Chapter 14 - Regional development and cooperation

This chapter provides an assessment of knowledge and practice on regional development and cooperation to achieve climate change mitigation. It will examine the regional trends and dimensions of the mitigation challenge. It will also analyze what role regional initiatives, both with a focus on climate change and in other domains such as trade, can play in addressing these mitigation challenges. The regional dimension of mitigation was not explicitly addressed in the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4). Its discussion of policies, instruments, and cooperative agreements (Working Group III AR4, Chapter 13) was focused primarily on the global and national level. However, mitigation challenges and opportunities differ significantly by region. This is particularly the case for the interaction between development / growth opportunities and mitigation policies, which are closely linked to resource endowments, the level of economic development, patterns of urbanization and industrialization, access to finance and technology, and - more broadly - the capacity to develop and implement various mitigation options. There are also modes of regional cooperation, ranging from regional initiatives focused specifically on climate change (such as the emissions trading scheme (ETS) of the European Union (EU)) to other forms of cooperation in the areas of trade, energy, or infrastructure, that could potentially provide a platform for delivering and implementing mitigation policies. These dimensions will be examined in this chapter. Specifically, this chapter will address the following questions: - Why is the regional level important for analyzing and achieving mitigation objectives? - What are the trends, challenges, and policy options for mitigation in different regions? - To what extent are there promising opportunities, existing examples, and barriers for leapfrogging in technologies and development strategies to low-carbon development paths for different regions? - What are the interlinkages between mitigation and adaptation at the regional level? - To what extent can regional initiatives and regional integration and cooperation promote an agenda of low-carbon climate-resilient development? What has been the record of such initiatives, and what are the barriers? Can they serve as a platform for further mitigation activities

The exposure of the hybrid detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory is a detector for ultra-high energy cosmic rays. It consists of a surface array to measure secondary particles at ground level and a fluorescence detector to measure the development of air showers in the atmosphere above the array. The "hybrid" detection mode combines the information from the two subsystems. We describe the determination of the hybrid exposure for events observed by the fluorescence telescopes in coincidence with at least one water-Cherenkov detector of the surface array. A detailed knowledge of the time dependence of the detection operations is crucial for an accurate evaluation of the exposure. We discuss the relevance of monitoring data collected during operations, such as the status of the fluorescence detector, background light and atmospheric conditions, that are used in both simulation and reconstruction.Comment: Paper accepted by Astroparticle Physic

Spread of a SARS-CoV-2 variant through Europe in the summer of 2020.

Following its emergence in late 2019, the spread of SARS-CoV-21,2 has been tracked by phylogenetic analysis of viral genome sequences in unprecedented detail3–5. Although the virus spread globally in early 2020 before borders closed, intercontinental travel has since been greatly reduced. However, travel within Europe resumed in the summer of 2020. Here we report on a SARS-CoV-2 variant, 20E (EU1), that was identified in Spain in early summer 2020 and subsequently spread across Europe. We find no evidence that this variant has increased transmissibility, but instead demonstrate how rising incidence in Spain, resumption of travel, and lack of effective screening and containment may explain the variant’s success. Despite travel restrictions, we estimate that 20E (EU1) was introduced hundreds of times to European countries by summertime travellers, which is likely to have undermined local efforts to minimize infection with SARS-CoV-2. Our results illustrate how a variant can rapidly become dominant even in the absence of a substantial transmission advantage in favourable epidemiological settings. Genomic surveillance is critical for understanding how travel can affect transmission of SARS-CoV-2, and thus for informing future containment strategies as travel resumes. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited

Evaluación del impacto ambiental de dos envolventes de edificios educativos mediante análisis de ciclo de vida

El Análisis de Ciclo de Vida (ACV), es un proceso para evaluar las cargas ambientales asociadas a un producto, proceso o actividad, identificando y cuantificando el uso de materia y energía así como los residuos generados. El presente artículo tiene como objetivo, la aplicación de la metodología del ACV en el sector de la construcción, mediante un ejercicio comparativo de infraestructura educativa, con el cual se ejemplifica su uso en la construcción y muestra sus ventajas y beneficios.Peer Reviewe

Evaluación del impacto ambiental de dos envolventes de edificios educativos mediante análisis de ciclo de vida

El Análisis de Ciclo de Vida (ACV), es un proceso para evaluar las cargas ambientales asociadas a un producto, proceso o actividad, identificando y cuantificando el uso de materia y energía así como los residuos generados. El presente artículo tiene como objetivo, la aplicación de la metodología del ACV en el sector de la construcción, mediante un ejercicio comparativo de infraestructura educativa, con el cual se ejemplifica su uso en la construcción y muestra sus ventajas y beneficios.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Evaluación del impacto ambiental de dos envolventes de edificios educativos mediante análisis de ciclo de vida

El Análisis de Ciclo de Vida (ACV), es un proceso para evaluar las cargas ambientales asociadas a un producto, proceso o actividad, identificando y cuantificando el uso de materia y energía así como los residuos generados. El presente artículo tiene como objetivo, la aplicación de la metodología del ACV en el sector de la construcción, mediante un ejercicio comparativo de infraestructura educativa, con el cual se ejemplifica su uso en la construcción y muestra sus ventajas y beneficios.Peer Reviewe

Prototype muon detectors for the AMIGA component of the Pierre Auger Observatory

International audienceAMIGA (Auger Muons and Infill for the Ground Array) is an upgrade of the Pierre Auger Observatory to extend its range of detection and to directly measure the muon content of the particle showers. It consists of an infill of surface water-Cherenkov detectors accompanied by buried scintillator detectors used for muon counting. The main objectives of the AMIGA engineering array, referred to as the Unitary Cell, are to identify and resolve all engineering issues as well as to understand the muon-number counting uncertainties related to the design of the detector. The mechanical design, fabrication and deployment processes of the muon counters of the Unitary Cell are described in this document. These muon counters modules comprise sealed PVC casings containing plastic scintillation bars, wavelength-shifter optical fibers, 64 pixel photomultiplier tubes, and acquisition electronics. The modules are buried approximately 2.25 m below ground level in order to minimize contamination from electromagnetic shower particles. The mechanical setup, which allows access to the electronics for maintenance, is also described in addition to tests of the modules' response and integrity. The completed Unitary Cell has measured a number of air showers of which a first analysis of a sample event is included here

Measurement of the energy spectrum of cosmic rays above 10(18) eV using the Pierre Auger Observatory

We report a measurement of the flux of cosmic rays with unprecedented precision and statistics using the Pierre Auger Observatory. Based on fluorescence observations in coincidence with at least one surface detector we derive a spectrum for energies above 10¹⁸ eV. We also update the previously published energy spectrum obtained with the surface detector array. The two spectra are combined addressing the systematic uncertainties and, in particular, the influence of the energy resolution on the spectral shape. The spectrum can be described by a broken power law E−γ with index γ=3.3 below the ankle which is measured at log10(Eankle/eV)=18.6. Above the ankle the spectrum is described by a power law with index 2.6 followed by a flux suppression, above about log10(E/eV)=19.5, detected with high statistical significance.J. Abraham... K. B. Barber... J. A. Bellido... R. W. Clay... M. J. Cooper... B. R. Dawson... A. E. Herve... V. C. Holmes... J. Sorokin... P. Wahrlich... B. J. Whelan... M. G. Winnick..