<p> The Urban Heat Island (UHI) was investigated using satellite data, ground observations, and simulations with an Urban Canopy Parameterization in a numerical weather prediction model. Satellite-observed surface skin temperatures at Xi'an City and Oklahoma City (OKC) were analyzed to compare the UHI intensity for the two inland cities. A larger population density and larger building density in Xi'an City creates a stronger skin-level UHI effect. However, ground observed 2-m surface air temperature (Tair) data showed an urban cooling island (UCI) effect that occurred over an urban region in OKC during the daytime of July 19, 2003. </p><p> The sensitivity and accuracy of an Urban Canopy Model were evaluated by comparing simulation results between the urban and rural areas of OKC. The model reproduced skin temperature differences between the rural and urban area and reproduced a UCI effect in OKC. Furthermore, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF)/Noah/Single-Layer Urban Canopy Model (SLUCM) simulations were also compared with ground observations, including wind speeds, wind directions, and energy fluxes. Although the WRF/SLCUM model failed to simulate these variables accurately, it reproduced the diurnal variations of surface temperatures, wind speeds, wind directions and energy fluxes reasonably well.</p>

ABSTRACT In the recent times, due to the increasing rate of global warming, the Southern African region, especially, Lesotho has been experiencing continuous climatic change characterized by drastic reduction in rainfall, increase in the rate of dryness and heat, with depletion of the amount of water, flora and fauna resources. The situation has been so for years without many questions and answers with regard to how it affects food production and security in the country. Against this background, this paper investigates the chain of interactions between climatic change, expressed in the rate of rainfall and drought condition, the indigenous adaptation mechanisms and food production in Lesotho. The paper addresses the estimate of drought condition in Lesotho, Southern Africa, the nature of food production activities in the area and the extent to which continuous climatic change has affected the state of food production.

Abstract The paper illustrates the role of political and social dynamics upon technological change. Examining dynamics transforming excavation practices on South Africa’s goldmines, it describes how a technology that opened up a range of social and economic opportunities became a constraint on those opportunities. This technology’s development and diffusion thereby established a critical precedent in the spread of racial occupational mobility restrictions. Collaborative innovation is also a dominant feature in the analysis, highlighting both its historical importance in South Africa as well as the need for caution in its contemporary promotion.

The central aim of the research was to evaluate the applicability of the normative strategic planning (SP) model in the context of the small manufacturing firm. A normative SP paradigm was developed from a review of the relevant literature and this was further refined through a review of the existing body of knowledge in the small business area and the attendant strategy and planning issues. To test the paradigm, in-depth studies were conducted in a sample of four small manufacturing enterprises and in each case, three strategic changes were jointly identified by the researcher and the respective managing directors. The studies were longitudinal in nature and were designed to measure the relevance and utility of the rational planning model in such businessesT. he methodsu sed compriseds en-&structuredin terviews and observation techniques and the changes were analysed to identify the factors that drove them. From this analysis, a more refined model was developed which integrated the change factors identified from the literature review and the change factors from the field-work. A particularly dominant concept emerged from the field-work, that of flexibility in the pursuit of emerging opportunities, a concept present in eight of the twelve changes. The work contributes to the existing body of knowledge by determining the part played by the rational planning (RP) model; by establishing how strategic changes are triggered, assesseda nd implementedi n the researchedc ompaniesa nd by building a more relevant model that might prove useful in a broader selection of small businesses. A key apriori assumption proposed inter alia that the RP model would be of little practical use in small business( SB) environments.T he main perceivedw eaknesseso f the RP model were considered to be the data requirements and associated data analysis resources thought rarely to be found in SBs and the capability of actually generating and sustaining radically new strategies. From the analysis of the 12 changes, the influence of the RP model was found to be minimal.

The thesis is an empirical study of the changes that occurred in the Fortune list of the largest American industrial corporations from 1963 to 1987. The mobility and turnover of big firms has been studied only from a neoclassical perspective in the past, and the emphasis was placed on the level of overall concentration in the economy. In this thesis, the changes in the list are analysed adopting a Schumpeterian/evolutionary framework that emphasize the importance of innovation and economic change as major determinants of economic progress. Recent evolutionary models that describe the evolution of industries. and the work of economic historians such as Alfred Chandler provide a framework for the empirical analysis. The main findings.are: I. The takeover activity is the main source of turbulence in the list. 2. There are significant inter-industry differences in the type of competition and in the behaviour of the industries. and these differences shed light on the overall changes. 3. The emergence of microelectronics has powerful destabilising effects, and its diffusion interacts with other trends such as the growing globalisation of competition between large firms and the rise of the market for corporate control.

<p> Low-level clouds found over the eastern subtropical oceans have a substantial cooling effect on Earth&rsquo;s climate since they strongly reflect solar radiation back to space, and their simulation in climate models contributes to large uncertainty in global warming projections. This thesis aims to increase understanding of these marine boundary layer clouds through observational analysis, theoretical considerations, and an evaluation of their simulation in climate models. Examination of statistical relationships between cloud properties and large-scale meteorological variables is a key method employed throughout the thesis. The meteorological environment of marine boundary layer clouds shapes their properties by affecting the boundary layer&rsquo;s depth and structure. </p><p> It is found that enhanced subsidence, typically thought to promote boundary layer cloudiness, actually reduces cloudiness when the confounding effect of the strength of the temperature inversion capping the boundary layer is taken into account. A conceptual model is able to explain this result. Next, fundamental deficiencies in the simulation of subtropical clouds in two generations of climate models are identified. Remarkably, the newer generation of climate models is in some ways inferior to the older generation in terms of capturing key low-level cloud processes. Subtropical mid- and high-level clouds are also found to contribute more to variability in the radiation budget at the top of the atmosphere than previously thought. In the last portion of the thesis, large inter-model spread in subtropical cloud feedbacks is shown to arise primarily from differences in the simulation of the interannual relationship between shortwave cloud radiative effect and sea surface temperature. An observational constraint on this feedback suggests that subtropical marine boundary layer clouds will act as a positive feedback to global warming.</p>

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<p> The focus of this mixed-methods study was to identify waste reduction strategies that reduced the impact of California jails and prisons on the environment through waste diversion and reduction. This study also sought to identify barriers that hindered jail and prison personnel from developing such strategies, and pursued recommendations on how those barriers could be overcome.</p><p> Traditionally, California county jails and state prisons are resource intensive, overcrowded housing locations for about 200,000 adult men and women (Glaze &amp; Herberman, 2013). California jails and prisons operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week and utilize resources such as electricity, personnel, food, and other products. Accordingly, they generated significant waste (California Department of Resources and Recovery [CalRecycle], 2012). The prisoners alone generated about four pounds of waste per person each day, consistent with societal averages (CalRecycle, 2012; Corrections Corporation of America, 2007; Environmental Protection Agency [EPA], 2012a). Because of this, jails and prison must do more to reduce waste.</p><p> This study provided examples of organizations currently reducing waste through strategic initiatives and highlighted areas where jails and prisons could begin or further improve waste diversion practices. The study utilized archival data, a web-based survey, and interviews for data collection and analysis. The data from California jails and prisons were analyzed to identify strategies, barriers, and ways to eliminate or reduce barriers to waste reduction programs in California jails and prisons.</p><p> The findings conclude, California state-operated prisons and sheriff-operated county jails are using two primary strategies to divert waste from landfills. The number one strategy is recycling. The second strategy being used is waste prevention and material reuse. The barriers identified by California state-operated prisons and sheriff-operated county jails include finding vendors to collect certain materials as well as finding vendors to travel to remote locations. Other barriers include a lack of personnel and in some instances a lack of knowledge. Sheriff-operated jails and state-operated prisons in California identified waste management program support from leadership as a primary method to eliminate or reduce barriers to implementing a waste reduction program. Implications for action and future research are also discussed as part of this study.</p>

No description available.