In the present study, the research was focused on analyzing long-term trends and variability of annual and seasonal air mean temperatures and some parameters related to cold and hot extreme temperatures, based on relevant continuous temperature data (1961-2018 period) provided by three regional weather stations (Cluj-Napoca, Deva and Miercurea-Ciuc). The Mann-Kendall test was used in order to find statistically-significant trends, while the magnitude of trends was estimated using Sen’s slope estimator method. The main results showed a significant increase of mean air temperature, especially in the summer season and for indicators related to hot extreme temperatures. Generally, our findings are consistent with the current global warming and previous study results on temperature variability in Romania. Anyway by comparing our results with those from the other similar studies performed in Romania, it could be observed that the climate became warmer in the study area, so the trend in annual mean and seasonal air temperature has intensified and statistical significance of the results has significantly increased. Also, the intensification of the ,,urban heat island’’ effect could be highlighted in the larger cities, like Cluj-Napoca. This increasing trend entails significant impacts on society, economy and natural ecosystems, which is expected to intensify in the near future.
Over time, hydro-meteorological disasters, also called weather and/or climate-related disasters have recorded the highest occurrence of natural disasters, not only in European Union (EU) countries, but also worldwide, causing a total of most damage and life losses. Using available updated EM-DAT international disaster database, this study aim to provide the results derived from the analysis of the weather and climate-related disaster at EU countries level. Countries and disaster type disparities in terms of frequency, distribution, mortality and economic losses are highlighted. Since the reported losses have a certain amount of uncertainty, or are missing for some events, only the relevant disasters that resulted in at least ten people death and/or 10 million US$ have been assessed in this study. The EU countries population and GDP/capita time-series data were collected from the statistical database of European Environmental Agency (EEA). Between 2000 and 2021, EM-DAT reported 225 relevant natural disasters in EU countries, causing 86,390 deaths and total estimated direct damages of 186 billion US$. Among all these disasters those triggered by floods prove to be the most prevalent (40 %), followed by storms (28 %). In terms of mortality, most of the killed people were caused by heat waves, with a total of 81,673 registered deaths. Focusing on direct economic losses, floods provide more than half of the damages recorded so far, accounting 59.2 % of losses. Average annual economic losses in EU countries were around 8.5 billion US$, while the average losses per capita were almost 400 US$, which means an average annual loss of about 18 US$ per capita. During this period, no relevant trend was found for the variables analysed.
The identification of the metropolitan area was limited to the surrounding localities in a radius of about 30 km around Cluj-Napoca. This distance is considered in EU the best practice for the development of the peri-urban space. The Cluj Metropolitan Area (CMA) is located in Cluj County, the north-western development region of Romania. The Cluj Metropolitan Area is composed from voluntary association of communes plus the city of Cluj-Napoca, forming an urban network composed of two metropolitan rings. The first metropolitan ring is the purpose of our study. The transformation of communes into residential and complex clusters is also analyzed. The seven localities inside the first ring had significant changes in population and land use between 2002 and 2020. The increase of the population and decrease of the agricultural land area are premises in achieving urban homogeneity in the metropolitan area. Keywords: Cluj Metropolitan Area, metropolitan rings, urban space, rural clusters.
The protected site Dealurile Clujului-Est is located in the Transylvanian Depression subunit known as Somes Plateau, in the northern part of Cluj-Napoca. The presence of a plateau units characterized by an alternation of valley corridors and interfluves was able to dictate the existence of a variety of types of landscapes. Along with relief, which is characterized by altitude, slope, exposition and dynamic geomorphologic processes, the land use has been taken into account. The last three centuries Dealurile Clujului suffered a considerable human impact, despite seeming insignificant anthropogenic pressures and villages with low prevalence. Therefore we can say that the natural landscapes (characterized by state of climax or biostazie) are often insignificant compared to the spatial expansion of the territorial unit analyzed. The landscape is characterized by a rural lifestyle, clearly expressed, with forest vegetation positioned at higher parts of that territory, followed by traditional crops, the vast pasture and meadow, with the dominant category of small and very small villages, located along the valleys and the river origins. By applying the criteria mentioned and GIS techniques, we distinguished 14 types of landscapes and related subtypes, both natural and built.
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