Exploring the Landscape of Climate Law and Scholarship: Two Emerging Trends
Exploring the landscape of climate law, this chapter identifies two emerging trends increasingly visible in climate law scholarship. The first relates to the multi-layered nature of climate law. Here, the chapter argues that our understanding of the complex web of legal norms that address climate change necessitates research that also takes into consideration interactions between various sources of legal authority in regulating climate change, including their hierarchies, synergies and tensions. In addition to benefitting those implementing climate law on the ground, such an approach makes it possible to analyse the global implications of climate law, including its effectiveness and the mutual supportiveness of its various layers. The second relates to deformalization of climate law; the expanding role of non-state actors, soft law instruments and informal collaboration in global efforts to address climate change. While climate law scholarship is increasingly paying attention to this phenomenon, this chapter argues that accounting for the role of non-state actors and voluntary regulatory initiatives involves some important doctrinal challenges, including how to avoid becoming overtly descriptive and retain a normative focus.
A critical analysis of the Kyoto protocol's second commitment period.
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The microscale obstacle-resolving meteorological model MITRAS v2.0: model theory
Abstract. This paper describes the developing theory and underlying
processes of the microscale obstacle-resolving model MITRAS version 2. MITRAS
calculates wind, temperature, humidity, and precipitation fields, as well as
transport within the obstacle layer using Reynolds averaging. It explicitly
resolves obstacles, including buildings and overhanging obstacles, to
consider their aerodynamic and thermodynamic effects. Buildings are
represented by impermeable grid cells at the building positions so that the
wind speed vanishes in these grid cells. Wall functions are used to calculate
appropriate turbulent fluxes. Most exchange processes at the obstacle
surfaces are considered in MITRAS, including turbulent and radiative
processes, in order to obtain an accurate surface temperature. MITRAS is also
able to simulate the effect of wind turbines. They are parameterized using
the actuator-disk concept to account for the reduction in wind speed. The
turbulence generation in the wake of a wind turbine is parameterized by
adding an additional part to the turbulence mechanical production term in the
turbulent kinetic energy equation. Effects of trees are considered
explicitly, including the wind speed reduction, turbulence production, and
dissipation due to drag forces from plant foliage elements, as well as the
radiation absorption and shading. The paper provides not only
documentation of the model dynamics and numerical framework but also a solid
foundation for future microscale model extensions.
