Stormwater flooding and thermal stresses of citizens are two important phenomena for most of the dense urban area. Due to the climate change, these two phenomena will occur more frequently and cause serious problems. Therefore, the sectors for public health and disaster management should be able to assess the vulnerability to stormwater flooding and thermal stress. To achieve this goal, two cities in different climate regions and with different urban context have been selected as the pilot areas, i.eY., Tainan, Taiwan and Groningen, Netherlands. Stormwater flooding and thermal stress maps will be produced for both cities for further comparison. The flooding map indicates vulnerable low lying areas, where the thermal stress map indicates high Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) values (thermal comfort) in open areas without shading. The combined map indicates the problem areas of flooding and thermal stress and can be used by urban planners and other stakeholders to improve the living environment.
This special edition on coexisting with reptiles (guest edited by Dr Simon Pooley) highlights our deep cultural connection with biodiversity, including the scaly, slithering kind. Moving away from Eurocentric narratives of coexistence, the articles in this issue acknowledge the tolerance of local people across the world who live in close proximity to dangerous wildlife. Here, their relationships with crocodiles, Komodo dragons and king cobras are often governed by mutual respect, fear and resignation, and neo-liberal conservation interventions could do more harm than good.
MULTIFILE
