Peter Brimblecombe
Biographic Data
| ID | 536897 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Peter Brimblecombe |
| GIVEN NAMES | Peter |
| FAMILY NAME | Brimblecombe |
| SIGNATURE | BRIMBLECOMBE P |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of East Anglia |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2233-8761 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 36 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 45 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 36 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1978 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Climate Pressures on Intangible Heritage
Intangible heritage comprises a wealth of knowledge, crafts, and skills that are passed down through the generations, embodied in our cultural practices. Many of these intertwine with landscape and environment; so, they are sensitive to climate change. While there have been studies of the impact of climate change on intangible heritage, these typically use heritage as a lens to examine climate impacts. There are few assessments of specific climat…
Microclimate of the Natural History Museum, Vienna
Climate change increases the importance of maintaining environmental conditions suitable for preventive conservation within museums. The microclimates at the Natural History Museum of Vienna, a large national collection housed within a classical building, were studied using >200 data loggers placed from mid 2021 to provide thermo-hygrometric measurements at 15 min intervals. Daily mean temperatures showed exhibition halls typically had the warmes…
Investigating insect catch metrics from a large Austrian museum
Tuning and Effectiveness in Heritage Models
Modelling can explore heritage responses to environmental pressures over wide spatial and temporal scales, testing both theory and process. However, compared to other fields, modelling approaches are not yet as common in heritage management. Some heritage models have become well known, though they struggle to have an impact beyond academia, with limited practical applications. Successful models appear to be adaptable to multiple sites or objects,…
Modelling the Alteration of Medieval Stained Glass as a Function of Climate and Pollution
Most stained-glass windows installed during the Middle Ages have deteriorated over time due to climate and pollution. To reconstruct their alteration history over the centuries, evaluate the current environmental risk, and predict their alteration in the future, two modelling methodologies have been used. First, based on the short-term exposure of medieval-type glass in different sites, dose–response functions (DRFs) were established. These DRFs …
Climate Change and Pilgrimage to Shrines in Ethiopia
Pilgrimages are an important part of our intangible heritage. These long journeys, often on foot, can be sensitive to weather, so this study sees pilgrimages as providing an opportunity to look at the way in which changes in climate affect intangible heritage. It examines two important Ethiopian pilgrimages that involve hundreds of thousands who travel each year to Dirre Sheikh Hussein, seen as the country’s Mecca, and Lalibela, its Jerusalem. Th…
Changing Insect Catch in Viennese Museums during Covid-19
The COVID-19 pandemic led to significant changes in societies across the globe. In many countries in Europe, national lockdowns during the spring of 2020 meant that museums were closed, and maintenance and housekeeping were at a minimum. We compared the insect monitoring data of 15 museums in and around Vienna between the years 2018 and 2022 to see potential effects of the two lockdowns (spring 2020 and winter 2020/21) on insect populations. In V…
Thermohygrometric Climate, Insects and Fungi in the Klosterneuburg Monastic Library
The abundance of insect and fungal pests under a changing climate may threaten historic interiors, libraries and museums, with warmer, potentially more humid winters. This work examines local and indoor climate, insects and fungi in a historic library near Vienna. It reveals a mostly dry and cool environment for the storage of books, but few visitors to induce changes. Temperature and relative humidity have been monitored for 12 months (2021-07/2…
Moisture as a Driver of Long-Term Threats to Timber Heritage—Part I
Timber is widely used in the construction of buildings on a global scale, but it is sensitive to degradation. Moisture notably poses a risk to timber decay, and this is likely to change significantly during the 21st century if a high emission scenario occurs. Global HadGEM3 model output was used to map projected changes in relative humidity range, seasonality of relative humidity, time of wetness, wind-driven rain, salt transitions and potential …
Environmental Pressures at Dirre Sheikh Hussein Sanctuary
Dirre Sheikh Hussein is a religious complex in Ethiopia that dates from the 12th century or earlier. An important focus for pilgrimage, it lies in an isolated part of Oromia State on poorly drained semi-arid lowlands. Significant architecturally and culturally, recent expansion and refurbishment of the major buildings led to structural issues, though these are now largely overcome through consolidation of the prayer hall roof, laying a stone walk…
Fire Risk in Traditional Villages of Sumba, Indonesia
Fire is a global problem for traditional villages, especially those dominated by the use of wood and thatch. These places are often crowded, which leads to the rapid spread of fire. The traditional villages on the island of Sumba are architecturally striking, with their tall houses interspersed with ancestral tombs. They are set on an island of grassland landscapes managed using fire. There is little local ability to suppress village fires as the…
Moisture as a Driver of Long-Term Threats to Timber Heritage—Part II
Timber heritage sites are vulnerable to damage from moisture. Simple meteorological descriptions of climate need to be tuned to capture drivers that threaten heritage, including dimensional change, insect attack and mould growth. Global climate models often provide projections through to the end of the 21st century but need to be translated to a local level to reveal processes of deterioration at specific sites. Translation to a local level can b…
Exposure of Malaysian Children to Air Pollutants over the School Day
Children are sensitive to air pollution and spend long hours in and around their schools, so the school day has an important impact on their overall exposure. This study of Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and its surroundings assesses exposure to PM2.5 and NO2, from travel, play and study over a typical school day. Most Malaysian children in urban areas are driven to school, so they probably experience peak NO2 concentrations in the drop-off and pick-up z…
Effect of Indoor Climate and Habitat Change on Museum Insects during Covid-19 Closures
COVID-19 spread globally and, as there was little immunity, quarantine, isolation, and social distancing became widely practiced. As people were restricted to their homes in many countries, public venues, such as museums, galleries, and historic houses, were typically closed. This allowed insect abundance, under changed conditions, to be explored using traps from the Technical Museum, Schönbrunn Palace, Hofburg Museum, and Weltmuseum in Vienna. T…
Weathering of materials at Notre-Dame from changes in air pollution and climate in Paris, 1325-2090
Traffic-derived noise, air pollution and urban park design
Parks provide a range of ecosystem services and make major contributions to urban life. Improved environmental quality was observed in urban parks as pollutants and noise disperse. Numerical models were used to assess the role of various design elements in air pollution and noise attenuation in parks. The walls reduced pollutants and sound noticeably in its shadow. Dense conifers can trap pollutants in park borders and lower concentrations in int…
Urban park layout and exposure to traffic-derived air pollutants
Effects of Neighboring Units on the Estimation of Particle Penetration Factor in a Modeled Indoor Environment
Ingress of air from neighboring apartments is an important source of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in residential multi-story buildings. It affects the measurement and estimation of particle deposition rate and penetration factor. A blower-door method to measure the particle deposition rate and penetration factor has previously been found to be more precise than the traditional decay-rebound method as it reduces variability of PM2.5 ingress fro…
Air Change in Low and High-Rise Apartments
Air exchange in tall apartment buildings is critical in controlling indoor environments in urban settings. Airtightness is relevant to energy efficiency, thermal comfort and air quality experienced by urban dwellers who spend much of their time indoors. While many air change measurements have been made in residential homes, fewer are available for high-rise apartments. The blower-door and CO2 exchange methods were used to measure air change in so…
Trends in insect catch at historic properties
Future thermohygrometric climate within historic houses
The cementation of coarse dust to indoor surfaces
Shock Cities
Reviewed by: Shock Cities: The Environmental Transformation and Reform of Manchester and Chicago Peter Brimblecombe (bio) Shock Cities: The Environmental Transformation and Reform of Manchester and Chicago. By Harold L. Platt. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2005. Pp. xvi+628. $49. The Victorian age seems increasingly, even in popular presentations, to be recast as a time of great imagination, rather than one of repression and conservatism. I …
The globalization of local air pollution
In the past air pollution reflected activities that were unique to a locality. During the twentieth century it became increasingly similar everywhere to the extent that the air pollution problems faced by cities became global in their presence and character. The formation, control and perception of air pollutants seemed increasingly universal. Despite this, the polluted urban atmosphere emerged as more complex than that of the past. It no longer …
Inventing pollution
Additional informationNotes on contributorsPeter BrimblecombePeter Brimblecombe is an honorary professor in the College of Marine Sciences at National Sun Yat Sen University in Taiwan. He has written widely on the history of air pollution, with his best-known book The Big Smoke (Methuen & Co.1987). His current work involves the study of long term changes in climate on historic built heritage
The Big Smoke
1. History and Early Air Pollution 2. The Rise of Coal 3. Evelyn and his Circle 4. The Effect of Pollution in Coal-Burning London 5. Smoke Abatement 6. Smoke and the London Fog 7. Monitoring the Changes in Atmospheric Composition 8. The Great Smog and After
Moisture as a Driver of Long-Term Threats to Timber Heritage—Part II
Timber heritage sites are vulnerable to damage from moisture. Simple meteorological descriptions of climate need to be tuned to capture drivers that threaten heritage, including dimensional change, insect attack and mould growth. Global climate models often provide projections through to the end of the 21st century but need to be translated to a local level to reveal processes of deterioration at specific sites. Translation to a local level can b…
Future thermohygrometric climate within historic houses
Clothing as a source of fibres within museums
Inventing pollution
Additional informationNotes on contributorsPeter BrimblecombePeter Brimblecombe is an honorary professor in the College of Marine Sciences at National Sun Yat Sen University in Taiwan. He has written widely on the history of air pollution, with his best-known book The Big Smoke (Methuen & Co.1987). His current work involves the study of long term changes in climate on historic built heritage
Environmental Pressures at Dirre Sheikh Hussein Sanctuary
Dirre Sheikh Hussein is a religious complex in Ethiopia that dates from the 12th century or earlier. An important focus for pilgrimage, it lies in an isolated part of Oromia State on poorly drained semi-arid lowlands. Significant architecturally and culturally, recent expansion and refurbishment of the major buildings led to structural issues, though these are now largely overcome through consolidation of the prayer hall roof, laying a stone walk…
Weathering of materials at Notre-Dame from changes in air pollution and climate in Paris, 1325-2090
The globalization of local air pollution
In the past air pollution reflected activities that were unique to a locality. During the twentieth century it became increasingly similar everywhere to the extent that the air pollution problems faced by cities became global in their presence and character. The formation, control and perception of air pollutants seemed increasingly universal. Despite this, the polluted urban atmosphere emerged as more complex than that of the past. It no longer …
Control of Air Pollution in Manchester prior to the Public Health Act, 1875
Industrialising cities of the 19th century are seen as lax in environmental matters. However, Manchester took a strong stand against air pollution. It modified complex medieval administrative practices to address industrial pollution, and created new bodies (e.g. Police Commissioners) that considered environmental matters. Its committees and inspectors worked diligently, but pro-industrial sympathies prevented systematic prosecution of industrial…
Modelling the Alteration of Medieval Stained Glass as a Function of Climate and Pollution
Most stained-glass windows installed during the Middle Ages have deteriorated over time due to climate and pollution. To reconstruct their alteration history over the centuries, evaluate the current environmental risk, and predict their alteration in the future, two modelling methodologies have been used. First, based on the short-term exposure of medieval-type glass in different sites, dose–response functions (DRFs) were established. These DRFs …
Climate Change and Pilgrimage to Shrines in Ethiopia
Pilgrimages are an important part of our intangible heritage. These long journeys, often on foot, can be sensitive to weather, so this study sees pilgrimages as providing an opportunity to look at the way in which changes in climate affect intangible heritage. It examines two important Ethiopian pilgrimages that involve hundreds of thousands who travel each year to Dirre Sheikh Hussein, seen as the country’s Mecca, and Lalibela, its Jerusalem. Th…
Moisture as a Driver of Long-Term Threats to Timber Heritage—Part I
Timber is widely used in the construction of buildings on a global scale, but it is sensitive to degradation. Moisture notably poses a risk to timber decay, and this is likely to change significantly during the 21st century if a high emission scenario occurs. Global HadGEM3 model output was used to map projected changes in relative humidity range, seasonality of relative humidity, time of wetness, wind-driven rain, salt transitions and potential …
Effect of Indoor Climate and Habitat Change on Museum Insects during Covid-19 Closures
COVID-19 spread globally and, as there was little immunity, quarantine, isolation, and social distancing became widely practiced. As people were restricted to their homes in many countries, public venues, such as museums, galleries, and historic houses, were typically closed. This allowed insect abundance, under changed conditions, to be explored using traps from the Technical Museum, Schönbrunn Palace, Hofburg Museum, and Weltmuseum in Vienna. T…
Air Change in Low and High-Rise Apartments
Air exchange in tall apartment buildings is critical in controlling indoor environments in urban settings. Airtightness is relevant to energy efficiency, thermal comfort and air quality experienced by urban dwellers who spend much of their time indoors. While many air change measurements have been made in residential homes, fewer are available for high-rise apartments. The blower-door and CO2 exchange methods were used to measure air change in so…
Trends in insect catch at historic properties
The cementation of coarse dust to indoor surfaces
A particle accumulation study during the reconstruction of The Great Court, British Museum
Interest in air pollution among early Fellows of the Royal Society
AIR pollution became a problem in London as early as the thirteenth century, shortly after the introduction of imported coal. The use of coal as a fuel in kilns in London and Southwark annoyed the public so much that a Royal Commission investigated the matter in 1284 (1). It recurred no doubt throughout the intervening centuries, but there appears to be little serious discussion of it as anything more than a transient local occurrence until the s…
The antiquity of ‘smokeless zones’
The Big Smoke
1. History and Early Air Pollution 2. The Rise of Coal 3. Evelyn and his Circle 4. The Effect of Pollution in Coal-Burning London 5. Smoke Abatement 6. Smoke and the London Fog 7. Monitoring the Changes in Atmospheric Composition 8. The Great Smog and After
The Big Smoke
The Big Smoke
Short notices
Henry Heller, Iron and Blood. Civil Wars in Sixteenth‐Century France (1991), xiv + 191 (McGill‐Queen's University Press, £26.95). B. J. Davey, Rural Crime in Eighteenth Century England: North Lincolnshire 1740–80 (1994), xv + 167 (University of Hull Press, Hull, £9.95). John Breuilly, Labour and Liberalism in Nineteenth‐century Europe: Essays in Comparative History (1992), 336 (Manchester University Press, Manchester, £35.00, paperback £14.99). I…
Meteorological Service in Fifteenth Century Sandwich
Minstrels (or waits) in the 15th century Port of Sandwich walked the streets at night and woke mariners with information about wind directions. The provision of this simple meteorological service may have been required to encourage merchant ships to use the harbour, which had become particularly tortuous as a result of silt accumulation in the River Stour. An increased frequency of east winds during the Little Ice Age would also have made the har…
Control of Air Pollution in Manchester prior to the Public Health Act, 1875
Industrialising cities of the 19th century are seen as lax in environmental matters. However, Manchester took a strong stand against air pollution. It modified complex medieval administrative practices to address industrial pollution, and created new bodies (e.g. Police Commissioners) that considered environmental matters. Its committees and inspectors worked diligently, but pro-industrial sympathies prevented systematic prosecution of industrial…
Clothing as a source of fibres within museums
Colin A. Russell, editor, Chemistry, Society and Environment. A New History of the British Chemical Industry
A particle accumulation study during the reconstruction of The Great Court, British Museum
The globalization of local air pollution
In the past air pollution reflected activities that were unique to a locality. During the twentieth century it became increasingly similar everywhere to the extent that the air pollution problems faced by cities became global in their presence and character. The formation, control and perception of air pollutants seemed increasingly universal. Despite this, the polluted urban atmosphere emerged as more complex than that of the past. It no longer …
Shock Cities
Reviewed by: Shock Cities: The Environmental Transformation and Reform of Manchester and Chicago Peter Brimblecombe (bio) Shock Cities: The Environmental Transformation and Reform of Manchester and Chicago. By Harold L. Platt. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2005. Pp. xvi+628. $49. The Victorian age seems increasingly, even in popular presentations, to be recast as a time of great imagination, rather than one of repression and conservatism. I …
The cementation of coarse dust to indoor surfaces
Future thermohygrometric climate within historic houses
Trends in insect catch at historic properties
Traffic-derived noise, air pollution and urban park design
Parks provide a range of ecosystem services and make major contributions to urban life. Improved environmental quality was observed in urban parks as pollutants and noise disperse. Numerical models were used to assess the role of various design elements in air pollution and noise attenuation in parks. The walls reduced pollutants and sound noticeably in its shadow. Dense conifers can trap pollutants in park borders and lower concentrations in int…
Urban park layout and exposure to traffic-derived air pollutants
Effects of Neighboring Units on the Estimation of Particle Penetration Factor in a Modeled Indoor Environment
Ingress of air from neighboring apartments is an important source of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in residential multi-story buildings. It affects the measurement and estimation of particle deposition rate and penetration factor. A blower-door method to measure the particle deposition rate and penetration factor has previously been found to be more precise than the traditional decay-rebound method as it reduces variability of PM2.5 ingress fro…
Air Change in Low and High-Rise Apartments
Air exchange in tall apartment buildings is critical in controlling indoor environments in urban settings. Airtightness is relevant to energy efficiency, thermal comfort and air quality experienced by urban dwellers who spend much of their time indoors. While many air change measurements have been made in residential homes, fewer are available for high-rise apartments. The blower-door and CO2 exchange methods were used to measure air change in so…
Effect of Indoor Climate and Habitat Change on Museum Insects during Covid-19 Closures
COVID-19 spread globally and, as there was little immunity, quarantine, isolation, and social distancing became widely practiced. As people were restricted to their homes in many countries, public venues, such as museums, galleries, and historic houses, were typically closed. This allowed insect abundance, under changed conditions, to be explored using traps from the Technical Museum, Schönbrunn Palace, Hofburg Museum, and Weltmuseum in Vienna. T…
Weathering of materials at Notre-Dame from changes in air pollution and climate in Paris, 1325-2090
Thermohygrometric Climate, Insects and Fungi in the Klosterneuburg Monastic Library
The abundance of insect and fungal pests under a changing climate may threaten historic interiors, libraries and museums, with warmer, potentially more humid winters. This work examines local and indoor climate, insects and fungi in a historic library near Vienna. It reveals a mostly dry and cool environment for the storage of books, but few visitors to induce changes. Temperature and relative humidity have been monitored for 12 months (2021-07/2…
Moisture as a Driver of Long-Term Threats to Timber Heritage—Part I
Timber is widely used in the construction of buildings on a global scale, but it is sensitive to degradation. Moisture notably poses a risk to timber decay, and this is likely to change significantly during the 21st century if a high emission scenario occurs. Global HadGEM3 model output was used to map projected changes in relative humidity range, seasonality of relative humidity, time of wetness, wind-driven rain, salt transitions and potential …
Environmental Pressures at Dirre Sheikh Hussein Sanctuary
Dirre Sheikh Hussein is a religious complex in Ethiopia that dates from the 12th century or earlier. An important focus for pilgrimage, it lies in an isolated part of Oromia State on poorly drained semi-arid lowlands. Significant architecturally and culturally, recent expansion and refurbishment of the major buildings led to structural issues, though these are now largely overcome through consolidation of the prayer hall roof, laying a stone walk…
Geography (27 works) · Conservation Techniques and Studies (20 works) · Environmental Science (20 works) · Ecology (17 works) · Meteorology (16 works) · Air pollution (11 works) · Archaeology (11 works) · Building materials and conservation (11 works) · History (10 works) · Pollution (10 works)