Sequestration In Urban Areas

Recently, the environment issues are becoming more and more serious. The increasing of greenhouse gas emission and pollutions lead to many environment problems related to climate change. The climate change impact our urban life in many aspects. As the biggest metropolitan area in US, New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area has a population about 19,831,858 by year 2012 (U.S. Department of Commerce, US Census Bureau, 2012) The population has been increased by 1.35% since 2010. The increase of population again increase the consuming of resources and increase the carbon dioxide of the statistical area which aggravate the global warming. At this moment, planners and government should take the impacts from climate change that will be critical concern to our area into consideration and applying a climate change management planning policies.

Several attempts have been made by this Author using figures from the US EPA however some estimation had to be made in order to manipulate the 10 year accumulated amount the US EPA had considered. This being the case the 31,933litres of greenhouse gas (CH4 and CO2 combined with a 10% conversion from CH4 to CO2 accounted for) is at best an approximation of the unknown reality. Mansfield is not on mains gas, 45kg bottles of gas holding 88 litres of gas each are used for domestic purposes, this estimated GHG amount is equivalent to just under 363 bottles of gas being released into the atmosphere unchecked per year just from 20% of the small population of Mansfield not composting their organic waste. That being the case the saving of 80% of residents composting is estimated at 25,546,400 litres of Greenhouse Gas being released into the atmosphere, 290,300 standard

Global warming has been a controversial topic for years and some have even denied its existence; however, as more studies are being published every day in regards to our changing climate, it is hard to ignore this growing issue and how humans contribute to it. The term greenhouse gases refers to the group of gases that are primarily responsible for global warming and chief among these gases is carbon dioxide. Rising carbon dioxide levels can be attributed to a combination of burning fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas, and petroleum as well as deforestation in general ( Source A). To slow the effects of global warming, it is important for leaders in our society to consider their greenhouse gas emissions, especially carbon dioxide, and make

Some citizens could not use the spaces very often, while other spaces are open to anyone and everyone in the city. For example, the mall could be open to everyone in the city, while the newly renovated automobile museum could be difficult for some to access. We would get the money for these renovations by holding various fundraisers throughout the town, such as community events to help pay for these spaces. Taxes would not go up for the citizens, unless there is dire need of that to happen. While our city could have drawbacks, there are many ways to fix them.

Residential houses in the United Kingdom remain amongst the least energy efficient in Europe. Generally housing responsible for about 30.0% of all energy use in the UK. The figure for London was even is higher, approximately 37%. It is also within first 10 world's greatest producer of man-made carbon emissions, producing around 1.8% of the global total generated from fossil fuels in 2008. Climate Change Act 2008 set out provisions and a legally binding target for reducing UK carbon dioxide emission by at least 26 per cent by 2020 and at least 80 per cent by 2050. It sets out main actions should be taken by the UK regarding the issue and how reductions of the emissions should be delivered.

Changing the way energy in buildings is monitored, controlled and consumed can bring down CO2 emissions and reduce costs (Faucheux & Nicolaï, 2011) .

It is reported that nearly three quarters of green house gases are a result of humans burning fossil fuels from nonrenewable energy, cars, and electricity (LaMeaux, 2014). The effects of carbon emission on climate change are having devastating and many irreversible

Scientific research into the dynamics of urban heat islands and possible remedies to the problem are vital in the cause of balancing human activities with environmental sustainability. The urgent and imminent environmentally and economically damaging effects of urban heat islands are concerning topics which necessitate equally as drastic solutions, some of which have already begun to be instated, but may not go far enough in protecting our planet. This paper discusses the present measures put in place to help improve urban heat islands, what the future may have in store without further work, and why our planet’s fate greatly depends on these measures. Furthermore, an in depth discussion regarding additional measures that can be effectively and efficiently used to improve urban heat islands will be explored. As aware citizens, individual and collective responsibility in respects to urban heat islands will be central in neutralizing the urban heat island crisis, and action must be taken before it is too late.

Buildings in the residential, commercial and public sectors are responsible for 20-40% of the total energy consumption in the world [Pérez-Lombard, L. Ortiz, J. and Pout, C., (2008)]. Around 70% of this consumption is spent on artificial light and air-conditioning systems [Energy Information Administration, (2008)]. Especially in office buildings as shown in Fig.1.1 [Guide to Best Practice Maintenance & Operation of HVAC Systems for Energy Efficiency (January 2012)] that the energy consumption due to HVAC is 39% and lighting is 25%. In countries having warm climates like India require cooling of buildings for almost 6-8 months to provide thermal comfort to the occupants. The energy

Estimating future emissions is difficult, because it depends on demographic, economic, technological, policy, and institutional developments. Several emissions scenarios have been developed based on differing projections of these underlying factors. For example, by 2100, in the absence of emissions control policies, carbon dioxide concentrations are projected to be

Voluntarily or involuntarily, the construction industry has a huge impact on the environment. It is estimated that the construction industry in the United States consumes about 39% of the total energy and 72% of the electricity produced within the country (Kansal and Kadambari 2010). Also as projected by Ashuri et al. (2011) the CO2 emissions from buildings will grow faster over the next 25 years, if the construction business continues as usual. Apart from the construction activities which consume a lot of energy, most of the energy consumption also occurs during the operational phase of these buildings (Menassa 2011). Hence, building operational energy consumption plays a very important role in the long run. Also it has a tremendous effect on the overall costs of the building (Gasic et al. 2012). In a world of sustainability, energy efficiency is considered as one of the least costly and most effective tools to reduce carbon emissions and global warming (Jafari and Valentin 2016). Retrofitting the old buildings is one of the cheapest solutions to move towards energy efficiency, which reduces the existing problem of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions (Calì et al. 2011).

The increasing amount of green house gases (GHG) released in the atmosphere is causing significant changes in the environment leading to unpredictable weather patterns and warming of the climate system is putting a great pressure on city development and infrastructures. This essay outlines three problems caused by climate change in urban areas, and evaluates the effectiveness of some of the mitigation and adaptation strategies. This essay reasons that mitigation and adaptation strategies need to work in synergy in order to address the situation effectively.

One of the most challenging global issue facing today’s society is climate change, it is affecting all regions across the globe, with some areas experiencing extreme weather events and heavy rainfall, whereas other regions are hit with droughts and heat waves. Climate change can be defined as a “large-scale, long-term shift in the planet's weather patterns or average temperatures.” (metoffice). Consequently, a range of challenges are occurring to not only human settlements, but more importantly to the natural environment as well. It is becoming increasingly important for countries across the globe to attempt to adapt and mitigate from the effects of climate change. Climate mitigation is “any action taken to permanently eliminate or reduce the long-term risk and hazards of climate change to human life, property.” (Global-greenhouse-warming.com). It can include enhancing the sinks of greenhouse gases, as well as reducing the sources. Whereas climate adaptation, is referring to “the ability of a system to adjust to climate change (including climate variability and extremes) to moderate potential damage, to take advantage of opportunities, or to cope with the consequences.” (Global-greenhouse-warming.com). Adaptation can include improving road infrastructure, so it would be able to withstand hotter temperatures, or just simply change in behaviour shifts such as using less water. These two methods are essential and can be connected through strategic town planning, and can be used to tackle climate change, through an array of implementations which will not only prepare the globe, but also reduce the impacts of climate change.

In 2010 a group of experts were virtually assembled from around the world to address the rapidly growing problem of CO2 emissions from the building sector. In this paper we present the results of this multidisciplinary cooperation between designers, architects and engineers from Europe, USA, Japan and China. The project grew from this team, who led the “Reduce CO2 – With technology to zero emissions” workshop at the Holcim Forum in Mexico City.

Urban Forest plays a very important role in restoring the relationship between man and the natural environment ensuring better quality of life. Urban Forests contribute to the retention of air pollution, although this property has been occasionally overrated. The use of trees as form of protection against pollution in polluted environments is a common practice in many developed countries. In 2012, approximately 3,732,500 people died worldwide, consequence of ambient air pollution (WHO, 2014). Several studies have proved the importance and benefits of trees in urban areas: reduction in air pollution through air purification rates, absorptions of particulate matters, reduction of need of energy, through air conditioning and heating, which