predicting density of carbon dioxide accurately works for pressures between 25 and 700 bar and temperatures between 293 and 433 K. The results have been compared with the reported data and it was found that there is a good agreement between the prediction results and observed values.     

Fetal magnetocardiography using optically pumped magnetometers: a more adaptable and less expensive alternative?

Fetal magnetocardiography provides the requisite precision for diagnostic measurement of electrophysiological events in the fetal heart. Despite its significant benefits, this technique with current cryogenic based sensors has been limited to few centers, due to high cost of maintenance. In this study, we show that a less expensive non-cryogenic alternative, optically pumped magnetometers, can provide similar electrophysiological and quantitative characteristics when subjected to direct comparison with the current technology. Further research can potentially increase its clinical use for fetal magnetocardiography. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Environmental implications for disaster preparedness: lessons learnt from the Indian Ocean Tsunami

The impact of disasters, whether natural or man-made, not only has human dimensions, but environmental ones as well. Environmental conditions may exacerbate the impact of a disaster, and vice versa, disasters tend to have an impact on the environment. Deforestation, forest management practices, or agriculture systems can worsen the negative environmental impacts of a storm or typhoon, leading to landslides, flooding, silting, and ground/surface water contamination. We have only now come to understand these cyclical causes and impacts and realize that taking care of our natural resources and managing them wisely not only assures that future generations will be able to live in sustainable ways, but also reduces the risks that natural and man-made hazards pose to people living today. Emphasizing and reinforcing the centrality of environmental concerns in disaster management has become a critical priority, requiring the sound management of natural resources as a tool to prevent disasters and lessen their impacts on people, their homes, and livelihoods. As the horrors of the Asian tsunami of December 2004 continue to be evaluated, and people in the region slowly attempt to build a semblance of normalcy, we have to look to the lessons learnt from the tsunami disaster as an opportunity to prepare ourselves better for future disasters. This article focuses on findings and lessons learnt on the environmental aspects of the tsunami, and its implications on disaster preparedness plans. This article essentially emphasizes the cyclical interrelations between environments and disasters, by studying the findings and assessments of the recent Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that struck on 26 December 2004. It specifically looks at four key affected countries - Maldives, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Thailand.     

Using intra-flock association patterns to understand why birds participate in mixed-species foraging flocks in terrestrial habitats

Bird species are hypothesized to join mixed-species flocks (flocks hereon) either for direct foraging or anti-predation-related benefits. In this study, conducted in a tropical evergreen forest in the Western Ghats of India, we used intra-flock association patterns to generate a community-wide assessment of flocking benefits for different species. We assumed that individuals needed to be physically proximate to particular heterospecific individuals within flocks to obtain any direct foraging benefit (flushed prey, kleptoparasitism, copying foraging locations). Alternatively, for anti-predation benefits, physical proximity to particular heterospecifics is not required, i.e. just being in the flock vicinity can suffice. Therefore, we used choice of locations within flocks to infer whether individual species are obtaining direct foraging or anti-predation benefits. A small subset of the bird community (5/29 species), composed of all members of the sallying guild, showed non-random physical proximity to heterospecifics within flocks. All preferred associates were from non-sallying guilds, suggesting that the sallying species were likely obtaining direct foraging benefits either in the form of flushed or kleptoparasitized prey. The majority of the species (24/29) chose locations randomly with respect to heterospecifics within flocks and, thus, were likely obtaining antipredation benefits. In summary, our study indicates that direct foraging benefits are important for only a small proportion of species in flocks and that predation is likely to be the main driver of flocking for most participants. Our findings apart, our study provides methodological advances that might be useful in understanding asymmetric interactions in social groups of single and multiple species.     

Effect of Compatibilizing Agent on the Properties of Highly Crystalline Composites Based on Poly(lactic acid) and Wood Flour and/or Mica

This article contains a concept of the mechanical properties improvement of the highly crystalline poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and filled composites. PLA as a semi-crystalline thermoplastic polymer was plasticized with poly(ethylene glycol) and filled with 30 vol% of organic and/or inorganic filler. The degree of crytallinity was intentionally increased by annealing. The filler/polymer matrix interphase was modified with the addition of 4, 4′-Methylenediphenyl diisocyanate (MDI). The effect of compatibilizing as well as plasticizing agent on the thermal and mechanical properties, the water-absorption behaviour and crystallization characteristics were studied. The results indicated that high content of filler and crystallites have a strong influence on the composite′s mechanical properties despite of the plasticizer content, showing a high Young modulus. The MDI seems to react in preference easy with plasticizing agent and then alternatively with filler due to the low functionality of commercial PLA grade.     

Effect of calcination temperature on the application of sodium zirconate solid base catalyst for biodiesel production from Jatropha curcas oil

Influence of catalyst calcination temperature on the catalyst characteristics and catalytic transesterification of Jatropha curcas oil for biodiesel production was studied by using sodium zirconate (Na₂ZrO₃) solid base catalyst. Na₂ZrO₃ catalysts were prepared by impregnation method followed by calcination at temperatures of 700, 800, and 900°C. The prepared catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy. Important parameters influencing the catalytic activity and fatty acid methyl ester yield were investigated. It was found that the increase in calcination temperature showed marked increase in activity due to the increased porosity and presence of tetragonal zirconia. Investigation of the reusability of the catalysts showed that the catalytic activity was retained even after five cycles of reaction.