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Appearance of extreme monsoonal rainfall events and their impact on erosion
- in the Himalaya, Geomatics Nat. Hazards Risk
, 2010
"... Monsoonal rainfall in the Himalaya dominates erosion and sediment transport through the fluvial system. In addition to the strong seasonal nature of the Indian summer monsoon, striking interannual variations in monsoonal strength characterize longer records. For example, during any given year, rain ..."
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Monsoonal rainfall in the Himalaya dominates erosion and sediment transport through the fluvial system. In addition to the strong seasonal nature of the Indian summer monsoon, striking interannual variations in monsoonal strength characterize longer records. For example, during any given year, rain may penetrate further into the orogen, even though peak rainfall amounts almost always occur at topographic barriers in regions with high relief, regardless of overall monsoonal strength. Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) product 3B42 rainfall is first used to document the spatial rainfall distribution and then the TRMM time series are used to identify temporal and seasonal rainfall variations. A simple, but robust magnitude-frequency relation for each rainfall pixel is used to show that rainfall greater or equal to the 90th percentile occurs at least twice as often in mountainous terrain as in low-elevation regions. Previous field-based observations and measurements show that this significantly higher number of extreme events leads to higher erosion volumes and greater fluvialmass transport rates. The spatiotemporal context of these extreme events helps to predict occurrences of high sediment flux and could underpin the strategic development of preventative measures. Improved statistics for extreme events are key to mitigating the filling of hydropower reservoirs and abrasion of hydropower turbines, as well as to sustaining infrastructure and successful agriculture in the downstream section of the Himalaya. 1.
2050 Negotiating our future: Living scenarios for Australia to
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PRIVATE EQUITY; PUBLIC PRINCIPLE EVALUATING THE LEGITIMACY AND SUSTAINABILITY OF PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
"... ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit Twente, op gezag van de rector magnificus, prof.dr. W.H.M. Zijm, volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties in het openbaar te verdedigen op vrijdag 9 mei 2008 om 16.45 uur. door ..."
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ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit Twente, op gezag van de rector magnificus, prof.dr. W.H.M. Zijm, volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties in het openbaar te verdedigen op vrijdag 9 mei 2008 om 16.45 uur. door
ECPR conference 'Regulatory Governance between Global and Local' Barcelona Risk, uncertainty and the institutional geographies of adaptation to future flooding in England
"... Abstract: This paper explores how the institutional geographies of flood risk management shape, and in turn are then reciprocally reshaped by, the way that uncertainties about climate change are framed as calculable risks to inform adaptation planning and risk-based policymaking. Combining key info ..."
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Abstract: This paper explores how the institutional geographies of flood risk management shape, and in turn are then reciprocally reshaped by, the way that uncertainties about climate change are framed as calculable risks to inform adaptation planning and risk-based policymaking. Combining key informant interviews (n=18) with documentary analysis, it focuses on how uncertainties about future peak flood flows and sea level rises are accounted for in long term strategic planning processes to adapt inland and coastal flood risk management to climate change. In the first case the poorly understood impacts of future climate change were represented with a simplistic adjustment to peak flow estimates, which proved institutionally robust in spurring local authorities to make precautionary allowances for climate change, at least in part because its scientific limitations were only partly acknowledged. By contrast in the second case, greater scientific confidence led to successively more elaborate guidance on how to represent the science, which in turn contributed to significant decisional uncertainties about whether and how the uncertain effects of future sea level rise would be taken into account in adaptation planning. Comparative analysis of these two cases then informs some wider reflections about climate change adaptation and the institutional appetites for uncertainty information.
All adrift: aviation, shipping, and climate change policy
"... All sectors face decarbonization for a 2 8C temperature increase to be avoided. Nevertheless, meaningful policy measures that address rising CO 2 from international aviation and shipping remain woefully inadequate. Treated with a similar approach within the United Nations Framework Convention on Cl ..."
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All sectors face decarbonization for a 2 8C temperature increase to be avoided. Nevertheless, meaningful policy measures that address rising CO 2 from international aviation and shipping remain woefully inadequate. Treated with a similar approach within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), they are often debated as if facing comparable challenges, and even influence each others' mitigation policies. Yet their strengths and weaknesses have important distinctions. This article sheds light on these differences so that they can be built upon to improve the quality of debate and ensuing policy development. The article quantifies '2 8C' pathways for these sectors, highlighting the need for mitigation measures to be urgently accelerated. It reviews recent developments, drawing attention to one example where a change in aviation mitigation policy had a direct impact on measures to cut CO 2 from shipping. Finally, the article contrasts opportunities and barriers towards mitigation. The article concludes that there is a portfolio of opportunities for short-to medium-term decarbonization for shipping, but its complexity is its greatest barrier to change. In contrast, the more simply structured aviation sector is pinning too much hope on emissions trading to deliver CO 2 cuts in line with 2 8C. Instead, the solution remains controversial and unpopular -avoiding 2 8C requires demand management. Policy relevance The governance arrangements around the CO 2 produced by international aviation and shipping are different from other sectors because their emissions are released in international airspace and waters. Instead, through the Kyoto Protocol, the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) were charged with developing policies towards mitigating their emissions. Slow progress to date, coupled with strong connections with rapidly growing economies, has led to the CO 2 from international transport growing at a higher rate than the average rate from all other sectors. This article considers this rapid growth, and the potential for future CO 2 growth in the context of avoiding a 2 8C temperature rise above pre-industrial levels. It explores similarities and differences between these two sectors, highlighting that a reliance on global market-based measures to deliver required CO 2 cuts will likely leave both at odds with the overarching climate goal.
Energy and Health 6 Policies for accelerating access to clean energy, improving health, advancing development, and mitigating climate change
"... The absence of reliable access to clean energy and the services it provides imposes a large disease burden on low-income populations and impedes prospects for development. Furthermore, current patterns of fossil-fuel use cause substantial ill-health from air pollution and occupational hazards. Impe ..."
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The absence of reliable access to clean energy and the services it provides imposes a large disease burden on low-income populations and impedes prospects for development. Furthermore, current patterns of fossil-fuel use cause substantial ill-health from air pollution and occupational hazards. Impending climate change, mainly driven by energy use, now also threatens health. Policies to promote access to non-polluting and sustainable sources of energy have great potential both to improve public health and to mitigate (prevent) climate disruption. There are several technological options, policy levers, and economic instruments for sectors such as power generation, transport, agriculture, and the built environment. However, barriers to change include vested interests, political inertia, inability to take meaningful action, profound global inequalities, weak technology-transfer mechanisms, and knowledge gaps that must be addressed to transform global markets. The need for policies that prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate while addressing the energy needs of disadvantaged people is a central challenge of the current era. A comprehensive programme for clean energy should optimise mitigation and, simultaneously, adaption to climate change while maximising co-benefi ts for health-eg, through improved air, water, and food quality. Intersectoral research and concerted action, both nationally and internationally, will be required. Links between energy use and public health Previous articles in this Series have described the public-health implications of fuel combustion, power generation, livestock production and consumption, and patterns of energy use. Although there is a range of important health eff ects, including those associated with occupational safety and health in energy industries, the low-probability/high-consequence accident risks from nuclear and hydroelectric facilities, the diverse health risks from global climate change, and the association of high-energy-use lifestyles with obesity, two major sources of disease burden today from energy use are indoor and outdoor air pollution.
