First global study shows uneven urbanization among large cities

 in the last two decades

HKU Engineering scholar reveals in first global study hugely uneven urbanization among large cities in the last two decades

THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

Research News

 

IMAGE: DISTRIBUTION OF LARGE CITIES IN THE WORLD WITH GREENING BUILT-UP AREA (BUA), AND GREENING BUILT-UP AREAS IN YANGTZE RIVER DELTA (YRD) CITY CLUSTER view more 

CREDIT: THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

The world has experienced dramatic urbanization in recent decades. According to the latest report from the United Nations (UN), the global population in 2018 was 7.6 billion and the urban population was 4.2 billion. By 2050, the global population is expected to soar to 9.7 billion, with 68% of the population living in urban areas. (Note 1)

In the first-ever study on the characteristics of urbanization in large cities around the world, researchers at the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) analyzed cities' urban built-up areas (BUAs) expansion, population growth and greening BUA changes, and revealed a hugely uneven pace of urbanization in those cities in the last two decades. They warn against major challenges posed to sustainable development if the urban problems are not dealt with in a timely manner. The findings have been published in Nature Communication.

The study, conducted by Professor CHEN Ji at the Civil Engineering Department of the Faculty of Engineering, HKU, in collaboration with the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and National Supercomputing Center in Shenzhen, analysed the development of 841 large cities throughout the world with BUAs of over 100 km2 (Note 2) based on MODIS satellite data from 2001 to 2018 obtained under the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme.

Breakdown of the 841 large cities by country income-levels

• 353 cities (42.0%) from high-income countries (e.g. New York in US, Tokyo in Japan)
• 340 cities (40.4%) from upper-middle-income countries (e.g. Pearl River Delta (PRD) and Beijing in China, Sao Paulo in Brazil)
• 127 cities (15.1%) from lower-middle-income countries (e.g. New Delhi in India, Cairo in Egypt, Lagos in Nigeria)
• 21 cities (2.5%) from low-income countries (e.g. Kathmandu in Nepal, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania)

The findings revealed unevenness between built-up areas expansion (BUAE), which reflects the pace of infrastructure development, and urban population growth among the cities; and a widening gap between rapid urban population growth and slow urban greening, represented by features including new parks, green spaces and green roofs.

Cities in the upper-middle-income countries demonstrated the highest BUA expansion, which was more than three times that of high-income countries. Urban expansion and urban population growth in high-income countries remained the lowest. Cities in the low-income and lower-middle-income countries had the highest urban population growth on average, but were substantially lagging behind in BUA expansion and infrastructure development, resulting in serious urban problems such as slums and crowding.

CAPTION

Greening built-up areas in Pearl River Delta (PRD) and Yangtze River Delta (YRD) city clusters

CREDIT

The University of Hong Kong

The findings also revealed rapid urbanization of large cities in China in the last two decades. The country had undergone the biggest urban expansion in the period, between 2001 and 2018, its BUA increase accounted for 47.5% of the total expansion in the world. In 2018, the country has 19% of the total BUA of large cities in the world.

"Due to the rapid economic growth in the study period, China invested a large amount of resources into infrastructure construction for advancing the urban living environment. Its progress in greening has been impressive, benefitting at least 108 million city dwellers, accounting for 32% of the total greening at BUAs in the large cities over the world." Professor Chen said.

Of the 841 cities studied, 325 showed significant greening with more than 10% of greening BUAs. Among them 101 are located in China. The largest greening BUAs are Pearl River Delta (PRD)(Note 3), Tokyo, Yangtze River Delta (YRD, Note 4), Miami, Beijing, Chicago, Seoul, Tianjin, Sao Paulo, and Osaka. In 2018, cities in the highest quarter of greenness range accommodated only 12% of the total city population; about 69% of the total population lived in areas with a lower greenness.

"China will reach carbon emission peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, and large cities with a significant greening trend play an important role in neutralizing carbon emission and mitigating the impact of global climate change in urban areas. For the majority of the developing countries, understanding the uneven urbanization in the past decades can provide scientific references for urban management, helping to strike a balance between urbanization, population growth and environmental changes." Professor Chen said.

"Our research provides a low-cost method for monitoring sustainable urban development globally, and the quantitative findings contribute to a better understanding of how to achieve rational urbanization and sustainable development in various cities. The findings also serve as a warning that continuing and rapid urban development without proper and long-term planning can be detrimental and the urgent need is to strengthen urban planning and governance, especially in developing and least developed countries." Professor Chen added.

CAPTION

Professor CHEN Ji, Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, HKU

CREDIT

The University of Hong Kong

Note 1: United Nations. World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision online edn (United Nations, 2018).

Note 2: For reference, Hong Kong Island has an area of 78.64 km2
Note 3: Pearl River Delta (PRD) is taken as a 'mega' city in the study comprising a cluster of cities including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Foshan and Zhongshan
Note 4: Yangtze River Delta includes cities of Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi and Changzhou

Article in Nature Communications

"Dramatic uneven urbanization of large cities throughout the world in recent decades" by Liqun Sun, Ji Chen, Qinglan Li & Dian Huang
Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19158-1

Chinese scientists uncover gene for rice adaption to low soil nitrogen

CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES HEADQUARTERS

Research News

 

IMAGE: A. OSTCP19-H IS SIGNIFICANT CORRELATED WITH SOIL NITROGEN CONTENT. B-F. OSTCP19-H SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASES GRAIN YIELD AND NUE UNDER LN AND MN CONDITIONS. view more 

CREDIT: IGDB

Chinese scientists from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have found a gene that plays an important role in helping rice adapt to low soil nitrogen.

Nitrogen fertilizer application is a strategic challenge for sustainable agriculture: On the one hand, it plays an indispensable role in increasing crop yields, thus ensuring global food security. On the other hand, it creates a severe threat to ecosystems. For this reason, breeding new crop varieties with high nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is a high priority for both agricultural production and environmental protection.

Using a diversified rice population derived from different ecogeographical regions, the scientists carefully evaluated how various agronomic traits responded to nitrogen in fields with different nitrogen supply conditions. They further performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS). Surprisingly, only one very significant GWAS signal was identified. The detail mechanisms how OsTCP19 works in regulating rice tillering were also characterized.

More interestingly, by analyzing global soil nitrogen content data, the researchers found a strong correlation between the allelic variation of OsTCP19 and global soil nitrogen-content distribution. OsTCP19-H, the high NUE allele, was highly preserved in rice types grown in nitrogen-poor regions, but has been lost in rice types grown in nitrogen-rich regions.

Notably, OsTCP19-H is also highly prevalent in wild rice--the ancestor of modern cultivated rice--which was grown in natural soil without artificial fertilizer input. As modern rice cultivars are mainly grown with a bountiful nitrogen supply, OsTCP19-H has thus largely been lost. Therefore, breeding high-yield crops with decreased nitrogen input can be realized by bringing OsTCP19-H back to modern cultivars.

Indeed, OsTCP19-H introgression into modern cultivars can improve nitrogen use efficiency 20-30% under conditions of decreased nitrogen supply. For this reason, modern cultivated rice may be greatly improved by bringing the lost allele back through the use of poor-soil landraces that largely preserve the valuable genes of wild rice.

"This is truly groundbreaking. It will have implications not only for the basic understanding of how plants/rice works, but also has enormous implications for reducing fertilizer use," said Prof. Dale Sanders, director of the John Innes Centre in the UK.

The findings represent an important breakthrough in plant nutrition research and high NUE breeding and will greatly benefit sustainable agriculture. The work not only offers novel insights about the genetic basis for the geographic adaption of cultivated rice to soil fertility, but also gives a hint about efficiently dissecting other complex traits.

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The work, entitled "Genomic basis of geographic adaptation to soil nitrogen in rice," was published in Nature on Jan. 6, 2021. It was fund

 

The Lancet Planetary Health: Meeting India's air quality targets across south Asia may prevent 7% of pregnancy losses, modelling study estimates

Modelling study suggests that pregnant women in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, who are exposed to poor air quality, may be at higher risk of stillbirths and miscarriages

THE LANCET

Research News

 

• Modelling study suggests that pregnant women in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, who are exposed to poor air quality, may be at higher risk of stillbirths and miscarriages.
• An estimated 349,681 pregnancy losses per year in south Asia were associated with exposure to PM2.5 concentrations that exceeded India's air quality standard (more than 40 μg/m³), accounting for 7% of annual pregnancy loss in the region from 2000-2016.
• First study to estimate the effect of air pollution on pregnancy loss across the region indicates that air pollution could be a major contributor to pregnancy loss in south Asia, so controlling air pollution is vital for improving maternal health.
• However, limitations in the survey data mean the study was unable to distinguish between natural pregnancy loss and abortions, which may have led to an underestimation of the effect of air pollution on natural pregnancy loss.

Poor air quality is associated with a considerable proportion of pregnancy loss in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, according to a modelling study published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal.

Previous studies have suggested a link between air pollution and pregnancy loss in other regions, but this is the first study to quantify the burden in south Asia, which is the most populous region in the world and has the highest rate of pregnancy loss. [1,2,3] Therefore, understanding the risk factors for pregnancy loss in south Asia is crucial to improving maternal health regionally and globally.

Lead author on the study, Dr. Tao Xue, Peking University, China, says, "South Asia has the highest burden of pregnancy loss globally and is one of the most PM2.5 polluted regions in the world. Our findings suggest that poor air quality could be responsible for a considerable burden of pregnancy loss in the region, providing further justification for urgent action to tackle dangerous levels of pollution." [1]

One of the co-authors, Dr. Tianjia Guan, is from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China. She says "We know losing a pregnancy can have knock-on mental, physical and economic effects on women, including increased risk of postnatal depressive disorders, infant mortality during subsequent pregnancy, and increase the costs related to pregnancy, such as loss of labour. Therefore, reducing pregnancy loss may also lead to knock-on improvements in gender equality." [1]

To carry out their analysis, the authors combined data from household surveys on health from 1998-2016 (from women who reported at least one pregnancy loss and one or more livebirths) and estimated exposure to PM2.5 during pregnancy through combining satellite with atmospheric modelling outputs. They created a model to examine how exposure to PM2.5 increased women's risk of pregnancy loss, calculating risk for each 10 μg/m³ increased in PM2.5 after adjusting for maternal age, temperature and humidity, seasonal variation, and long-term trends in pregnancy loss.

Using this association, they calculated the number of pregnancy losses that may have been caused by PM2.5 in the whole region for the period 2000-16 and looked at how many pregnancy losses might have been prevented under India's and WHO's air quality standard (40 μg/m³ and 10 μg/m³, respectively).

In the study, they included 34,197 women who had lost a pregnancy, including 27,480 miscarriages and 6,717 stillbirths, which were compared to livebirth controls. Of the pregnancy loss cases, 77% were from India, 12% from Pakistan, and 11% from Bangladesh.

Gestational exposure to PM2.5 was associated with an increased likelihood of pregnancy loss, and this remained significant after adjusting for other factors. Each increase in 10 μg/m³ was estimated to increase a mother's risk of pregnancy loss by 3%.

The increase in risk was greater for mothers from rural areas or those who became pregnant at an older age, compared to younger mothers from urban areas.

From 2000 to 2016, 349,681 pregnancy losses per year were associated with ambient exposure to air pollution exceeding India's air quality standard-- accounting for 7% of the total annual pregnancy loss burden in this region. For air pollution above WHO air quality guideline, exposure may have contributed to 29% of pregnancy losses. [4]

Although WHO's guidelines aims for a safer level of air pollution, the authors note that India's standard is a more realistic target level, given the high average levels of air pollution in the region and the need to balance practical governance and public health.

Pregnancy loss associated with air pollution was more common in the Northern plains region in India and Pakistan. Although the total burden of pregnancy loss was predominantly borne by rural women aged under 30 years old in recent years, the burden attributable to PM2.5 also affected older mothers (aged 30 years or over) in rural areas because of their high susceptibility to the adverse effects of PM2.5.

The authors note several limitations of their study. In the surveys, they were not able to distinguish between natural pregnancy loss and abortions and there was under-reporting of pregnancy losses because of stigma or ignoring very early pregnancy losses. They also note that the survey data is subject to recall bias, therefore, recommending the causality of the association should be further examined in longitudinal studies. In addition, satellite-based estimates of PM2.5 were used, this was necessary because insufficient local monitoring is available.

###

NOTES TO EDITORS

This study was funded by Chinese Natural Science Foundation and Ministry of Science and Technology of China. It was conducted by researchers from Peking University, China, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, China, Tsinghua University, China, University of Connecticut, USA.

The labels have been added to this press release as part of a project run by the Academy of Medical Sciences seeking to improve the communication of evidence. For more information, please see: http://www.sciencemediacentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/AMS-press-release-labelling-system-GUIDANCE.pdf if you have any questions or feedback, please contact The Lancet press office pressoffice@lancet.com

[1] Quote direct from author and cannot be found in the text of the Article.

[2] Association between pregnancy loss and ambient PM2·5 using survey data in Africa: a longitudinal case-control study, 1998-2016: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(19)30047-6/fulltext

[3] During 2010-15, 178 million (25·5%) of 698 million babies born globally were born in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh combined, but 917 800 (35·0%) of 2 620 000 stillbirths occurred in these countries.

[4] For the WHO guideline scenario, the authors only calculated the percentage of pregnancy losses associated with PM2.5, so unlike for the India's air standard scenario, the total number of pregnancy losses is not available.

Peer-reviewed / Mo

Modern microbes provide window into ancient ocean

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT BOULDER

Research News

 

Step into your new, microscopic time machine. Scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder have discovered that a type of single-celled organism living in modern-day oceans may have a lot in common with life forms that existed billions of years ago--and that fundamentally transformed the planet.

The new research, which will appear Jan. 6 in the journal Science Advances, is the latest to probe the lives of what may be nature's hardest working microbes: cyanobacteria.

These single-celled, photosynthetic organisms, also known as "blue-green algae," can be found in almost any large body of water today. But more than 2 billion years ago, they took on an extra important role in the history of life on Earth: During a period known as the "Great Oxygenation Event," ancient cyanobacteria produced a sudden, and dramatic, surge in oxygen gas.

"We see this total shift in the chemistry of the oceans and the atmosphere, which changed the evolution of life, as well," said study lead author Sarah Hurley, a postdoctoral research associate in the departments of Geological Sciences and Biochemistry. "Today, all higher animals need oxygen to survive."

To date, scientists still don't know what these foundational microbes might have looked like, where they lived or what triggered their transformation of the globe.

But Hurley and her colleagues think they might have gotten closer to an answer by drawing on studies of naturally-occurring and genetically-engineered cyanobacteria. The team reports that these ancient microbes may have floated freely in an open ocean and resembled a modern form of life called beta-cyanobacteria.

Studying them, the researchers said, offers a window into a time when single-celled organisms ruled the Earth.

"This research gave us the unique opportunity to form and test hypotheses of what the ancient Earth might have looked like, and what these ancient organisms could have been," said co-author Jeffrey Cameron, an assistant professor of biochemistry.

Take a breath

You can still make the case that cyanobacteria rule the planet. Hurley noted that these organisms currently produce about a quarter of the oxygen that comes from the world's oceans.

One secret to their success may lie in carboxysomes--or tiny, protein-lined compartments that float inside all living cyanobacteria. These pockets are critical to the lives of these organisms, allowing them to concentrate molecules of carbon dioxide within their cells.

"Being able to concentrate carbon allows cyanobacteria to live at what are, in the context of Earth's history, really low carbon dioxide concentrations," Hurley said.

Before the Great Oxidation Event, it was a different story. Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere may have been as much as 100 times what they are today, and oxygen was almost nonexistent. For that reason, many scientists long assumed that ancient microorganisms didn't need carboxysomes for concentrating carbon dioxide.

"Cyanobacteria have persisted in some form over two billion years of Earth's history," she said. "They could have been really different than today's cyanobacteria."

To find out how similar they were, the researchers cultured jars filled with bright-green cyanobacteria under conditions resembling those on Earth 2 billion years ago.

Hurley explained that different types of cyanobacteria prefer to digest different forms, or "isotopes," of carbon atoms. As a result, when they grow, die and decompose, the organisms leave behind varying chemical signatures in ancient sedimentary rocks.

"We think that cyanobacteria were around billions of years ago," she said. "Now, we can get at what they were doing and where they were living at that time because we have a record of their metabolism."

Resurrecting zombie microbes

In particular, the team studied two different types of cyanobacteria. They included beta-cyanobacteria, which are common in the oceans today. But the researchers also added a new twist to the study. They attempted to bring an ancient cyanobacterium back from the dead. Hurley and her colleagues used genetic engineering to design a special type of microorganism that didn't have any carboxysomes. Think of it like a zombie cyanobacterium.

"We had the ability to do what was essentially a physiological resurrection in the lab," said Boswell Wing, a study coauthor and associate professor of geological sciences.

But when the researchers studied the metabolism of their cultures, they found something surprising: Their zombie cyanobacterium didn't seem to produce a chemical signature that aligned with the carbon isotope signatures that scientists had previously seen in the rock record. In fact, the best fit for those ancient signals were likely beta-cyanobacteria--still very much alive today.

The team, in other words, appears to have stumbled on a living fossil that was hiding in plain sight. And, they said, it's clear that cyanobacteria living around the time of the Great Oxygenation Event did have a structure akin to a carboxysome. This structure may have helped cells to protect themselves from growing concentrations of oxygen in the air.

"That modern organisms could resemble these ancient cyanobacteria--that was really counterintuitive," Wing said.

Scientists, they note, now have a much better idea of what ancient cyanobacteria looked like and where they lived. And that means that they can begin running experiments to dig deeper into what life was like in the 2 billion-year-old ocean.

"Here is hard evidence from the geological record and a model organism that can shed new light on life on ancient Earth," Cameron said.

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Other coauthors on the new paper included CU Boulder undergraduate student Claire Jasper and graduate student Nicholas Hill.

Will global warming bring a change in the winds? Dust from the deep sea provides a clue

Westerlies moved poleward in the past, as they are doing now

EARTH INSTITUTE AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

 NEWS RELEASE 6-JAN-2021

Research News

 

IMAGE: IMAGE OF A DUST PLUME LEAVING CHINA AND CROSSING THE KOREAN PENINSULA AND JAPAN. RESEARCHERS STUDIED THE DUST DEPOSITED IN ANCIENT OCEAN SEDIMENTS IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND HOW WIND PATTERNS... view more 

CREDIT: SEAWIFS PROJECT, NASA/GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER, AND ORBIMAGE

The westerlies--or westerly winds--play an important role in weather and climate both locally and on a global scale, by influencing precipitation patterns, impacting ocean circulation and steering tropical cyclones. So, finding a way to assess how they will change as the climate warms is crucial.

Typically, the westerlies blow from west to east across the planet's middle latitudes. But scientists have noticed that over the last several decades, these winds are changing, migrating poleward. Research suggests this is because of climate change. But, scientists have been debating whether the poleward movement of the westerlies will continue as temperatures and atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) increase further under future warming scenarios. It's been difficult to resolve this scientific question because our knowledge of the westerlies in past warm climates has until now been limited.

In a paper published January 6 in Nature, climate researchers from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory describe a new method of tracking the ancient history of the westerly winds--a proxy for what we may experience in a future warming world. The lead author, Lamont graduate student Jordan Abell and his advisor, Gisela Winckler, developed a way to apply paleoclimatology--the study of past climate--to the question of the behavior of the westerly winds, and found evidence suggesting that atmospheric circulation patterns will change with climate warming.

The finding represents a breakthrough in our understanding of how the winds changed in the past, and how they may continue to change in the future.

By using dust in ancient, deep sea sediments as an indirect tracer of wind, the researchers were able to reconstruct wind patterns that occurred three to five million years ago. Knowing that winds--in this case the westerlies--transport dust from desert regions to faraway locations, the authors examined cores from the North Pacific Ocean. This area is downwind from Eastern Asia, one of the largest dust sources today and a known dust-generating region for the past several million years. By measuring the dust in cores from two different sites thousands of kilometers apart, the researchers were able to map changes in dust, and in turn the westerly winds.

CAPTION

Sediment cores like the one shown here, drilled from the bottom of the ocean, contain records of past climate conditions within their layers. Dust in cores collected by the research vessel JOIDES Resolution and stored at Texas A&M University helped to reveal changing patterns in the westerly winds.

CREDIT

Jordan Abell/Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

"We could immediately see the patterns. The data are so clear. Our work is consistent with modern observations, and suggests that wind patterns will change with climate warming," said Abell.

They found that during the warm parts of the Pliocene (a period three to five million years ago, when the Earth was about two to four degrees Celsius warmer than today but had approximately the same concentration of CO2 in the air as we do now), the westerlies, globally, were located closer towards the poles than during the colder intervals afterwards.

"By using the Pliocene as an analogue for modern global warming, it seems likely that the movement of the westerlies towards the poles observed in the modern era will continue with further human-induced warming," explained Winckler.

CAPTION

The researchers found that during the warm parts of the Pliocene (3-5 million years ago), the westerlies were located closer to the poles. The image on the right shows how the westerlies moved toward the equator during colder intervals afterward. Recent observations indicate that as the planet warms due to climate change, the westerlies are once again shifting poleward.

CREDIT

Abell et al., Nature

The movement of these winds have huge implications for storm systems and precipitation patterns. And while this research does not indicate exactly where it will rain more or less, it confirms that the wind and precipitation patterns will change with climate warming.

"In the Earth history record, tracking down movements of wind and how they've changed, that's been elusive because we didn't have a tracer for it," said Winckler. "Now we do."

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Robert Anderson from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Brown University's Timothy Herbert were co-authors on this study.

Charging ahead for electric vehicles

KING ABDULLAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (KAUST)

Research News

 

By applying statistical geometry to analyzing urban road networks, KAUST researchers have advanced understanding of how wireless charging roads might influence driver behavior and city planning in a future where electric vehicles (EVs) dominate the car market.

"Our work is motivated by the global trend of moving towards green transportation and EVs," says postdoc Mustafa Kishk. "Efficient dynamic charging systems, such as wireless power transfer systems installed under roads, are being developed by researchers and technology companies around the world as a way to charge EVs while driving without the need to stop. In this context, there is a need to mathematically analyze the large-scale deployment of charging roads in metropolitan cities."

Many factors come into play when charging roads are added to the urban road network. Drivers may seek out charging roads on their commute, which has implications for urban planning and traffic control. Meanwhile, the density of charging road installations in a city, and the likely time spent on and between the charging roads by commuters, could influence the size of batteries installed in EVs by car manufacturers.

Calculating the metrics that could be used to analyze a charging road network is very significant, as Kishk's lab colleague, Duc Minh Nguyen, explains.

"Our main challenge is that the metrics used to evaluate the performance of dynamic charging deployment, such as the distance to the nearest charging road on a random trip, depend on the starting and ending points of each trip," says Nguyen. "To correctly capture those metrics, we had to explicitly list all possible situations, compute the metrics in each case and evaluate how likely it is for each situation to happen in reality. For this, we used an approach called stochastic geometry to model and analyze how these metrics are affected by factors such as the density of roads and the frequency of dynamic charging deployment."

Applying this analysis to the Manhattan area of New York, which has a road density of one road every 63 meters, Kishk and Nguyen with research leader Mohamed-Slim Alouini determined that a driver would have an 80 percent chance of encountering a charging road after driving for 500 meters when wireless charging is installed on 20 percent of roads.

"This is the first study to incorporate stochastic geometry into the performance analysis of charging road deployment in metropolitan cities," Kishk says. "It is an important step towards a better understanding of charging road deployment in metropolitan cities."

It's getting hot in here: Warming world

will fry power plant production in coming years

SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

IMAGE: ETHAN COFFEL, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF GEOGRAPHY AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE MAXWELL SCHOOL AT SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY. view more 

CREDIT: SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - There's no doubt the Earth's temperatures are going up. According to a December report by the World Meteorological Organization, 2020 is on track to be one of the three hottest years on record, already within the warmest decade to date. During the year's hottest months, many people rely on electricity-generated cooling systems to remain comfortable. But the power plants that keep air conditioners pushing out cold air could soon be in a vicious cycle in a warming world-not able to keep up with growing demands on hotter days and driving up greenhouse gas emissions to dangerous levels.

Ethan Coffel, assistant professor of geography and the environment in the Maxwell School, explores this power and climate struggle in the research paper, "Thermal power generation is disadvantaged in a thermal world." The work published in the scientific journal Environmental Research Letters. Professor Coffel answered five questions about the new findings and how warming temperatures will impact every part of our power infrastructure.

Q: Can you describe your research?

A: We show that the thermal power plants that currently generate most of our electricity are already having to reduce their electricity output on hot days due to cooling limitations. On the hottest days, power plant capacity can be reduced by more than 10 percent because the air and water that are used to cool the plants is too warm. This lost generation capacity is a problem because these hot days are when electricity is most needed to run air conditioners.

As global warming makes heat waves more frequent, intense and long, the negative effects of heat on power plants will become more pronounced. With 2 degrees Celsius of global warming-the upper target agreed to in the 2015 Paris Accord-power plant outages on hot days could nearly double from today's level.

Q: In conducting your research, in what ways or specific examples did you find climate change impacting human systems?

A: Our work demonstrates a harmful interaction between human adaptation and infrastructure vulnerability in a warming world. As hot days become more frequent, more people will want air conditioners to protect themselves from unpleasant and dangerous heat. But, these air conditioners need electricity, which further increases the greenhouse gas emissions that drive global warming! And further, more A/C will increase electricity demand at the same time as heat is reducing the output of power plants, potentially straining the electricity grid in some places.

Q: What does your research reveal or uncover about future global electricity production?

A: We find that thermal power generation will be disadvantaged in a warmer world. By the middle of the century, we find that 100-200 additional average-sized global power plants could be required to make up for the electricity generation capacity lost due to heat. Transitioning the electricity sector to renewables-especially wind and solar-will not only reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, but will also reduce the negative impacts of global warming on our power infrastructure.

Q: So much attention is put on governments, companies, cities, etc. and their contributions to global warming. Are there smaller things individuals and families can and should focus on?

A: While individual steps are no substitute for strong national policy action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, there are many things individuals can do, both large and small. Some big steps people can take are installing solar panels on their homes, replacing gas or oil furnaces with electric heat pumps, replacing an old vehicle with an electric car, or replacing a gas stove with an electric model. These infrastructure investments can significantly reduce someone's individual emissions (and keep those emissions low for years to come).

Smaller steps include flying just a bit less, driving a bit less or eating a bit less meat. These individual actions are important because they encourage others around you to take climate-friendly steps to reduce their emissions too.

Q: What should policymakers be doing now to prepare for warming threats and its impact to our electricity supply? What options would you suggest?

A: To meet the Paris Accord target of 1.5-2 degrees Celsius of global warming, global greenhouse gas emissions need to reach net zero by mid-century. Achieving this goal would require extremely large investments in renewable energy, electric vehicles and changes to land management. These changes are starting to happen, but not nearly fast enough.

We are very fortunate that major progress has been made to reduce the cost of wind and solar power-these zero-carbon electricity sources are now often cheaper than fossil fuels. So making the transition away from coal, oil and gas not only makes climate sense, but also economic sense. However, we are already feeling the impacts of global warming.

Governments should be preparing for the large increases in electricity demand that will come with increased temperatures and A/C use, and ensuring that electricity supplies are sufficient to meet this rising power demand, even after accounting for the reduced power output of thermal power plants on hot days.

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INDIA FARMERS REVOLT

Cancellation of UK PM Boris Johnson's visit our victory, Modi government's 'defeat': Farmer unions

Farmer unions protesting against the three new agri laws claimed the cancellation of UK PM Boris Johnson's visit to India later this month was a political win.

Published: 07th January 2021 


PM Narendra Modi (Photo | PTI)
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Farmer unions protesting against the three new agri laws Wednesday claimed the cancellation of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's visit to India later this month was a "political win" for them and a "diplomatic defeat" for the government, and asserted their agitation has been receiving global support.

Johnson was scheduled to attend the Republic Day celebrations in India as Chief Guest, but the visit had to be cancelled due to the growing health crisis in the UK after a new variant of coronavirus emerged there.

"The cancellation of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's India visit is a political win for farmers and a diplomatic defeat for the Modi government...political and social organisations across the world have been supporting the agitation," Sankyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of the protesting farmer unions, said in a statement in Hindi.

The statement said the farmers have already announced a tractor protest march on January 26 and a "rehearsal" for it on January 7.

ALSO READ: Agri laws: Wisconsin Speaker supports farmers' protests; writes to Indian, US envoys

"The cancellation of the UK prime minister's visit because of all these efforts is surely a big victory for farmers," the statement said.

According to a release issued by the Prime Minister's office here on Tuesday, PM Narendra Modi had a telephonic conversation with Johnson.

"Prime Minister Johnson reiterated his thanks for India's invitation for him as the Chief Guest of the forthcoming Republic Day celebrations, but regretted his inability to attend in view of the changed COVID-19 context prevailing in the UK. He reiterated his keenness to visit India in the near future," it had stated.

The protesting farm unions have claimed that around 80 farmers have died --they have called them "martyrs" -- since their agitation began.

ALSO READ: SC to hear pleas against new agri laws, all issues related to farmers protest on January 11

"Farmers' movement is now becoming people's movement," the Morcha statement said.

Meanwhile, All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee, one of the 40 protesting unions, alleged in statement that the Central government is "non-serious" on the demands of peasants.

"The Central government is non-serious about talks and solving farmers' problems. In the 7th round of talks, it finally stated clearly that it has understood that the demand is for repeal and that it will have to undertake 'further consultation'," AIKSCC claimed.

The seventh round of talks between the protesting unions and three Central ministers ended inconclusively on Monday as farmer groups stuck to their demand for the repeal of three laws, while the government listed out various benefits of the new Acts for the growth of the country's agriculture sector.

ALSO READ: Undeterred by cold weather, rains, protesting farmers warn to intensify stir further

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar had said he remains hopeful of a solution in the next meeting on January 8, but asserted that efforts need to be made from both sides for a resolution to be reached (taali dono haathon se bajti hai).

While several opposition parties and people from other walks of life have come out in support of the farmers, some farmer groups have also met the agriculture minister over the last few weeks to extend their support to the three laws.

Last month, the government had sent a draft proposal to the protesting farmer unions, suggesting seven-eight amendments to the new laws and a written assurance on the MSP procurement system.

The government has ruled out a repeal of the three agri laws.

Over 2,500 farmers take out tractor march in Delhi against farm laws

Farmers started the tractor march around 11 am and moved towards Kundli, Manesar, Palwal Expressway amid heavy deployment of Delhi Police and Haryana Police personnel.

Farmers tractor march at KMP Rohtak crossing on ThFarmers tractor march at KMP Rohtak crossing on Thursday. (Photo | Shekhar Yadav, EPS)

Published: 07th January 2021 
By PTI

NEW DELHO: Amid tight security, thousands of farmers on Thursday started their tractor-march from protest sites -- Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders -- against the three agriculture laws.

Bharati Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) chief Joginder Singh Ugrahan said that farmers participated in the march with over 3,500 tractors and trolleys.

According to the protesting farm unions, this is just "rehearsal" for their proposed January 26 tractor parade that will be move into the national capital from different parts of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

Farmers started the tractor march around 11 am and moved towards Kundli, Manesar, Palwal Expressway amid heavy deployment of Delhi Police and Haryana Police personnel.

The tractor march, led by senior BKU leader Rakesh Tikait, moved towards Palwal.

"In the coming days, we will intensify our agitation against the three farm laws. Around 2,500 tractors from Haryana have participated in today's march. 

"We want to warn that if the government doesn't not accept our demands, farmers' protest will get intensified further," Abhimanyu Kohar, a senior member of Samkyukt Kisan Morcha, told PTI.

The tractor march started from four different points -- Singhu to Tikri Border, Tikri to Kundli, Ghazipur to Palwal and Rewasan to Palwal.

ALSO READ | Security increased along Delhi borders ahead of farmers' tractor rally 

Braving severe cold and sporadic rains, thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and some other parts of the country have been camping at several Delhi border points for over 40 days, demanding repeal of farm laws, a legal guarantee on minimum support price for their crops and other two issues.

The seventh round of talks between protesting unions and three central ministers ended inconclusively on Monday as farmer groups stuck to their demand for the repeal of three laws, while the government listed out various benefits of the new acts for the growth of the country's agriculture sector.

“THIS IS LIKE AN ACTIVE SHOOTER DRILL”: PRO-TRUMP RIOTERS STORM THE U.S. CAPITOL

Following a rally by the president and his allies, attendees overwhelmed Capitol police and breached congressional chambers to stop the certification of Joe Biden as president. The violent mob’s behavior, said Biden, “borders on sedition.”

BY TARISAI NGANGURA, ABIGAIL TRACY, AND CALEB ECARMA

JANUARY 6, 2021 VANITY FAIR

Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they try to storm the US Capitol in Washington, DC on January 6, 2021. - Demonstrators breeched security and entered the Capitol as Congress debated the a 2020 presidential election Electoral Vote Certification. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP) 

Pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol to stop members of Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s election victory, an unprecedented attack on democracy that sent shockwaves around the world. The violent, right-wing mob breached the Capitol shortly after Donald Trump told supporters in Washington that he would not concede the 2020 election, despite all 50 states certifying his decisive loss, and while continuing to push dangerous lies about widespread voter fraud.

“The scenes of chaos at the Capitol do not reflect the true America, do not represent who were,” Biden said in an address as rioters occupied the building. “What we’re seeing are a small number of extremists, dedicated to lawlessness. This is not dissent. It’s disorder. It’s chaos. It borders on sedition. And it must end now.”

Disturbing images of Trump supporters thrashing through the sacrosanct halls of Congress blared across cable news and social media, alarming the international community. “The United States stands for democracy around the world and it is now vital that there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power,” tweeted U.K. prime minister Boris Johnson, as NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that “the outcome of this democratic election must be respected.”

Inside the Capitol, as staffers and members of Congress took cover on the House floor, with Senator Mitt Romney reportedly yelling, “This is what you’ve gotten,” to his colleagues, including Senator Ted Cruz, a vocal supporter of Trump’s crusade to delegitimize Biden’s victory by fueling baseless fraud claims.

“I was in line to get the vaccine when it started really ramping up outside,” said a senior Democratic Congressional staffer. “[A] cop outside was listening to his radio. At one point [they] said, ‘Things are getting dicey.’ Then the nurse had to tell me three times to relax before she injected me.”

“Since then, basically, we’ve been hunkered down in our office watching this on TV and Twitter like everyone else,” the staffer said. 

An aide to a Democratic member of Congress recounted their boss’s experience: “[She] barricaded herself in the office [and is] putting furniture in front of the doors. She was trying to stay quiet because she was afraid people could hear her inside her office…this is like an active-shooter drill that we helped our kids prepare for.”

“I was checking Twitter to see what people were saying to tell my boss,” said an aide to a progressive staffer describing the chaos. “All I wanted was an email from [Nancy] Pelosi’s staff being like, This is real, do this. That’s the purpose of leadership, right? That’s why we have people in leadership positions: to tell the rest of us in times of crisis what to do. I get that…safety was first. But everything was dropped about this. Absolutely everything.”

“It’s shocking to me because we all knew this was coming,” the staffer added. “People call you for weeks. I moved my car this morning—I was very prepared for this. These are the people that are supposed to protect us [from] another 9/11? Are you kidding?”

Vice President Mike Pence was quickly evacuated by security while the rest of the Senate members were locked in their chambers. According to HuffPost reporter Igor Bobic, the mob swarmed outside the Senate chamber while others paced the halls screaming, “Where the fuck are they?” Some vandalized Congressional offices, including that of speaker Pelosi. 

When the pro-Trump horde began tearing down fencing around the Capitol, the police had a chance to stop them before they breached the building’s doors. Instead, the group was allowed the group to swell in size until there was a large enough crowd to force entry. 

As rioters marched up the steps, they could be heard shouting, “Don’t let them get away with this! We’re getting in there and shutting it all down;” “It’s too late for the First Amendment—we’re exercising our Second Amendment rights this time around;” and “1776 will commence again,” the last of which is a quote from Alex Jones, who has called for Trump supporters to “surround the White House and support the president.” (In June, when protesters gathered in D.C. to express outrage against racist policing, law enforcement spared no mercy and no expense. If police were so much as hit by a plastic water bottle, they responded with volleys of teargas, despite every being encased in body armor.) 

But it took hundreds of Trump supporters bum-rushing the Capitol’s hallways before law enforcement began to exert real force. When asked if he was willing to die for the cause, one rioter said that the “80 million Americans who voted Trump are done standing by—I don’t care how many of us go down, we’re gonna finish this today,” seemingly referencing a comment Trump made during a presidential debate in which he told the extremist Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.” Others in the crowd shared a similar sentiment, chanting “fight for Trump,” while many waved “Make America Great Again” and Confederate battle flags.

DREW ANGERER

WIN MCNAMEE

Around 4 p.m. EST, the Army deployed the D.C. National Guard in and around the city, the New York Times reported. The decision came after an initial request to deploy the National Guard was reportedly denied by the Department of Defense. According to NBC News, one woman was in critical condition after being shot at the Capitol, while several more Trump supporters were transported the hospital. The woman later died.

Several Republican lawmakers—some of whom had said they would protest the certification of Biden’s election today—tweeted attempting to discourage the rioters. 

The president’s children were likewise in damage-control mode, with first daughter Ivanka Trump deleting a tweet in which she labeled the rioters “American patriots.” (Her brothers, who tweeted their own disavowals, had stood in front of the same mob earlier that day, riling them up and threatening lawmakers who didn’t support their father.) A former friend of Ivanka’s predicted that this moment, as well as so many other moments, would haunt her after her dad leaves office. “It follows them because it is them,” this person said Wednesday afternoon. “It is who they are now.”


Emily Jane Fox contributed reporting. This article has been updated.