NOT IN MY BACK YARD. THE NIMBY CONCEPT.

This week I have learnt a new concept called NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard).

It is a pejorative characterization of opposition by residents to a proposal for a new development because it is close to them, often with the connotation that such residents believe that the developments are needed in society but should be further away.

Examples of proyects likely to be opposed are; fracking, chemical plants,wind turbines, incinerators, mobile phone masts, nuclear waste repositories, etc...

In Spain there is a word for this concept; SPAN (Sí, Pero Aquí No).

Talking about environment, this concept is linked to renewable energy. It is the case of solar and wind power instalations because objections frequently arise. Residents fear that a solar or wind farm will cause property devaluation, health problems or unsightly views.

All solutions have to do with education, overcoming fear of the unknow and misinformation.

It must have direct community involvement, the government have to explain with examples the issue and there will be heightened levels of consultation. On the other hand, the NIMBY has produced that politicians, organizations and companies take social responsibility measures as compensation.

In contrast and opposition to Nimby phenomenon, an acronim for yes in my back yard exists, YIMBY. Yimby referes to some of the groups that encourage the installation of clean energy sources, such as wind turbines.

PASSIVE HOUSE

The challenge for us is how we can adapt our everyday lives to our climate-changed future. So, the best way to mitigate the effect of urban islands is to change the design of the buildings.

We need a building energy efficient, comfortable, affordable and ecological at the same time. Here is the passive house (Passivhaus in German). The term Passive house refers to a rigorous, voluntary standard for energy efficiency in a building, reducing its ecological footprint. So the passive house are ultra-low energy buildings that require little energy for space heating or cooling.

The Passivhaus standard requires that the building fulfills the following requirements.

• The building must be designed to have an annual heating and cooling demand as calculated with the Passivhaus Planning Package of not more than 15 kWh/m² per year in heating or cooling energy or be designed with a peak heat load of 10 W/m2.
• Total primary energy (source energy for electricity, etc.) consumption (primary energy for heating, hot water and electricity) must not be more than 120 kWh/m² per year.
• The building must not leak more air than 0.6 times the house volume per hour (n₅₀ ≤ 0.6 / hour) at 50 Pa (0.0073 psi) as tested by a blower door. 

 

Passive Houses allow for heating and cooling related energy savings of up to 90% compared with typical building stock and over 75% compared with average new builds. In terms of heating oil, Passive Houses use less than 1.5 litres per square meter of living space per year – far less than typical low-energy buildings.

They are also praised for their high level of comfort. They use energy sources inside the building such as the body heat from the residents or solar heat entering the building – making heating a lot easier. The use of appropriate windows with good insulation and a building shell consisting of good insulated exterior walls, also the roof and floor slab keep the heat during winter in the house – and keep it out during summer.

A ventilation system consistently supplies fresh air making for superior air quality without causing any unpleasant draughts. This is e.g. a guarantee for low Radon levels and improves the health conditions. A highly efficient heat recovery unit allows for the heat contained in the exhaust air to be re-used.

 Source:

http://passipedia.org/basics/what_is_a_passive_house 

http://www.plataforma-pep.org/

 

IMPACTS ON HUMAN SYSTEMS

URBAN HEAT ISLANDS

An urban heat island, or UHI, is a metropolitan area that's a lot warmer than the rural areas surrounding it. Heat is created by energy from all the people, cars, buses, and trains in big cities.

The progressive replacement of natural surfaces through urbanization, constitutes the main cause of UHI formation. Natural surfaces are often composed of vegetation and moisture-trapping soils. Therefore, they utilize a relatively large proportion of the absorbed radiation in the evapotranspiration process and release water vapour that contributes to cool the air in their vicinity. In contrast, built surfaces are composed of a high percentage of non-reflective and water-resistant construction materials. As consequence, they tend to absorb a significant proportion of the incident radiation, which is released as heat.

Elevated temperatures from urban heat islands, particularly during the summer, can affect a community’s environment and quality of life and there are some important impacts:

Increased Energy Consumption 
Elevated summertime temperatures in cities increase energy demand for cooling.
 
Elevated Emissions of Air Pollutants and Greenhouse Gases  
As described above, urban heat islands raise demand for electrical energy in summer. Companies that supply electricity typically rely on fossil fuel power plants to meet much of this demand, which in turn leads to an increase in air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions.
 
Compromised Human Health and Comfort 
Increased daytime temperatures, reduced nighttime cooling, and higher air pollution levels associated with urban heat islands can affect human health by contributing to general discomfort, respiratory difficulties, heat cramps and exhaustion, non-fatal heat stroke, and heat-related mortality.


http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/heat-island-sprawl.html
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=36227



FOOD SECURITY
 

Changes in climatic conditions have affected the production of crops. Higher temperatures will have an impact on yields while changes in rainfall could affect both crop quality and quantity.

 

The three mos important crops are mize, rice and wheat and they are challenged by pathogens that threaten our food security, specially fungi. The spores of some fungi come through the air and attack leaves, making dead spots or even killing the whole leaf. Some fungi live in the soil and enter roots. They can either block the water-conducting cells or kill them, causing the plant to wilt. In many cases the plants is seriously damaged or may even die.

The loss of crop causes losses of millions of dollars annually and the attack of the fungi can result a the situation where we could only feed 38% of today's population. Fortunately, scientists are looking the way of increasing the resistance of crops to disease and other who are looking for more robust anti-pathogen and anti-pest strategies for future.

REFLECTION WEEK 5

This week the most important thig I have learnt is how the ice flow to the ocean and as our planet warms, sea levels are set to rise.
 
Most of us do not live in polar regions. We do not come in contact with icebergs or ice sheets very often. Most of us have only seen these things in photographs. However, no matter where you live, the snow and ice of the Earth’s cryosphere has an impact on your climate.

So, this week makes me wonder how big could be the impact of the sea level in the coastal communities in Galicia ( the region of Spain where I live).

I have found a study realized by environmental education program Voz Natura 2007, using as source information obtained from the Institute of Geology of Coruña and the report Glaciers Dominate eustatic sea-level rise in the 21st Century, published by the journal Science.

In this study you can see the effect of sea level rise on the Galician coast, since 2007 to beyond 22,000. However, the first consequences are observed before 3000, with the disappearance of some populations.

before

 

after

Subida del nivel del mar en Galicia.

In this link you can choose your city and compare.
http://choices.climatecentral.org/#10/42.2155/-8.8121?compare=temperatures&carbon-end-yr=2100&scenario-a=warming-4&scenario-b=warming-2 


And what about sea acidification? 

If the carbon dioxide levels increase, the pH of the ocean will descend. So the ocean becomes more acidic. This fact can seriously affect to calcifying species because their shells can dissolve.

Again I tried to search some information about how the acidification of the ocean have influence in Galicia.

We agree that swim in acid is not a good idea, and less live in that environment so, the first consequences begin to emerge. Red tides increase in duration and intensity, mussel farming sufers a drop of 20% growth. Sardine fisheries have suffered reductions and the sardines are already migratin north and the same process explain the reduction in catches of octopus. Also, shellfishing is possibly the most sensitive to climate change.
The sea acidification can have a terrible effect on fishing and shellfish farming in Galicia.


In conclusion, all this data concerning Galicia could be applied in other parts of the world because climate change is a global issue with impacts all over the world and the sea level rise and acidification affects in one way or another.