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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Forest Structure And Composition Alleviate Human Thermal Stress, Loïc Gillerot, Dries Landuyt, Rachel Oh, Winston T. L. Chow, Et Al Dec 2022

Forest Structure And Composition Alleviate Human Thermal Stress, Loïc Gillerot, Dries Landuyt, Rachel Oh, Winston T. L. Chow, Et Al

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Current climate change aggravates human health hazards posed by heat stress. Forests can locally mitigate this by acting as strong thermal buffers, yet potential mediation by forest ecological characteristics remains underexplored. We report over 14 months of hourly microclimate data from 131 forest plots across four European countries and compare these to open-field controls using physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) to reflect human thermal perception. Forests slightly tempered cold extremes, but the strongest buffering occurred under very hot conditions (PET >35°C), where forests reduced strong to extreme heat stress day occurrence by 84.1%. Mature forests cooled the microclimate by 12.1 to …


Harmonized Gap-Filled Datasets From 20 Urban Flux Tower Sites, Matthew Lipson, Sue Grimmond, Martin Best, Winston T. L. Chow Nov 2022

Harmonized Gap-Filled Datasets From 20 Urban Flux Tower Sites, Matthew Lipson, Sue Grimmond, Martin Best, Winston T. L. Chow

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

A total of 20 urban neighbourhood-scale eddy covariance flux tower datasets are made openly available after being harmonized to create a 50 site–year collection with broad diversity in climate and urban surface characteristics. Variables needed as inputs for land surface models (incoming radiation, temperature, humidity, air pressure, wind and precipitation) are quality controlled, gap-filled and prepended with 10 years of reanalysis-derived local data, enabling an extended spin up to equilibrate models with local climate conditions. For both gap filling and spin up, ERA5 reanalysis meteorological data are bias corrected using tower-based observations, accounting for diurnal, seasonal and local urban effects …


What The Latest Science On Impacts, Adaptation And Vulnerability Means For Cities And Urban Areas, I Adelekan, A. Cartwright, Winston T. L. Chow, Et Al See Comments For Full List Of Authors Nov 2022

What The Latest Science On Impacts, Adaptation And Vulnerability Means For Cities And Urban Areas, I Adelekan, A. Cartwright, Winston T. L. Chow, Et Al See Comments For Full List Of Authors

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

The Summary for Urban Policymakers (SUP) Volume II focuses on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability in cities and urban areas. Drawing on latest research, this volume summarises key findings of the IPCC Working Group II Report for urban policy makers. The scale, reach, and complexity of contemporary urbanization compounds climate risks and conditions adaptation. While cities are embedded in diverse regional contexts and differentially exposed to climate risks, they present key opportunities for a more rapid transition to equitable and climate-resilient development. This volume highlights how cities and regions are a primary locus for innovation and societal choices towards adaptation solutions …


Analysing Impacts Of Urban Morphological Variables And Density On Outdoor Microclimate For Tropical Cities: A Review And A Framework Proposal For Future Research Directions, Shreya Banerjee, Ngai Yan Ching, Sin Kang Yik, Yuliya Dzyuban, Peter Jay Crank, Xin Yi Pek, Winston T. L. Chow Oct 2022

Analysing Impacts Of Urban Morphological Variables And Density On Outdoor Microclimate For Tropical Cities: A Review And A Framework Proposal For Future Research Directions, Shreya Banerjee, Ngai Yan Ching, Sin Kang Yik, Yuliya Dzyuban, Peter Jay Crank, Xin Yi Pek, Winston T. L. Chow

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Modifying urban morphology, defined as mass, density, and orientation of building stock in cities, are well-known heat mitigation strategies addressing urban heat islands (UHI) at various scales and consequent thermal discomfort. However, varying morphological aspects may have divergent effects on Outdoor Thermal Comfort (OTC) in cities. Unlike UHI, which is derived from urban-rural temperature differences, OTC can be quantified by thermal comfort indices considering the objective assessment of microclimatic variables including air temperature (Ta), relative humidity (RH), mean radiant temperature (TMRT), and wind speed (Va), as well as a subjective assessment of individual perception. In Singapore and other tropical cities, …


Individual Perceptions Of Climate Anomalies And Collective Action: Evidence From An Artefactual Field Experiment In Malaysian Borneo, Terry Van Gevelt, T. Zamanb, K.N. Chanc, M.M. Bennettd Sep 2022

Individual Perceptions Of Climate Anomalies And Collective Action: Evidence From An Artefactual Field Experiment In Malaysian Borneo, Terry Van Gevelt, T. Zamanb, K.N. Chanc, M.M. Bennettd

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

We explore the effect of individual perceptions of climate anomalies on collective action within a context of environmental complexity and uncertainty. To do so, we construct two competing propositions that are theoretically robust but with very different real-world implications. Our first proposition suggests that collective action to adapt to climate change is likely to be more effective when perceptions of climate anomalies converge within a community. Our second proposition suggests the opposite: that convergence is likely to hinder adaptation behaviour. We use a community co-designed measure of perceptions and an artefactual field experiment to test our propositions and explore the …


Building Climate-Resilient Cities, Winston Chow Aug 2022

Building Climate-Resilient Cities, Winston Chow

Perspectives@SMU

Besides the 3R’s of reduce-reuse-recycle, people should also consider ASI – avoid, shift, and improve


Integrated Assessment Of Urban Overheating Impacts On Human Life, N. Nazarian, E. S. Krayenhoff, B. Bechtel, D. M. Hondula, R. Paolini, J. Vanos, T. Cheung, Winston T. L. Chow, Et Al Aug 2022

Integrated Assessment Of Urban Overheating Impacts On Human Life, N. Nazarian, E. S. Krayenhoff, B. Bechtel, D. M. Hondula, R. Paolini, J. Vanos, T. Cheung, Winston T. L. Chow, Et Al

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Urban overheating, driven by global climate change and urban development, is a major contemporary challenge that substantially impacts urban livability and sustainability. Overheating represents a multifaceted threat to the well-being, performance, and health of individuals as well as the energy efficiency and economy of cities, and it is influenced by complex interactions between building, city, and global scale climates. In recent decades, extensive discipline-specific research has characterized urban heat and assessed its implications on human life, including ongoing efforts to bridge neighboring disciplines. The research horizon now encompasses complex problems involving a wide range of disciplines, and therefore comprehensive and …


Exploring The Empirical Relationship Between Inner-City Blight And Urban Sprawl In The United States, Eric Fesselmeyer, Kiat Ying Seah Jul 2022

Exploring The Empirical Relationship Between Inner-City Blight And Urban Sprawl In The United States, Eric Fesselmeyer, Kiat Ying Seah

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Urban blight has been found to cause a variety of problems, including negatively affecting the value of surrounding properties and increasing neighborhood crime rates. If the same externalities that give rise to urban sprawl also contribute to urban blight, as is suggested by Brueckner and Helsley (2011), city center vacancy rates-an indication of blight-would increase with the extent of urban sprawl. This study adds to the sparse literature on the empirical relationship between urban sprawl and blight by finding that the city-center census tract vacancy rate is higher in more sprawling cities. The results of this article, therefore, provide support …


Climate Change And Lord Of The Rings?, Winston T. L. Chow Jun 2022

Climate Change And Lord Of The Rings?, Winston T. L. Chow

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Where did we make the ‘wrong turn’? Are we at the end of the road? Winston Chow, one of the lead authors of the 6th Assessment Report published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), shares his perspectives on how far down the road the world is on climate change.


Sentiment Analysis Of Weather-Related Tweets From Cities Within Hot Climates, Yuliya Dzyuban, Graces N. Y. Ching, Sin Kang Yik, Adrian J. Tan, Peter J. Crank, Shreya Banerjee, Rachel Xin Yi Pek, Winston T. L. Chow May 2022

Sentiment Analysis Of Weather-Related Tweets From Cities Within Hot Climates, Yuliya Dzyuban, Graces N. Y. Ching, Sin Kang Yik, Adrian J. Tan, Peter J. Crank, Shreya Banerjee, Rachel Xin Yi Pek, Winston T. L. Chow

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Evidence exists that exposure to weather hazards, particularly in cities subject to heat island and climate change impacts, strongly affects individuals’ physical and mental health. Personal exposure to and sentiments about warm conditions can currently be expressed on social media, and recent research noted that the geotagged, time-stamped, and accessible social media databases can potentially be indicative of the public mood and health for a region. This study attempts to understand the relationships between weather and social media sentiments via Twitter and weather data from 2012 to 2019 for two cities in hot climates: Singapore and Phoenix, Arizona. We first …


Transboundary Air Pollution And Cross-Border Cooperation: Insights From Marine Vessel Emissions Regulations In Hong Kong And Shenzhen, Seung Kyum Kim, Terry Van Gevelt, Paul Joosse, Mia M. Bennett May 2022

Transboundary Air Pollution And Cross-Border Cooperation: Insights From Marine Vessel Emissions Regulations In Hong Kong And Shenzhen, Seung Kyum Kim, Terry Van Gevelt, Paul Joosse, Mia M. Bennett

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Many coastal cities regulate shipping emissions within their jurisdictions. However, the transboundary nature of air pollution makes such efforts largely ineffective unless they are accompanied by reciprocal, legally-binding regulatory agreements with neighbouring cities. Due to various technical, economic, and institutional barriers, it has thus far been difficult to isolate the effects of legally-binding cross-border cooperation on vessel emissions at the city-level. We exploit the unique administrative characteristics of Hong Kong and its relationship with neighbouring cities in China's Pearl River Delta to isolate the effect of legally-binding cross-border cooperation. Using a regression discontinuity design, we find that Hong Kong's unilateral …


Five Key Points In The Ipcc Report On Climate Change Impacts And Adaptation, Lisa Schipper, Vanessa Castan Broto, Winston T. L. Chow Mar 2022

Five Key Points In The Ipcc Report On Climate Change Impacts And Adaptation, Lisa Schipper, Vanessa Castan Broto, Winston T. L. Chow

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

The latest report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) looks at the impacts, adaptation and vulnerabilities associated with the climate crisis, and we are three of the 270 scientists and researchers who wrote it. The document reports stark new findings on the way current global warming of 1.1℃ is impacting natural and human systems, and on how our ability to respond will be increasingly limited with every additional increment of warming.


Commentary: Coastal Cities Like Singapore Face Outsized Risks – And Opportunities – In A Warming World, Winston T. L. Chow Mar 2022

Commentary: Coastal Cities Like Singapore Face Outsized Risks – And Opportunities – In A Warming World, Winston T. L. Chow

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Many Southeast Asian cities are at the frontline for rapid, concerted and effective climate action, says the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report's lead author Winston Chow.


Technical Report: Reviewing The Relationships Between Urban Morphological Variables And Outdoor Thermal Comfort (Otc) To Assess Comfort Implication Of Densification For Singapore, Shreya Banerjee, Ngai Yan Ching, Sin Kang Yik Mar 2022

Technical Report: Reviewing The Relationships Between Urban Morphological Variables And Outdoor Thermal Comfort (Otc) To Assess Comfort Implication Of Densification For Singapore, Shreya Banerjee, Ngai Yan Ching, Sin Kang Yik

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Majority thermal comfort studies focus on exploring the relationships between subjective parameters such as personal, physiological, psychological, and behavioral attributes and how they shape Outdoor Thermal Comfort (OTC). Although some attempts have been made to analyze the impact of urban morphological variables, but few have explored the effect of urban densification on OTC. Assessing the impact of density attributes is especially important for highly dense cities such as Singapore. Keeping this in consideration, ths study aims to provide a review-based analysis connecting OTC and various density related morphological variables. Firstly, this report analyses existing literature to provide snapshots on various …


Technical Summary, Hans Portner, Winston T. L. Chow, Et Al. See Comments For Full List Of Authors Feb 2022

Technical Summary, Hans Portner, Winston T. L. Chow, Et Al. See Comments For Full List Of Authors

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This technical summary complements and expands the key findings of the Working Group (WG) II contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) presented in the Summary for Policymakers and covers literature accepted for publication by 1 September 2021. It provides technical understanding and is developed from the key findings of chapters and cross-chapter papers (CCPs) as presented in their executive summaries and integrates across them. The report builds on the WGII contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the IPCC and three special reports of the AR6 cycle providing new knowledge and updates. The three special reports are the …


Cities And Settlements By The Sea, Bruce Glavovic, Richard Dawson, Winston T. L. Chow, Matthias Garschagen, Chandni Singh, Adelle Thomas Feb 2022

Cities And Settlements By The Sea, Bruce Glavovic, Richard Dawson, Winston T. L. Chow, Matthias Garschagen, Chandni Singh, Adelle Thomas

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Cities and settlements (C&S) by the sea are on the frontline of climate change—they face climate-compounded risks that are amongst the highest, but are a key source of innovation in climate resilient development (high confidence)