Focus
Cities
- Focus
- November 2011 Volume 4 No 11 pp729-812
Research into city living and its impacts is burgeoning, thanks to the fact that more than half of us now live in urban areas. In this web focus we compile a number of papers documenting some of the challenges associated with city life, and some of the less expected outcomes.
Editorial
Urban lead - p729
doi:10.1038/ngeo1322
The world is undergoing a phenomenally fast wave of urban growth. Research that can help tackle some of the ensuing problems is likely to originate in cities themselves.
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Correspondence
City lights and urban air - pp730 - 731
H. Stark, S. S. Brown, K. W. Wong, J. Stutz, C. D. Elvidge, I. B. Pollack, T. B. Ryerson, W. P. Dube, N. L. Wagner & D. D. Parrish
doi:10.1038/ngeo1300
City lights can alter the concentration of nitrate radicals in the atmosphere. These alterations have potential - albeit small - consequences for pollution levels the following day.
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Books and Arts
The age of the megacity - pp733
Luís M. A. Bettencourt
doi:10.1038/ngeo1299
The book is a reminder that cities grow primarily as the result of the social and economic aspirations of common people. This diverse and often messy social city underpins everything else.
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News and Views
Roofs and roads- pp736
Anna Armstrong
doi:10.1038/ngeo1311
As urban areas continue to be developed at breakneck speed, careful thought regarding their construction could help to alleviate some of the climatic toll, at least on a local level.
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From the archives
Editorial
Adjustable adaptation -
doi:10.1038/ngeo576
Humans have been responding to fluctuating sea levels for millennia. Adapting to future change will require a swift start on developing innovative infrastructure while keeping the option to adjust in the long term.
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Correspondence
Focus on known active faults -
John McCloskey
doi:10.1038/ngeo1221
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Commentary
Sustaining coastal urban ecosystems -
Torbjörn E. Törnqvist & Douglas J. Meffert
doi:10.1038/ngeo365
The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season once again highlighted the challenges awaiting low-lying population centres close to the ocean. In the face of global sea-level rise, unconventional thinking is required to make urban coasts more resilient.
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News & Views
Urban waste -
Anna Armstrong
doi:10.1038/ngeo680
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Brief relief -
Anna Armstrong
doi:10.1038/ngeo542
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Pollution meets sea salt -
Roland von Glasow
doi:10.1038/ngeo192
In densely populated coastal areas, reactions of polluted air with sea salt aerosol from the ocean can lead to high surface ozone levels that affect air quality.
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Progress Article
Sinking deltas due to human activities -
James P. M. Syvitski, Albert J. Kettner, Irina Overeem, Eric W. H. Hutton, Mark T. Hannon, G. Robert Brakenridge, John Day, Charles Vörösmarty, Yoshiki Saito, Liviu Giosan & Robert J. Nicholls
doi:10.1038/ngeo629
Many of the world's deltas are densely populated and intensively farmed. An assessment of recent publications indicates that the majority of these deltas have been subject to intense flooding over the past decade, and that this threat will grow as global sea-level rises and as the deltas subside.
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Letters
Consistent geographical patterns of changes in high-impact European heatwaves -
E. M. Fischer & C. Schär
doi:10.1038/ngeo866
Climate-change projections suggest that European summer heatwaves will become more frequent and severe during this century. An analysis of a set of high-resolution regional climate simulations reveals consistent geographical patterns in these changes, with the most severe health impacts in southern European river basins and along the Mediterranean coasts.
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Deforestation driven by urban population growth and agricultural trade in the twenty-first century -
Ruth S. DeFries, Thomas Rudel, Maria Uriarte & Matthew Hansen
doi:10.1038/ngeo756
Reducing tropical deforestation is at present considered a cost-effective option for mitigating climate change. Satellite-based estimates of forest loss suggest that urban population growth and urban and international demand for agricultural products are key drivers of deforestation in the tropics.
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Model projections of rapid sea-level rise on the northeast coast of the United States -
Jianjun Yin, Michael E. Schlesinger & Ronald J. Stouffer
doi:10.1038/ngeo462
Human-induced climate change is expected to cause sea-level rise globally as well as regionally. An analysis of state-of-the-art climate models indicates that the northeastern US coast is particularly likely to experience substantial rises in regional sea level as a result of the projected slowdown of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation.
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Backstory
Olympic atmosphere -
doi:10.1038/ngeo930
Veerabhadran Ramanathan, James Schauer, Hung Nguyen and colleagues found the Beijing Olympics to be conducive to international collaboration in science, as well as sport, as they attempted to assess the effect of emission restrictions on climate forcing.
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