 Subjects -> METEOROLOGY (Total: 106 journals)
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | | The end of the list has been reached or no journals were found for your choice. |
|
|
- Indigenous filmmaking practices: healing in times of climate crises
Authors: Viviana Ramirez-Loaiza
Abstract: The psychological impacts of the climate crisis and its triggers can have long-lasting consequences for public mental health. Many indigenous communities have an in-depth understanding of these impacts, and some of their filmmakers have depicted them through their audiovisual work. By challenging colonial perspectives, these indigenous filmmakers offer invaluable insights into how communities might navigate into adaptation and recovery to cope with the challenges brought about by climate change. Unfortunately, audiovisual work has often been overlooked in climate-related disaster studies despite its significant contributions. Drawing on community-based feminism and the decolonial turn, I sought to explore the healing practices employed by communities in Upper Xingu, Brazil, through the practice of indigenous filmmaker Takumã Kuikuro. To achieve this, I drew on audiovisual analysis of Takumã Kuikuro’s documentaries and records (short videos) from the decolonial panorama. Additionally, I conducted semi-structured interviews with the filmmaker and three members of the People’s Palace Projects, who have worked closely with Takumã, culminating in a validation meeting. I highlight three key findings for this article: (i) healing through rituals as esthetic and ethical-sacred practices within the territory, (ii) bodies in collectivism, and (iii) cascading effects on healing audiences: weaving networks from reciprocities. In seeking a discussion of the findings, I contend that there is an inextricable bond between the community-based healing responses to the climate crisis shown by Takumã’s lenses and the Politics of the Bodies proposed by the Colombian philosopher Laura Quintana, allowing us to frame the decolonial understanding of healing as a political and collective action both within and with territories. Therefore, placing the indigenous cinema as a source of knowledge will enable us to bring community-based discussions that disaster risk reduction has neglected due to its embeddedness in epistemic injustice, from which at-risk communities have been predominantly seen as incapable of knowing their geographies. The rituals and collaborative practices grounded in reciprocity demonstrate forms of adaptation in which mental health becomes a collective responsibility woven into nature at its core.
PubDate: 2023-11-30T00:00:00Z
- Central America urgently needs to reduce the growing adaptation gap to
climate change
Authors: Débora Ley, Tania Guillén Bolaños, Antonethe Castaneda, Hugo G. Hidalgo, Pascal O. Girot Pignot, Rodrigo Fernández, Eric J. Alfaro, Edwin J. Castellanos
Abstract: Central America is highly impacted by current extreme events associated with climate variability and the adverse effects of climate change, showing high vulnerability compounded by its historical context and socioeconomic structure. In light of the important findings published by the WGII of the IPCC AR6 in 2022 on the adverse effects of climate change on the Central American region, there is still a clear need to improve data availability and to increase the number of studies on projections of changes in the climate, risks, impacts, vulnerability, and adaptation from the region to inform decision-makers and practitioners. The region has seen an increase in the number of adaptation projects implemented; however, there is limited information about their success or failure, and there are few case studies and reviews of lessons learned, highlighting an important gap in the implementation of effective adaptation measures. This article presents a current review of the literature on climatology, hydrology, impacts and vulnerability, mitigation and adaptation responses, action plans, and potential losses and damages in the region. It also proposes actionable recommendations based on the main gaps found and presents a case study of the Central American Dry Corridor, one of the climate change and underdevelopment hotspots of the region. We finish with a discussion highlighting the importance of considering system transitions perspectives and the need to plan and implement more transformational adaptation approaches to reduce further losses and damages and to further address adaptation gaps in Central America.
PubDate: 2023-11-24T00:00:00Z
- Five types on perception of global warming in
Japanese|Introduction|Methods|Results|Conclusion
Authors: Motoko Kosugi, Kenshi Baba
Abstract: IntroductionThe study seeks to examine Japanese people's perceptions and attitudes toward climate change by segmenting and characterizing respondents using online survey data from 2017 and 2020.MethodsThe survey administered in 2017 had 2,997 respondents and the survey in 2020, 1,100 respondents. Five segments were identified based on aspects of people's understanding of global warming, their attitudes toward taking countermeasures, and analyses of the characteristics and changes in the segment composition.ResultsThe groups identified were the “Alarmed,” who have a strong sense of urgency and undertake proactive measures; the “Indifferent,” who have limited interest and no clear opinion; the “Affirmative,” who tend to agree with all questions regardless of their content; and the “Skeptic,” who tend to suspect global warming. Provide negative responses to contradictory questions. The 2017 survey also yielded a segment called “Dismissive 2017,” and in the 2020 survey, a new segment called “Cautious 2020” was identified. People with unclear perceptions about climate change accounted for about 50% of respondents in both surveys.ConclusionThe findings suggest that in communicating with the public regarding the implementation of countermeasures, it is necessary to consider the differences in awareness, knowledge, and perception of the effects of global warming among various segments of the population.
PubDate: 2023-11-24T00:00:00Z
- Editorial: New approaches to local climate change risk analysis
Authors: Carlo Aall, Åsa Gerger Swartling, Emmanuel M.N.A.N. Attoh
PubDate: 2023-11-22T00:00:00Z
- Collective memories and previous experiences of older people in the face
of disaster risk processes: lessons learned, implication, and social
support|Introduction|Method|Results|Conclusions
Authors: José Sandoval-Díaz, Camila Navarrete-Valladares, Consuelo Suazo-Muñoz, Soledad Martínez-Labrín
Abstract: IntroductionClimate change amplifies the vulnerability of various groups, especially of older people. Though seen as highly vulnerable, studies reveal their remarkable resilience and that they experience less distress than the young population. Collective memory and experience thus act as coping devices, facilitating learning processes and adaptation when faced with natural risks.MethodThe objective was to characterize the lessons learned, implications and social support perceived by the older people in disaster risk situations. The study was conducted with six groups of older people in Ñuble (Chile) using the SWOT matrix (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats), life stories, focus groups, photo evocation, and other participatory techniques. Content analysis was based on a systematic coding of category quantifications.ResultsNegative impacts and positive learning processes were identified that prompted significant changes and made post-traumatic growth processes and capacity-building possible. The type of disaster, its frequency and stage in which it occurs influence the perception of risk and coping strategies, underscoring the importance of strengthening communication about natural risks that are often rendered invisible, such as heat waves. Social support is the main source of collective capacity and has been shown to reduce perceived vulnerability to disaster risk scenarios.ConclusionsThe collective memory and prior disaster experiences of the older people provide them with tools to reinterpret new risk scenarios, highlighting their abilities and promoting their empowerment. These resources are crucial for the development of intergenerational learning aimed at comprehensive risk management. However, facing recent disaster risk situations such as COVID-19 or heatwaves has posed a challenge due to a lack of prior experiences and knowledge on how to handle them. This underscores the importance of having continuous psychoeducation, tailored to the specific and territorial needs of the older people, especially in the context of climate change.
PubDate: 2023-11-20T00:00:00Z
- Traditional and local communities as key actors to identify
climate-related disaster impacts: a citizen science approach in Southeast
Brazilian coastal areas
Authors: Rafael Damasceno Pereira, Lucas de Paula Brazílio, Miguel Angel Trejo-Rangel, Maurício Duarte dos Santos, Letícia Milene Bezerra Silva, Lilian Fraciele Souza, Ana Carolina Santana Barbosa, Mario Ricardo de Oliveira, Ronaldo dos Santos, Danilo Pereira Sato, Allan Yu Iwama
Abstract: The impacts of climate-related disasters can be estimated by climate models. However, climate models are frequently downscaled to specific settings to facilitate Disaster Risk Management (DRM) to better understand local impacts and avoid overlooking uncertainties. Several studies have registered the increasing importance of recognizing traditional knowledge, co-design, and collaboration with local communities in developing DRM strategies. The objective of this research was co-design local-scale observations with traditional and local communities to characterize their local context regarding the impacts of climate-related disasters. The citizen science approach coupled with participatory action research was conducted with two traditional communities in the Southeast of the Brazilian coast: Quilombo do Campinho da Independência in Paraty, Rio de Janeiro, and the Caiçara (artisanal fishing) community of Ubatumirim in Ubatuba, São Paulo. Working groups were organized with leaders to become community researchers, conducting interviews and actively mobilizing their communities. A structured questionnaire was developed, adapting 22 variables taken from the Protocol for the Collection of Cross-Cultural Comparative Data on Local Indicators of Climate Change Impacts—LICCI Protocol. A total of 366 impacts were analyzed, after combining the georeferencing form data collected—Survey123 (280 impacts) and the interviews with community leaders (86 impacts). The results showed a significant level of cohesion (α = 0.01) between the Caiçara (artisanal fishers) and Quilombola (Afro-descendants) perceptions of climate-related events associated with their subsistence practices and climate variability. These findings highlighting the importance of DRM proposals that recognize traditional peoples and local communities as frontline vulnerable populations while acknowledging their role as key actors in identifying impacts, collecting data on land use and territory, subsistence-oriented activities, and cosmovision. However, it is still necessary to address climate change challenges at different scales. To do this, it is crucial to promote cognitive justice though the recognition of the values of the memories, perceptions and local knowledge, by scaling up locally-driven observations that empower local communities to lead their own climate adaptation efforts.
PubDate: 2023-11-14T00:00:00Z
- International law and transboundary dams: lessons learned from the
Binational Entity ITAIPU (Brazil and Paraguay)
Authors: Maria A. Gwynn
Abstract: The international river Paraná flows through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, and holds two major binational dams: the upstream ITAIPU dam (Brazil-Paraguay) and the downstream Yacyreta dam (Argentina-Paraguay). In the past years, the South American region was strongly affected by adverse environmental challenges exacerbated by climate change, like wildfires and severe droughts, which in turn drastically affected the water flow of the Paraná river, a river used for multiple purposes, inter alia the production of energy. The hydropower obtained from ITAIPU is one of the main sources of energy for Paraguay and the Southern part of Brazil. At the same time, the downstream parts of the river is used for navigation purposes, which is crucial for land-locked Paraguay to export its agricultural products, and for water consumption, as is the case for Argentina. The present case study will show how in spite of these challenges, South America has been an successful example of transboundary water cooperation, especially by using the international water law guidelines aimed at achieving reasonable and equitable utilization of an international river.
PubDate: 2023-11-13T00:00:00Z
- Editorial: Nature-based solutions, climate mitigation, biodiversity
conservation
Authors: Nathalie Hilmi, Ralph Chami, Connel Fullenkamp, Mostafa Jafari, U. Rashid Sumaila
PubDate: 2023-10-30T00:00:00Z
- The development of a farmer decision-making mind map to inform climate
services in Central America
Authors: Diana Giraldo, Graham Clarkson, Peter Dorward, Diego Obando, Julian Ramirez-Villegas
Abstract: The growing complexity of the relationship between climate information and agricultural decision-making necessitates the development of relevant and timely climate services for farmers. These services can effectively support risk management strategies in agriculture by fostering a comprehensive understanding of the intricacies involved in farmer decision-making dynamics. This paper addresses this critical gap by analyzing the drivers influencing decision-making processes that shape adaptation strategies for staple grain and coffee farming systems in Central America. The study answers the following research questions: (i) Does the mind map tool effectively provide a holistic understanding of farmers' decision-making processes' (ii) How do Central American farmers make decisions within their farm systems at multiple timescales' (iii) Which climate factors trigger these decisions' Employing a combination of systematic literature review and a case study in Honduras, the study identifies 13 critical decisions farmers make throughout their crop cycle and their respective triggers. These decisions were grouped into three clusters (production, household, and environmental) and classified into lead-time categories (operational, tactical, and strategic). Findings reveal that farmers base their decisions regarding future climate expectations on their traditional knowledge, religious dates, and memories of recent past seasons' rainfall patterns, and that one of the most significant factors influencing farmers' decisions is food security shortages resulting from extreme events. For example, recent mid-summer droughts have led farmers to prioritize sowing beans over maize in the Primera season, while during the Postrera season, they face challenges due to excess rainfall and the hurricane season. We conclude that the mind map tool developed in this paper provides an effective and appropriate method and that the variation in farmers' decision-making complexity across systems and landscapes presents a significant opportunity to design mind maps that span multiple timescales, facilitating the exploration of decision spaces. Farmers actively seek tailored weather and climate information while still valuing their existing experience and local knowledge, emphasizing the importance of integrating these elements into the development of climate services.
PubDate: 2023-10-27T00:00:00Z
- Training community engaged climate adaptation leaders using multiple case
study analysis: insights from cognitive learning sciences
Authors: Sara Abercrombie, Diana Lynne Stuart, Clare Ellsworth Aslan, Sara Souther, Brian Craig Petersen
Abstract: Training community engaged climate adaptation leaders requires developing learners' thinking skills so they can flexibly approach adaptation planning and problem solving in novel socio-ecological contexts. In this text, we describe how multiple case study analysis helps adult learners in both formal and community education settings develop the thinking skills necessary for adaptation work, including analogical reasoning and knowledge transfer; and we illustrate how to organize multiple case analysis on shared critical competencies aligned to community needs. The article concludes with a discussion of three instructional best practices for employing multiple case analysis in educational settings and a discussion of how this educational approach can guide training programs and funding priorities.
PubDate: 2023-10-26T00:00:00Z
- Disentangling artificial and natural benthic weathering in organic rich
Baltic Sea sediments
Authors: Michael Fuhr, Klaus Wallmann, Andrew W. Dale, Isabel Diercks, Habeeb Thanveer Kalapurakkal, Mark Schmidt, Stefan Sommer, Stefanie Böhnke, Mirjam Perner, Sonja Geilert
Abstract: Enhanced mineral dissolution in the benthic environment is currently discussed as a potential technique for ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) to reduce atmospheric CO2 levels. This study explores how biogeochemical processes affect the dissolution of alkaline minerals in surface sediments during laboratory incubation experiments. These involved introducing dunite and calcite to organic-rich sediments from the Baltic Sea under controlled conditions in an oxic environment. The sediment cores were incubated with Baltic Sea bottom water. Findings reveal that the addition of calcite increased the benthic alkalinity release from 0.4 μmol cm−2 d−1 (control) to 1.4 μmol cm−2 d−1 (calcite) as well as other weathering products such as calcium. However, these enhanced fluxes returned to lower fluxes after approximately 4 weeks yet still higher than the un-amended controls. Microbial activity appeared to be the primary driver for lowering pore water pH and thus enhanced weathering. In several sediment cores, pH profiles taken at the start of the experiments indicated activity of sulfur oxidizing Beggiatoa spp, which was verified by RNA-profiling of 16S rRNA genes. The pH profiles transitioned to those commonly associated with the activity of cable bacteria as the experiments progressed. The metabolic activity of cable bacteria would explain the significantly lower pH values (~5.6) at sediment depths of 1–3 cm, which would favor substantial calcite dissolution. However, a high abundance of cable bacteria was not reflected in 16S rRNA sequence data. Total alkalinity (TA) fluxes in these cores increased by a factor of ~3, with excess TA/calcium ratios indicating that the enhanced flux originated from calcite dissolution. The dissolution of dunite or the potential formation of secondary minerals could not be identified due to the strong natural flux of silicic acid, likely due to biogenic silica dissolution. Furthermore, no accumulation of potentially harmful metals such as nickel was observed, as highlighted as a potential risk in other studies concerning OAE. Given the complexity of sediment chemistry and changes of the benthic conditions induced by the incubation, it remains challenging to distinguish between natural and enhanced mineral weathering. Further investigation, including the identification of suitable tracers for mineral dissolution, are necessary to assess the feasibility of benthic weathering as a practical approach for OAE and climate change mitigation.
PubDate: 2023-10-24T00:00:00Z
- A co-produced national climate change risk and vulnerability assessment
framework for South Africa|Introduction|Methods|Results|Discussion
Authors: Gina Ziervogel, Anna Taylor
Abstract: IntroductionThere are mounting demands to undertake climate risk and vulnerability (CRV) assessments for policy, planning, funding, insurance, and compliance reasons. In Africa, given the adaptation imperative, this is particularly important. Increasingly, it has become clear that sub-national assessments are needed to inform adaptation practice. However, there has been relatively little guidance on how to undertake these more local assessments and aggregate them making it difficult for national governments to know the extent and variability of climate vulnerability and risk across the country.MethodsIn South Africa, the national government, led by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), undertook to establish a common framework to guide the development and review of CRV assessments. This paper presents the framework that was co-developed through a series of engagements with stakeholders active in implementing and supporting CRV assessments.ResultsThe framework is intended to provide guidance on what to consider when undertaking CRV assessments within diverse South African contexts in order to enable alignment, comparison, and aggregation between them and work towards an effective climate adaptation response across scales. Rather than standardizing a methodology, the framework promotes the use of a standard set of concepts as the basis for each assessment and profiles a diversity of methods, tools and data sources for applying the concepts in a contextually sensitive way. This provides a flexible yet structured sequence of three interlinked steps in a risk and vulnerability assessment process, namely: (1) Planning, (2) Scoping and (3) Assessing. The framework guides users through the choice and application of three assessment depths, depending on decision-context, resourcing and extent of pre-existing data and information. It encourages the integration of participatory and indicator-based methods through an impact chain approach, profiling more than 30 freely available tools and resources. This process builds a strong evidence base and a deepening set of engagements and shared understanding between relevant stakeholders, upon which to act.DiscussionThis South African process can provide insight and support for actors driving the climate agenda in other countries looking to develop comparable assessments as the basis to drive equitable and transformative climate action and learning.
PubDate: 2023-10-23T00:00:00Z
- Precipitation forecasting: from geophysical aspects to machine learning
applications
Authors: Ewerton Cristhian Lima de Oliveira, Antonio Vasconcelos Nogueira Neto, Ana Paula Paes dos Santos, Claudia Priscila Wanzeler da Costa, Julio Cezar Gonçalves de Freitas, Pedro Walfir Martins Souza-Filho, Rafael de Lima Rocha, Ronnie Cley Alves, Vânia dos Santos Franco, Eduardo Costa de Carvalho, Renata Gonçalves Tedeschi
Abstract: Intense precipitation events pose a significant threat to human life. Mathematical and computational models have been developed to simulate atmospheric dynamics to predict and understand these climates and weather events. However, recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, particularly in machine learning (ML) techniques, coupled with increasing computer processing power and meteorological data availability, have enabled the development of more cost-effective and robust computational models that are capable of predicting precipitation types and aiding decision-making to mitigate damage. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art in predicting precipitation events, addressing issues and foundations, physical origins of rainfall, potential use of AI as a predictive tool for forecasting, and computational challenges in this area of research. Through this review, we aim to contribute to a deeper understanding of precipitation formation and forecasting aided by ML algorithms.
PubDate: 2023-10-19T00:00:00Z
- Corrigendum: CERESMIP: a climate modeling protocol to investigate recent
trends in the Earth's Energy Imbalance
Authors: Gavin A. Schmidt, Timothy Andrews, Susanne E. Bauer, Paul J. Durack, Norman G. Loeb, V. Ramaswamy, Nathan P. Arnold, Michael G. Bosilovich, Jason Cole, Larry W. Horowitz, Gregory C. Johnson, John M. Lyman, Brian Medeiros, Takuro Michibata, Dirk Olonscheck, David Paynter, Shiv Priyam Raghuraman, Michael Schulz, Daisuke Takasuka, Vijay Tallapragada, Patrick C. Taylor, Tilo Ziehn
PubDate: 2023-10-17T00:00:00Z
- No risk, no fun…ctioning' Perceived climate risks, but not nature
connectedness or self-efficacy predict climate anxiety
Authors: Gerhard Reese, Maria Rueff, Marlis C. Wullenkord
Abstract: The consequences of climate change are becoming increasingly visible. Recent research suggests that people may respond to climate change and its predicted consequences with a specific anxiety. Yet, little is known about potential antecedents of climate anxiety. The current study aimed to understand the contribution of climate risk perception to climate anxiety, along with nature-connectedness, self-efficacy, and political orientation. With a sample of 204 German adults, we assessed these constructs together with environmental policy support that may result from climate anxiety. Stronger risk perception and a left political orientation predicted climate anxiety. Self-efficacy and nature connectedness, however, were unrelated to climate anxiety. In line with previous studies, climate anxiety correlated positively with environmental policy support but did not predict environmental policy support when controlling for climate risk perception. We discuss results with regard to further developing the concept of climate anxiety and its dynamics and suggest directions for future research.
PubDate: 2023-10-17T00:00:00Z
- Think global—act local: the challenge of producing actionable knowledge
on transboundary climate risks at the sub-national level of governance
Authors: Carlo Aall, Tara Botnen Holm, Adeline Cauchy, Florence Rudolf, Katy Harris, Marta K. Jansen, Julie Gobert, Frida Lager, Blandine Arvis, Muriel Bour
Abstract: A growing number of countries are putting transboundary climate risks on their national adaptation policy agenda. The designation of subnational governments as key actors in climate change adaptation policy appears to be appropriate when the risks associated with climate change are defined as “local.” In this study we have investigated whether local authorities can plausibly play an equally central role when it comes to transboundary climate risks. Three cases have been studied: Paris in France and the topic of migration and integration, Klepp in Norway and the topic of agriculture and livestock production, and the river harbors in the Upper Rhine region of France and the topic of freight transportation and river regulation. Even if the sub-national actors involved in the three cases showed strong interest in analyzing and addressing transboundary climate risks, it remains an open question whether such authorities can and should play an equally central role in addressing transboundary climate risks as they do in the case of local climate risks. On the other hand, assigning responsibility for managing transboundary climate risks exclusively to national authorities may increase the risk of conflicts between measures to reduce local climate risks (frequently developed and implemented by sub-national authorities) and transboundary climate risks. The authors of this paper therefore advocate a strong partnership between the different levels of governance, and between public and private-sector stakeholders, in adaptation to transboundary climate risk. It is therefore crucial that national governments explicitly account for transboundary climate risks in their national adaptation agendas and, as part of their process in determining “ownership” of such risks, decide on the role sub-national authorities should play. This choice will also affect the role of local authorities in managing local climate risks due to the interlinkages between them.
PubDate: 2023-10-09T00:00:00Z
- Using the Implementation Centric Evolving Climate Change Adaptation
Process to bridge the gap between policy and action
Authors: Cathie A. Wells, Elena Saggioro, Celia Petty, Rosalind Cornforth
Abstract: With climate impacts increasing in both frequency and intensity and unprecedented climate events having devastating results, the need for timely policy and action to support adaption is not in doubt. However, the gap between policy and action leaves many communities exposed to extreme events and vulnerable to loss of life and livelihoods. This is partly due to the difficulty policymakers face when confronted by climate projections with their inherent uncertainties. Competing sectoral interests and a lack of resources often compound such challenges. To address these issues, the Implementation Centric Evolving Climate Change Adaptation Process (ICECCAP) encases the climate risk assessment in an enabling framework to track resource, knowledge and regulatory needs. This process was applied as part of a UNEP project to support the National Adaptation Plan in Pakistan. A range of climate storylines, describing plausible climate futures and their potential environmental and socio-economic impacts, were developed and discussed with local stakeholders, including policy makers from across levels of governance. The process allowed us to translate complex physical science into narratives that could be communicated clearly to non-technical national stakeholders, forming a basis for subsequent negotiation and decision-making at a local level to address multiple risks and respond to adaptation needs at this finer resolution. This reflects our aim, as part of the My Climate Risk network, to amalgamate bottom-up climate risk assessment with climate projection data that remains meaningful at a local scale. We show how the integration of scientific research and local expert stakeholder views can promote buy-in to adaptation planning. Grounded in a systemic and comprehensive understanding of potential impacts of climate change, this process has implications across socio-economic, environmental and governance spheres.
PubDate: 2023-10-06T00:00:00Z
- Regional water cycle sensitivity to afforestation: synthetic numerical
experiments for tropical Africa
Authors: Joël Arnault, Anthony Musili Mwanthi, Tanja Portele, Lu Li, Thomas Rummler, Benjamin Fersch, Mohammed Abdullahi Hassan, Titike Kassa Bahaga, Zhenyu Zhang, Eric Mensah Mortey, Ifeany Chukwudi Achugbu, Hassane Moutahir, Souleymane Sy, Jianhui Wei, Patrick Laux, Stefan Sobolowski, Harald Kunstmann
Abstract: Afforestation as a climate change mitigation option has been the subject of intense debate and study over the last few decades, particularly in the tropics where agricultural activity is expanding. However, the impact of such landcover changes on the surface energy budget, temperature, and precipitation remains unclear as feedbacks between various components are difficult to resolve and interpret. Contributing to this scientific debate, regional climate models of varying complexity can be used to test how regional climate reacts to afforestation. In this study, the focus is on the gauged Nzoia basin (12,700 km2) located in a heavily farmed region of tropical Africa. A reanalysis product is dynamically downscaled with a coupled atmospheric-hydrological model (WRF-Hydro) to finely resolve the land-atmosphere system in the Nzoia region. To overcome the problem of Nzoia river flooding over its banks we enhance WRF-Hydro with an overbank flow routing option, which improves the representation of daily discharge based on the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency and Kling-Gupta efficiency (from −2.69 to 0.30, and −0.36 to 0.63, respectively). Changing grassland and cropland areas to savannas, woody savannas, and evergreen broadleaf forest in three synthetic numerical experiments allows the assessment of potential regional climate impacts of three afforestation strategies. In all three cases, the afforestation-induced decrease in soil evaporation is larger than the afforestation-induced increase in plant transpiration, thus increasing sensible heat flux and triggering a localized negative feedback process leading to more precipitation and more runoff. This effect is more pronounced with the woody savannas experiment, with 7% less evapotranspiration, but 13% more precipitation, 8% more surface runoff, and 12% more underground runoff predicted in the Nzoia basin. This study demonstrates a potentially large impact of afforestation on regional water resources, which should be investigated in more detail for policy making purposes.
PubDate: 2023-10-03T00:00:00Z
- Implications of the downstream handling of captured CO2
Authors: Fred Mason, Gerald Stokes, Susan Fancy, Volker Sick
Abstract: Carbon dioxide capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS) is a collection of approaches needed to supplement other efforts to achieve net zero carbon emissions. The specific combination of CO2 sources and sinks (a “usage pathway”) determines the environmental impact, economic viability, overall role in climate change mitigation and continued availability of carbon-based products. Optimal deployment requires a clear understanding of the nature of carbon sources and the durability and economic value of downstream processes and materials. Rigorous life cycle and techno-economic assessments (LCA and TEA) are critical. This paper presents a CO2 sources and sinks matrix as the high-level basis for assessing a usage pathway's climate relevance and economics.
PubDate: 2023-09-29T00:00:00Z
- Rethinking urban riparian ecosystems as a frontline strategy to counter
climate change: mapping 60 years of carbon sequestration evolution in
Padua, Italy
Authors: Francesca Peroni, Daniele Codato, Luca Buscemi, Marco Cibrario, Salvatore Eugenio Pappalardo, Massimo De Marchi
Abstract: Nature-based solutions (NBSs) are considered essential measures to face climate change in cities. Riparian ecosystems are often undervalued as NBSs even if they represent an “already plugged-in” ecosystem service provider. However, applied research on urban riparian ecosystems is scarce. To fill the gap, this study frames the role of these ecosystems as a frontline mitigation and adaptation strategy by (i) investigating how urban riparian ecosystems experienced a process of urbanization from World War II until today in Padua (Italy), (ii) estimating how effective was carbon sequestration, and (iii) assessing how an afforestation process might contribute to mitigation scenarios. Land use/land cover changes are first mapped with high-resolution aerial images and, by using InVEST models, carbon sequestration is estimated. Results highlight that impervious surfaces notably increased along these ecosystems; hence, carbon sequestration was negative (−928 Mg/C). The future scenario (2022–2050) indicates an increase of carbon stocks (+4,329.95 Mg/C), giving a contribution toward city carbon neutrality. Results suggest that, in the recent past, the urban management and policies did not provide clear and well-defined planning of these areas. On the contrary, at present, urban riparian ecosystems might represent already existing multi-functional NBSs to be restored and enhanced within cities for climate-resilient planning and for increasing the life quality of city dwellers. Finally, our methodology provides a replicable spatial database for supporting urban planning policies.
PubDate: 2023-09-28T00:00:00Z
|
Open Access journal
