Month: September 2016

Today, about half of the world population are living in major or minor cities (1), the urban heat island effect thus affects approximately 3.5billion people. Therefore though this issue may be deemed not so urgent, it is significant. I prefer to call this an effect, instead of an issue. The Urban heat island effect.

(creative commons)

Basically cities are generally warmer than other natural landforms. It sounds really intuitive I know, but most layman attributes the increase in warmth to simply heat generated by human activity, which includes heat produced by industries, electronics that we use that generates lots of ambient heat collectively, or cars and buses, transportation. That is true, but I would also like to enlighten you about other major factors causing this urban heat island effect.

Firstly, removal of trees and vegetation to pave way for cities contribute. Trees and vegetation generally cool down the area by evapo-transpiration. Thus removal of such greenery diminishes the efficacy of natural heat dispersion.

Secondly, thermal properties of human construction are also a main cause. Roofs make up about a quarter of exposed surface land in cities (2). Furthermore roads and buildings that cover much of the rest of the land area usually have high thermal absorption and low albedo, trapping heat within the city.

(3)

Also tall buildings are tightly packed in and within the city area, contributing to another phenomena called Urban Canyon. Simply put these high rise redirect winds flowing overhead and trap them into small vortices between buildings. This also vastly reduces the wind speed and consequently the capacity to dissipate heat out of the urban area. (3)

UHI may be unhealthy, not just skin deep, but ozone has been shown to favour warmer temperatures (4) and thus a cloud of ozone may form over urban areas. Ozone in the stratosphere is the “good” ozone that absorbs and reflects harmful UV rays, however ozone in the troposphere, which is what is directly above us, is bad, as it is toxic. Also increased temperatures may prove detrimental to the already scarce wildlife present in cities.

Also what happens if the city gets hotter? We turn on the air conditioner! Bravo. Everything seems to be somehow related to global warming, energy wastage and un-sustainability!

Some countries and buildings have noticed this problem and thus implemented various town planning and building initiatives that include roof gardens, or more parks and lakes, generally green areas and water bodies to curb the heat. This is great and I am grateful that authorities are taking notice of this.

Well, who doesn’t like greenery?

 

References

1. Human Population: Urbanization. Prb.org. Retrieved 28 September 2016, from http://www.prb.org/Publications/Lesson-Plans/HumanPopulation/Urbanization.aspx
2. Susca, T., Gaffin, S. and Dell’Osso, G. (2011). Positive effects of vegetation: Urban heat island and green roofs. Environmental Pollution, 159(8-9), pp.2119-2126. Retrieved from: http://www.sciencedirect.com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/science/article/pii/S0269749111001539
3. Urban Street Canyons. Web.mit.edu. Retrieved 28 September 2016, from http://web.mit.edu/nature/archive/student_projects/2009/jcalamia/Frame/05_canyonwind.html
4. Ozone an Added Health Concern in Urban ‘Heat Islands’. Wpsdlocal6.com. Retrieved 28 September 2016, from http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/story/6781504/ozone-an-added-health-concern-in-urban-heat-islands

My love for urban, cities and philosophy has been well documented in earlier posts. Today albeit a slight change, the topic of Urban Cowboy.

So what’s the difference between rural cowboys and urban cowboys? Well aplenty. Firstly, rural cowboys are more common in North America in the 1700s and urban ones closer to the 20th century. Secondly their range(pun unintended) of  work are dissimilar, rural cowboys usually rear cattle with brown or white hide of the subfamily Bovinae while urban…. .. ohh kay that’s enough nonsense for today.

Thank you for spending time reading the abstract above, your feelings have been toyed. In fact, Urban Cowboy is a film in 1980 starring John Travolta and Debra Winger. An American romantic drama film headlining a love hate relationship. What stood out from this film was not its romance in my opinion, though still a better love story than twilight. Its music was pretty well done, I’m not sure they called it OSTs in those days.

(2)

A few of those songs turned out to be classics. Stand By Me – Mickey Gilley. This piece of music is still ubiquitous even in my generation. How about the song ‘Could I have this Dance’ by Anne Murray. Country music fused with a bit of pop flavours, these two songs are gentle on the ears, with slow tempo, simple composition and vocal harmonies. Nothing fancy, no complex chords or rhythms, and steady dynamics. Probably the kind of music that puts millenials to sleep. Music indeed has the power to connect people and till this day, last-generation songs are still celebrated and even remixed into new compositions.

Something seemingly irrelevant, like a film, is able to move people and transcend cultures. It can connect people, and give people a sense of place and identity. Just like how in 2016 K-dramas have proliferated the world, and created so much new culture, and has put so much new meaning into places. e.g. Nami Island in Korea only started flooding with tourists after the series Winter Sonata. Film is indeed powerful. Urban cowboy, 1980, too fuelled an urban cowboy syndrome (1), making popular mechanical bull riding in those days.

Irrelevant? You ask. I beg to differ. In densely populated areas such as cities, maybe film and environment could work hand in hand. Maybe we could inspire others through film. Maybe we could create identity, culture, and meaning. Just maybe, I could be the director of the next hit film, Urban Cow Deaths.

^^cheers

 

References

1. Green, R. S., & Maier, R. (2003, December). The urban cowboy syndrome revisited: case report. Southern Medical Journal, 96(12), 1262+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=nuslib&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA111927756&sid=summon&asid=769c910706f45787ccf514c9a3435ad2
2. Urban Cowboy [Photograph] (1980) Retrieved from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081696/mediaviewer/rm1382735360

Morning! A pensive quote here to start your day.

“I sometimes think that people’s hearts are like deep wells. Nobody knows what’s at the bottom. All you can do is imagine by what comes floating to the surface every once in a while.”

-Haruki Murakami, Blind Willow Sleeping Woman

 

Fret not, I’m not about to ramble and whine about depleting groundwater, aquifers or tarmac. Doing so would be guilty of defiling this beautiful piece of writing. The analogy writer Murakami adopted is purely amazing and KISS. (Keep It Short and Sweet.) The language is simple, but lovely. It makes me wonder how ignorant and helpless we actually are, it is never possible to completely understand someone. At the very best we empathise, and even then who can fully understand how I’m feeling? As it has been said, everybody has three faces. The first, you show to the world. Second, to your close friends and family. The third face, you never show anyone. It is the truest reflection of who you are. However deep wells though are particularly dangerous and unsustainable in a sense they forsake the long term well-being and sustainability for the short term (1). My apologies for the mood spoiler, had to add that in lest this post becomes a romance novel.

It is uncanny how physical and emotional things can link up so well. People’s hearts can be likened to deep wells. Facades that we show the world akin to the water that floats up from beneath the well, contaminated by Arsenic or not, hopefully. yet. Staring down a deep well, all you can see is a hollow darkness. The same way, looking at someone from the outside, what we can understand about her is nothingness.

Groundwater pollution in less developed cities is a real issue. Especially to those ignorant of the harmful effects, they may choose to exploit this resource by mistake. This is not a technical blog post, and i shall not ride you with details, but jokes and laughs aside, assuming business as usual, they would eventually have to face (pun intended) the consequences.

 

P.S. This cheerless and gloomy text kinda reminded me of a picture i saw on SGAG a while back.

(2)

 

References

1. Winkel, L., Trang, P., Lan, V., Stengel, C., Amini, M., Ha, N., . . . Jury, W. (2011). Arsenic pollution of groundwater in Vietnam exacerbated by deep aquifer exploitation for more than a century.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108(4), 1246-1251. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/stable/41001846
2. Denise Smith [photograph] Retrieved from: http://www.memes.com/img/733998

Ever wondered why you feel more comfortable strolling beside ponds or water bodies in the city? You’re right. Large bodies of water do indeed instill a sense of peace and calm. However, what’s less known is that there is indeed science behind this occurrence. Well, in hot & humid Singapore, anywhere else feels better than the sweltering afternoon outdoor, and a mosquito-free pond fits in that description. Don’t say I told you to jump in.

(creative commons)

It actually is really simple, exactly like how land and sea breezes work. In the day, the land heats up way faster then the pond, generating a convection current in the air above: pond breeze. The converse happens when the land cools faster than the pond (1). How ingenious. *clap clap clap

These are all more sustainable methods of cooling, compared to air-conditioning. Promoting these water bodies around the area thus improves ventilation, and whisks heat away, providing for a clean, comfortable stroll for you.

(creative commons)

Similarly, there are also other concepts that can be used to cool an area down, that isn’t energy-sapping air-conditioning. One example would be the Deep Water Source Cooling concept. Apparently it’s energy usage is a lot lesser, about one order of magnitude lower (2).

How it works is basically as such: in colder countries, bodies of water are generally thermally stratified, and the deep waters are usually consistently around 4°C. So cool water is pumped up from about 50m deep, and it flows along pipes and into a heat exchange unit (2). The city is thus cooled. This concept is brilliant, but it has some limitations that I can think of. Firstly, it is impossible in Singapore, as we only have summer, and our rivers are definitely >4°C even at the bottom. Secondly cooling your room means warming up the pond. This may result in possible negative spin-offs for the natural habitat. Nevertheless, it is still a possible alternative that is feasible in many many parts of the world.

The next time you walk down the breezy boardwalk, don’t forget to thank all these physical processes working for you behind the scenes. ^^

 

References

1. Sea Breezes:a result of uneven surface heating. (2010). Ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu. Retrieved 10 September 2016, from http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/fw/sea/htg.rxml
2. Waldron, L. (2006). Deep Water Cooling | CRC Research. Crcresearch.org. Retrieved 10 September 2016, from https://crcresearch.org/case-studies/case-studies-sustainable-infrastructure/energy/deep-water-cooling

So previously, I shared about urban sprawling, the occurrence where city dwellers seep out and start building homes in urban or sub-urban areas. Today’s headline: urban flooding. So what is it? If u guessed the converse of urban sprawling, you are… wrong.    ‘A’ for effort, but an overall ‘F’.        Just like my Physics class.         OK, I digress. More intuitively, it is simply the flooding of cities due to various causes, such as increased surface runoff of rainwater or lack of a proper drainage system.

Usually, the soil would absorb and allow water to flow through, however with the paving of roads and hard, impermeable ground for buildings, rainwater do not seep through the soil, but runoff the ground, onto lower elevation. (cite here) What results is firstly, a huge heap of water gushing through, hopefully the drainage system, of the city, and secondly the gradual drying up of the groundwater below the layers of tar, leading to possible imbalances of the water table and even land sinking. (cite here)

Environmentally this is dreadful. From a completely human point of view, this is also bad news. In the event where the rainwater floods overflow into sewage pipes, we get a massive stink, a re-enactment of the Great Stink in 1858, and disease. All these I feel is inevitable. Many point to bad urban planning as the chief culprit, only exacerbated by flash floods and prolonged heavy rainfall. (cite here) Nothing wrong in my opinion. However, we shouldn’t put the blame to the early town planners. In this world where time strictly flows (pun unintended) in one direction, trial and error is possibly the only way we can affirm the feasibility of an idea. We shouldn’t put down these pioneers and only focus on the bad, but acknowledge that without them, modern day expertise would not be possible.

On the other end of the spectrum, should we instead forsake our city lifestyle to preserve the balance and stasis that has lasted millions of years? Maybe, and maybe not. I won’t know. We can only try, and only years down the road, will I have an answer. Will we go backwards by going forward, and forwards by going backward? Or even more backwards just going backward? In any case for now, I will choose to act in the most rational manner: solving the problem at hand, learning from past mistakes, and most importantly, choosing the most sustainable option for the future.

^^ twist

 

References

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