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This paper explains the importance of environmental care for the growth and development of the global world and how One Belt One Road Initiative (OBOR) can help to connect Asia, Europe, and Africa for economic cooperation and long-term sustainability. Paper, based on bibliometric analysis and utilizing Web of Science Core Collection database for calculation, summarizes total OBOR publications in terms of quantity, citations, regions, disciplines, institutes and explains about the most productive countries. Results reveal that total OBOR papers indexed in Web of Science was found 2508 where there were 1335 articles and 854 proceedings papers marking 87.3% of total OBOR research. We find the most productive direction of environmental science and global climate change and work related to environmental policies. Results show that China has contributed 73.3% (1755 publications) to global OBOR publication and have received 69.3% of all citations to "One Belt One Road" publications. Highest average citation level was from Canada, Portugal, and Spain while China's average citations were quite low though very close to average world level. Internationally collaborated publications had more citations than the publications prepared by authors of one country. The paper concludes that environmental concerns should be kept in mind while focusing on the growth and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The STatistical Analogue Resampling Scheme (STARS) statistical approach was recently used to project changes of climate variables in Germany corresponding to a supposed degree of warming. We show by theoretical and empirical analysis that STARS simply transforms interannual gradients between warmer and cooler seasons into climate trends. According to STARS projections, summers in Germany will inevitably become dryer and winters wetter under global warming. Due to the dominance of negative interannual correlations between precipitation and temperature during the year, STARS has a tendency to generate a net annual decrease in precipitation under mean German conditions. Furthermore, according to STARS, the annual level of global radiation would increase in Germany. STARS can be still used, e.g., for generating scenarios in vulnerability and uncertainty studies. However, it is not suitable as a climate downscaling tool to access risks following from changing climate for a finer than general circulation model (GCM) spatial scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Melting layer usually exists in precipitation where ice particles gradually melt into liquid particles. Utilizing the detection from the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar onboard Global Precipitation Measurement Mission Core Observatory during 2018-2022, this paper investigates the quasi-global climatological features of Melting layer over 65°S ~65°N and analyzes the relationships with elevation in the golden case involving the section along 32.5°N across China. The distribution of Melting layer is latitude-dependent: Melting layer is higher in 30°S~30°N and decrease toward the mid-and high-latitude, which are generally lower in 30°S~65°S throughout the year. The height and thickness of Melting layer change more dramatically in mid-and high latitudes than in low latitudes for diurnal variations. The higher elevation terrain has the lower Melting layer top height than other terrains, yet the geometric thickness of Melting layer is also thinner. A golden case is selected to represent the analysis of Melting layer play role in rainfall. When the Melting layer grow thinner with steeply rising elevation due to the thermal change and orographic uplift, there is weak rain with a greater number of smaller raindrops in the golden case. However, Melting layer can get widen and raindrops can get sufficient growth as the elevation declines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present paper is to examine a selection of macro- and micro-linguistic features (at text and sentence/word level respectively) of the South-African Green Paper 'National Climate Change Response' from 2010. Our overarching assumption is that the Green Paper needs to handle competing interests, beliefs and voices in a narrative structure favouring specific courses of action. How does the government portray the complex natural and societal phenomenon of climate change, and how does it take into account the many and often competing national and international views and interests which come into play? Our hypothesis is that the Green Paper constructs a narrative and that it relates to a number of voices other than that of the authors, through linguistic markers of polyphony, such as negation, sentence connectives, adverbs and reported speech. Thus we propose a narrative and polyphonic analysis of the Green Paper, at the level of the text as a whole (macro-level) but also with attention to linguistic constructions of polyphony or 'multi-voicedness' (micro-level). We find that the narrative-polyphonic properties of the Green Paper contribute to a strategy for building consensus on climate change policy. The South African government assumes the role of main hero in its own climate change 'story', and there are subtle forms of interaction with different and typically non-identified voices, such as concessive constructions and presuppositions. These results support our overarching interpretation of the whole document as striving to impose a South African consensus on the issue of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Results of 3-year full-scale field climatic tests on application of five types of inhibiting papers for anticorrosion protection of ferrous and nonferrous metals during storage in a humid tropical climate have been carried out by the Joint Russian and Vietnamese Tropical Research and Technology Center and presented here. It has been shown that the inhibiting paper IPCAS-118 can be recommended for anticorrosion protection of equipment made of steel, copper, and aluminum during 3-year storage in sheds in humid tropical climate conditions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Article 7 of the Paris Agreement recognizes that adaptation is a 'global challenge faced by all with local, regional and international dimensions.' It further establishes the 'global goal on adaptation focusing on enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change, with a view to contributing to sustainable development.' However, the lack of international cooperation between the global north and global south challenge the formulation and implementation of climate change adaptation strategies. This paper brings in the concept of global public goods (GPGs) to the lexicon of climate adaptation and highlights that adverse impacts of climate change such as climate-induced global migration are global public bad. Hence, the measures taken to respond to such impacts, which consequently enhance the resilience of affected countries, make them more adaptive to those adverse impacts, and deliver common values of universal character, should be construed as the global public good. The paper argues that that the idea of GPGs with its universality offers a normative and practical foundation for understanding, addressing, and strengthening the international community's climate adaptation actions and cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the paper "On the Taboo on Researching in the Field of Global Climate Geoengineering," by A. G. Ryaboshapko, published in a previous issue of "Russian Meteorology & Hydrology" journal.

Coherent structures (CSs), which are the most often understood as time-stable vortices, play an important role in the Earth's climate system, since they make a significant contribution to the processes of momentum and heat and mass transfer of any fluid medium, including the atmosphere and the ocean. This is true for all scales of motion, but is particularly important for more chaotic mesoscale processes. A reliable methodology for identifying mesoscale vortices can potentially stimulate the development of a deterministic climatology of mesoscale processes. The main difficulty in developing this direction is the absence of a rigorously mathematical definition of a vortex, which makes it impossible to automatically search for CSs in spatial data. At the same time, the increase in the spatial resolution of numerical models makes this problem increasingly urgent. Some developments in this direction have been carried out in the field of small-scale turbulence: a number of criteria have been developed that allow for the identification of vortices with varying degrees of reliability. In this paper, the applicability of the three most popular criteria for CS identification in significantly larger-scale geophysical data is studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As scientists start to adopt machine learning (ML) as one research tool, the security of ML and the knowledge generated become a concern. In this paper, I explain how supervised ML can be improved with better data ontology, or the way we make categories and turn information into data. More specifically, we should design data ontology in such a way that is consistent with the knowledge that we have about the target phenomenon so that such ontology can help us make the inductive leap. I do so by thinking through a thought experiment, Goodman's New Riddle of Induction (Fact, fiction, and forecast, Harvard University Press, 1955). Goodman's riddle helps flesh out three problems of induction: (1) the problem of equal goodies, that there are often too many equally good inductive results given the same data; (2) the problem of diverging performance, that these equally good results can give opposite predictions in the future; and (3) the problem of mediocrity, that when averaged across all equally possible datasets and tasks, no inductive algorithm outperforms any other. I show that all these three problems are manifested as real obstacles in ML practice, namely, the Rashomon effect (Breiman in Stat Sci 16(3):199–231, 2001), the problem of underspecification (D'Amour et al. in J Mach Learn Res, 2020, https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2011.03395), and the No Free Lunch theorem (Wolpert in Neural Comput 8(7):1341–90, 1996, https://doi.org/10.1162/neco.1996.8.7.1341). Lastly, I argue that proper data ontology can help mitigate these problems and I demonstrate how using concrete examples from climate science. This research highlights the links between philosophers' discussions of induction and implications in ML practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis of future precipitation patterns over the Lake Victoria Basin, East Africa, using bias-corrected CMIP6 model projections. A mean increase of about 5% in mean annual (ANN) and seasonal [March–May (MAM), June–August (JJA), and October–December (OND)] precipitation climatology is expected over the domain by mid-century (2040–2069). The changes intensify towards the end of the century (2070–2099) with an increase in mean precipitation of about 16% (ANN), 10% (MAM), and 18% (OND) expected, relative to the 1985–2014 baseline period. Additionally, the mean daily precipitation intensity (SDII), the maximum 5-day precipitation values (RX5Day), and the heavy precipitation events—represented by the width of the right tail distribution of precipitation (99p–90p)—show an increase of 16%, 29%, and 47%, respectively, by the end of the century. The projected changes have a substantial implication for the region—which is already experiencing conflicts over water and water-related resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outdoor thermal comfort (OTC) has considerable impacts on the health and life of different groups of people. Older people are one of the most vulnerable groups to climate-related diseases. Heat-related deaths are likely to increase due to an increasing proportion of adults aged 65 and over in the total population. Reviewing literature shows that very few studies have investigated OTC for older people compared to indoor environments. This paper aims to present a comprehensive literature review of the recent literature that discusses differences in OTC sensations and preferences between older people and other age groups. Also, this research reviews effective parameters that should be considered during the planning of outdoor places. These parameters are mainly categorized into two groups of environment-and human-based parameters. Existing comfort models are not fully developed to consider the effects of both environment and human-based parameters for OTC assessment for older people. It is important that the ageing aspects of the OTC being taken into account to shed light on the complex factors of OTC studies. Therefore, holistic agendas and comprehensive masterplans can facilitate communication between policy-making entities, scientific institutions, and urban planners to present healthier urban development for the elderly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rainfall in the Moist Tropical Caribbean Region (MTCR) in Costa Rica occurs practically throughout the year, with the quarters June–August (JJA) and December–February (DJF) concentrating over 70% of annual rainfall. Contrarily, in March–April and September–October, it rains below 100 mm per month. This seasonal rainfall behavior makes the region ideal for producing bananas (Musa spp.) and pineapple (Ananas comosus) for export (10% and 8% of total exports in 2021, respectively). A national-scale study determined that agriculture in the MTCR is one of the most vulnerable sectors to climate changes. However, the climate in this region has been poorly studied so far. This research analyzed the spatial and temporal variability of annual, monthly, and seasonal (DJF, JJA, SO) rainfall in the MTCR and how they change in the study period based on quality-checked series of daily rainfall from 28 weather stations in two periods: 1985–2009 and 1997–2019. The results show that rainfall regimes in the region are variable in space and throughout the year, with peaks occurring close to the mountain range and minimum values close to the coast. Trends were statistically significant in the period 1985–2009 with a predominance of significant positive trends in DJF and significant negative trends in SO. No significant trends (positive or negative) were observed in the period 1997–2019. JJA rainfall has uneven regional distribution and presents a positive and significant trend in the mountain region. This paper contributes to filling the knowledge gap in rainfall seasonality, variability, and trends in a region where banana and pineapple commercial plantations are fundamental to the country's economy thus providing information to decision-making in the agri-food sector to reduce the negative impacts of changing rainfall regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The level of solar activity and its influence on ionospheric variability has received a focal interest among the ionospheric community. This paper examines the impact of long-term solar activity on the ionosphere over an African equatorial global navigation satellite system (GNSS) station based on a large database of solar and ionospheric datasets. The ionospheric total electron content (TEC) periodic variations, climatology and its relation to solar activity are investigated through wavelet analyses. It is observed that the magnitude and intensity of TEC fluctuations measured by GNSS receivers vary substantially with solar radiation intensity. To probe the processes accountable for the TEC periodicities in the region, the wavelet analysis is undertaken by considering solar indices (solar radio flux and sunspot number) and observed TEC values. The results show a clear strong periodicity of 27 days in the ionospheric TEC, sunspots and F10.7 solar flux power spectra, associated with the sun's 27 days rotation period. The ultraviolet ray intensity and solar ionization were lower during the solar maximum period (2013 to 2014) of solar cycle 24 compared to the solar maximum period (2001 to 2002) of solar cycle 23, which is the key factor for driving the decreasing trend in TEC between 1999 and 2017. The ionospheric and solar climatology analysis indicates that ionospheric TEC behaviour could be a good indicator of long-term solar activity trend. A large mass of Africa lies within the equatorial and low latitudes making the ionosphere over the region being highly susceptible to low latitude electrodynamics. Results from this study would support the concerted efforts towards developing a reliable regional ionospheric forecasting model for technological applications relying on spaced-based navigation and satellite services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil and other Earth scientists who conduct research on C management found themselves, in the past decade within a swirl of efforts concerning climate mitigation, economic and business investments in carbon markets, and political aspirations. All these external pressures are issues with which soil science is largely unfamiliar. As a result, science has responded without deeply considering the landscape in which it finds itself, and some of the unanticipated challenges these issues present. Here, we suggest soil C scientists now consider and respond to these issues. The first order challenge is to transition from the concept of technical carbon sequestration potentials, made in the absence of social and policy contexts, to societally achievable sequestration estimates based on highly transdisciplinary teams of natural and social sciences and scientists. To achieve this will requires re-thinking national science funding programs, in which climate-relevant social science is under-funded. In addition, the science of soil C itself is in need of a priority shift. Presently, publications in soil C sequestration out-strip papers on soil feedbacks to climate change, and on how to adapt soil to climate change: two areas of research which may well be more societal important in the next few decades than sequestering C. Most seriously, given the urgent nature of our collective societal climate problem, our profession must not find itself a decade from now continuing the now 20-year-old narrative that soil C can potentially mitigate climate change and compensate for greenhouse gas emissions. We must consider the possibility that other options and expenditures of resources are more viable, and we must reframe our science's objectives to expand into the many other urgent needs that confront humanity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The applicability of the four-parameter (4P) kappa distribution to fit the annual maximum (AM) and the peak over threshold (POT) extreme precipitation series in the Amman Zarqa Basin (AZB), Jordan, is assessed. This paper presents a practical, easy-to-implement, yet accurate method in light of the method of L-moments for parameter estimation of 4P kappa. Based on the results from the data analysis of daily precipitation records during a period that exceeded 50 years at 23 weather stations, the 4P kappa distribution can fit the precipitation extremes for both the AM and POT series for each weather station well. The 4P kappa distribution can be employed in place of its three-parameter distributions typically selected for simulating precipitation extremes (i.e., generalized extreme value (GEV), generalized logistic (GLO) distribution for AM series, and generalized Pareto (GP) distribution for POT series). The bootstrap resampling for performance evaluation beyond the dataset length shows that the 4P kappa distribution outperforms its three special cases (GLO, GEV, and GP distributions) in the context of modeling the AM and POT series for all sampling sizes. Additionally, in representing the distribution's upper right tail quantile estimations, the 4P kappa distribution performed better and, in some circumstances, was comparable to its three special cases (GLO, GEV, and GP distributions). The outcomes of this study and the method employed should lay the groundwork for wider implementation of the 4P kappa distribution in hydrological and climate science applications, as well as in other disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper includes a comprehensive assessment of 40 models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) and 33 models from the CMIP phase 6 (CMIP6) to determine the climatological and seasonal variation of ocean salinity from the surface to 2000 m. The general pattern of the ocean salinity climatology can be simulated by both the CMIP5 and CMIP6 models from the surface to 2000-m depth. However, this study shows an increased fresh bias in the surface and subsurface salinity in the CMIP6 multimodel mean, with a global average of −0.44 g kg−1 for the sea surface salinity (SSS) and −0.26 g kg−1 for the 0–1000-m averaged salinity (S1000) compared with the CMIP5 multimodel mean (−0.25 g kg−1 for the SSS and −0.07 g kg−1 for the S1000). In terms of the seasonal variation, both CMIP6 and CMIP5 models show positive (negative) anomalies in the first (second) half of the year in the global average SSS and S1000. The model-simulated variation in SSS is consistent with the observations, but not for S1000, suggesting a substantial uncertainty in simulating and understanding the seasonal variation in subsurface salinity. The CMIP5 and CMIP6 models overestimate the magnitude of the seasonal variation of the SSS in the tropics in the region 20°S–20°N but underestimate the magnitude of the seasonal change in S1000 in the Atlantic and Indian oceans. These assessments show new features of the model errors in simulating ocean salinity and support further studies of the global hydrological cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper aims to compute climatological zones apt for the cultivation of pitaya based on trends in the occurrence of climate change events from the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panels on Climate Change) in Brazil. We used temperature and precipitation data from 4942 cities collected on the NASA/POWER platform (National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resources) from 1990 to 2020 to elaborate on the current scenario. The climate change scenarios were obtained using the CHELSA platform (Climatologies at high resolution for the earth's land surface areas) and corresponded to the periods 2041–2060 and 2061–2080 associated with four IPCC climate change scenarios. The spatialization of the data occurred according to the bioclimatic classes designed to meet the thermal and water needs of the crop. In the current scenario, class B5 has a predominance of 37.07% of the country, characterizing the Midwest, Southeast, and Northeast regions, as well as the state of Paraná, as suitable for the cultivation of pitaya. Projections of temperature increase and reduction of accumulated rainfall were found throughout Brazil, but with greater impact in the North and Northeast regions, which had the greatest reduction of areas suitable for the cultivation of pitaya with a greater predominance of classes B8 and B9. In the South and Southeast regions, class B5 makes up a large part of the areas that remained suitable for the production of this fruit until 2080. The results suggest that climate change does not benefit the cultivation of pitaya in some regions of Brazil because the dimensions of the areas suitable for economic production are restricted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prediction of future weather patterns has recently become a very important research area due to the ongoing climate change process which causes extreme weather events and rapidly changing weather patterns. In this paper we compare the prediction accuracy of eight data-driven methods, which had been developed for time series prediction, on future weather patterns in central Croatia. The evaluated methods are Seasonal naïve, AutoRegressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA), Error-Trend-Seasonality (ETS), Exponential smoothing state space model with Box-Cox transformation (TBATS), Dynamic Harmonic Regression (DHR), Neural Network AutoRegression (NNAR), Support Vector Regression (SVR) and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM). In our experimental evaluation, we use a historical data from 1961 to 2017 that contains temperature, air pressure and precipitation values for eight weather stations in central Croatia, and indices from two atmospheric oscillations, namely North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Arctic Oscillation (AO). The results of our evaluation show that SVR is the best method, and that DHR and NNAR methods are also better than the other evaluated methods, as far as the accuracy of prediction is concerned. Among DHR and NNAR methods, DHR method is better for the prediction of temperature and air pressure, while NNAR method is better for the prediction of precipitation. Additionally, our evaluation shows that SVR, DHR and NNAR methods achieve a better prediction accuracy when oscillation indices are included as additional predictors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) that reach the complex terrain of High Mountain Asia (HMA) cause significant hydrological impacts for millions of people. While ARs are often associated with precipitation extremes and can cause floods and debris flows affecting populated communities, little is known about ARs that reach as far inland as HMA. This paper characterizes AR types and investigates dynamical mechanisms associated with the development of ARs that typically affect HMA. Combined empirical orthogonal function (cEOF) analysis using integrated water vapor transport (IVT) is applied to days where an AR reaches HMA. K-means cluster analysis applied to the first two principal components uncovered three subtypes of AR events with distinct synoptic characteristics during winter and spring months. The first subtype increases precipitation and IVT in Western HMA and is associated with a zonally oriented wave train propagating within the westerly jet waveguide. The second subtype is associated with enhanced southwesterly IVT, anomalous upper-level cyclonic circulation centered on 45 ∘ E, and precipitation in Northwestern HMA. The third subtype shows anomalous precipitation in Eastern HMA and southwesterly IVT across the Bay of Bengal. Interannual variations in the frequency of HMA ARs and relationships with various teleconnection patterns show that western HMA AR subtypes are sensitive to well-known remote large-scale climate factors, such as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, Arctic Oscillation, and the Siberian High. These results provide synoptic characterization of the three types of ARs that reach HMA and reveal the previously unexplored significance of their contribution to winter and spring precipitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the climatological influences on major past storm events in the North-east Atlantic. Analyses are based on a millenary record of sedimentological and historical impacts affecting coastal societies. The effects of 20 past storms have been found from sedimentary deposits from the last 1,000 years. Historical archives confirmed these events. This paper highlights five major storms that have markedly impacted coastal populations. They date back to 1351–1352, 1469, 1645, 1711 and 1751 AD. The 1351–1352 AD event is defined as a millennium storm that was "likely apocalyptical", provoking serious damage and long lasting floods on much of the European coast. Major storm impacts have mostly been recorded during positive North Atlantic Oscillation phases. Four decreasing temperature phases are concomitant with 1300–1355, 1420–1470, 1560–1590 and 1690–1715 AD periods, during which much of the northern Atlantic coast of France underwent severe storm damages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ionospheric anomalies are often responsible for compromising the accuracy and performance of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) is the autonomous Space Based Augmentation System of India which serves to provide timely error detection and correction for the corrupted GNSS signals in aircrafts. This paper discusses a Maximum Minimum Eigen (MME) detector to identify the ionosphere induced errors in the GNSS signals. Data has been collected from 24 different GAGAN receivers spread over the length and breadth of India from January to December, 2015. The climatology of ionospheric anomaly over India, has been established using the MME detector. This paper discusses the spatio-temporal dependence of ionospheric anomalies over India. The observations indicate an increased ionospheric activity in the course of equinoxes and a comparitively quiet ionosphere in the course of solstices. A higher number of ionospheric disturbance incidents have been noticed closer to the anomaly crest. The results from the MME detector have been verified against the Rate of Total Electron Content (TEC) Index (ROTI) values and S4 observations for the year 2015 at the 24 GAGAN TEC stations. The disturbance climatology obtained from MME detector, ROTI and S4 exhibit a high correlation. However, the outcome of the MME detector clearly shows that it is capable of picking up even small irregularities in the ionospheric TEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is addressed to recent theoretical discussions of the Anthropocene, in particular Bernard Stiegler's Neganthropocene (Open Universities Press, 2018), which argues: "As we drift past tipping points that put future biota at risk, while a posttruth regime institutes the denial of 'climate change' (as fake news), and as Silicon Valley assistants snatch decision and memory, and as gene-editing and a financially engineered bifurcation advances over the rising hum of extinction events and the innumerable toxins and conceptual opiates that Anthropocene Talk fascinated itself with—in short, as 'the Anthropocene' discloses itself as a dead-end trap...". The objective of this paper is, therefore, twofold: (1) to discuss how the Anthropocene is appropriated to certain ideological discourses (paradoxically) to maintain the hegemony of precisely those systems of production that have most accelerated climate change etc. and (2) to consider how the factography of the Anthropocene is exploited in this process to mask the ideological character of industry-aligned "technocratic" environmental management. The paper is not concerned with specific case studies in terms of government and industry policy, or climate science, but rather with the ways in which the discourse of the Anthropocene has been inflected within the humanities and the broader cultural field—that is to say, ideologically, as a system or logic of meaning. How the Anthropocene "means" is, in this respect, a question of some importance. This paper does not attempt to address all the facets of this question, but focuses upon a central "apocalyptic" strain in the discourse of the Anthropocene drawn particularly from Francis Fukuyama's millennial posthumanism and centred in the question of "sustainability" as catastrophe management—with the risk that real environmental degradation will become an alibi for a revived neoliberalism. In other words, the critical Earth system transformations that characterise the Anthropocene are themselves commodities, and that the project of their amelioration is in process of defining a future (opportunistic) "crisis" rhetoric with a global political franchise. The ideological import of the Anthropocene stems precisely from the fact that it is planetary and, while catalysed by human agency, independent in its specific behaviour from it. The Anthropocene objectively presents as the contemporary counterpart of the Cold War doctrine of mutually assured destruction and the most compelling argument for a new kind of technological "arms race". However, it also presents as the condition of an emerging ideological discourse which will determine how this race is run. From the discourse on "energy security" to the widespread "security crackdown" on environmental activists across the socalled developed and developing world, the Anthropocene has come to represent the co-option of a scientific factography for the thinly disguised resurgence of "ideological science" of the Fukuyamaesque variety (posthistory, posthuman). For Fukuyama, the true meaning of "posthuman" is thus the accomplishment of humanity's historical mission. As the "End of History" designates an end of ideological struggle, so too, the dénouement of the Anthropocene and the "ends of man" represents the accomplished purpose of species warfare: dominion, not simply over the world, but over all possible worlds. According to this narrative, science—like technology—must be uniquely at the service of the maintenance of the global order, organised around a universal appeal to "crisis management". It is precisely for this reason that what calls itself posthuman masks the return of an ever-more-apocalyptic Humanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Religious spaces are an integral part of Indian cities. Unique in their spatiality, they function as socio-cultural hubs drawing users from varied economic and social hierarchies. This study deals with physical and perceptional assessments of micrometeorological conditions in two religious squares namely Hanuman Mandir Square (HMS) and Gurudwara Bangla Sahib Square (GBS) located in New Delhi (28.6° N; 77.2° E), India. The study involved real-time physical measurement of environmental variables such as dry-bulb temperature (Ta, °C), globe temperature (Tg, °C), relative humidity (RH), and air velocity (Va). Variables such as physiological effective temperature (PET), universal thermal comfort index (UTCI), and mean radiant temperature (Tmrt, °C) were computed from measured variables. Concurrent thermal comfort surveys were carried out with 353 respondents in both the squares. The paper describes the thermal characteristics of the studied squares and presents the associated subjective thermal response and preferences of the users. PET was found to correlate well with the subjective responses. The neutral value of PET is found to be 24.7 °C. The neutral PET value of respondents visiting for non-worship purposes was found to be 2.7 °C lesser than those visiting for worship purposes. People visiting the squares for non-worship purpose however were found to be more tolerant of higher PET conditions as compared to others. Factors such as intent of visit, solar exposure, thermal history, and landscape elements were found to have a statistically significant influence on the thermal perception. The paper further summarizes the adaptive opportunities preferred by the users in order to improve thermal comfort in the studied squares. A weighted ranking of adaptive preferences reported by the respondents has also been presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The annual maximum flood records of the Danjiangkou reservoir displayed significant decreasing trends. The upper stream of the reservoir was characterized by minor changes in urbanization in recent decades, while several large reservoirs were built since 1975. To better explain the changes in floods, this paper used the nonstationary generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution by considering the impacts of climate change and human activity. The GEV parameters were expressed as functions of time, climate indices, and climate-reservoir index (CRI). By using CRI as the covariate, the performance of the nonstationary GEV distribution was much better than others. This paper also analyzed the risk of floods using design life level and annual average reliability methods. The reliability obtained from these methods can describe the effects of external indices on floods. Finally, the uncertainty analysis indicated that a nonstationary model might not be practical, and the large confidence intervals of the design flood implied that the results were meaningless. It is essential to build a deterministic relationship between parameters and covariates, and we should be prudent when using general circulation models outputs in extreme statistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a global trend away from delivering 'climate information' towards producing 'climate services' for decision-makers. The rationale for this shift is said to be the demand for timely and actionable climate knowledge, whilst the means of its delivery involves a shift from public good to more privatised forms of climate science. This paper identifies important implications of this shift to climate services by examining the role of consultants, drawing on an in-depth study of adaptation consultants in Australia. The role of consultants is instructive, not just because these private sector experts are engaged in climate services, but also because publicly funded climate science agencies are increasingly encouraged to behave as consulting firms do. Four imperatives of knowledge businesses—to be client-focussed, solutions-oriented, resource-efficient and self-replicating—are described. The paper argues that an emphasis on climate services shifts the incentives for climate science away from the public interest towards the ongoing pursuit of profit. There is a subsequent diversion of effort away from publicly accessible and transparent climate information to private knowledge for discrete clients. Climate services also emphasise knowledge for climate solutions as opposed to the politically charged identification of climate risks. The paper concludes with a warning that the trend towards climate services undermines the knowledge required for societies to adequately respond to the scale, speed and severity of climate change. At the heart of this issue is a climate services paradox: how to achieve customisation without exclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With recent growth in funding and research on "resilience building", interest in climate services has risen dramatically. Included in this trend is an increased emphasis on the use of climate and weather information for a range of purposes across multiple scales. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other non-state actors across Africa have responded accordingly, and are increasingly acting as brokers, and sometimes producers, of climate services as part of their activities. Drawing on research from Burkina Faso and Ethiopia as part of the Building Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Extremes and Disasters (BRACED) programme, this paper critically examines the evolving climate services landscape and raises questions about what the future holds for climate services in sub-Saharan Africa. We ask two questions: How have national climate services in these countries evolved since the early 2000s when they first came to prominence? And how have NGO contributions to these services evolved over time? Our findings highlight a considerable evolution in the aims and capacities of climate service systems over this period. NGOs have contributed to this progress on multiple fronts, but we note that important opportunities for innovation remain. We also raise concerns about how the current financing and governance models may influence priority setting and the sustainability of "projectised" services. Accordingly, we call for a better understanding how power and politics shape the development and deployment of climate services. This paper provides insight on the evolving landscape of climate services, actors involved in its provision and implications for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ångström–Prescott equation defines generically the relationship between solar energy available at ground level and sunshine duration. From the very beginning in the history of the solar energy converters, the equation was extensively used to estimate the amount of collectable solar energy. In the present paper, we propose a different way of looking to the Ångström–Prescott equation, namely, to use it for the estimation of cloud and clear sky atmospheric transmittances. The key tools are the mathematical expressions which give the clear sky and cloud transmittances in terms of the Ångström–Prescott empirical coefficients. The theory is verified by comparing the mean all-sky atmospheric transmittance (innovatively inferred from the cloud and clear sky atmospheric transmittances) with the measured clearness index. Reasonably good concordance between the two quantities has been found. It was shown that the best performance is obtained with the linear Ångström–Prescott equation. Higher-order polynomial equations tend to overfit the measurements. Examples are also shown about how to use the linear Ångström–Prescott equation to obtain information about the time series stationarity and the seasonal sensitivity of the cloud and clear-sky transmittances. The present point of view gives the perspective to estimate past cloud and clear-sky climatology in places where the Ångström–Prescott equation has been fitted to the sunshine data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) are important warm-season precipitation systems in eastern China. However, our knowledge of their climatology and capability in their simulation is still insufficient. This paper examines their characteristics over the 2008–2017 warm seasons using convection-permitting climate simulations (CPCSs) with a 3-km grid spacing that explicitly resolves MCSs, as well as a high-resolution gauge-satellite merged precipitation product. An object-based tracking algorithm is applied to identify MCSs. Results indicate that the MCS genesis and occurrence are closely related to the progression of the East Asian monsoon and are modulated by the underlying topography. On average, about 243 MCSs are observed each season and contribute 19% and 47% to total and extreme warm-season precipitation. The climatological attributes and variabilities are reasonably reproduced in the CPCS. The major model deficiencies are excessive small MCS occurrence and overmuch MCS rainfall, consequently overestimating the precipitation contributions, whereas observational uncertainties may play a role too. Both the observed and simulated MCS precipitation feature a nocturnal or morning maximum and an eastward delayed diurnal peak east of the Tibetan Plateau, in contrast to the dominant afternoon peak of non-MCS precipitation. The favorable comparison with observations demonstrates the capability of CPCSs in simulating MCSs in the Asian monsoon climate, and its usefulness in projecting the future changes of MCSs under global warming. The finding that non-MCS precipitation is responsible for the high biased afternoon precipitation provides helpful guidance for further model improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As with many Indigenous Peoples, the Siberian Evenki nomadic reindeer herders and hunters have observed increasing consequences of climate change on the cryosphere and biodiversity. Since 2017, they have observed previously unthinkable changes in topography. Based exclusively on an Evenki Indigenous Ecological Knowledge system-social anthropology coproduction and community-based continuous observation from 2013, this paper analyses what a Subarctic People observes, knows, does not know, hypothesizes, and models (collectively or individually) about climate change impacts on Indigenous landscape types typical for local river systems. These landscapes are crucial tools for traditional activities. To the nomads, the landscape changes emerge from general anomalies: competition from new plant species; atmosphere–ground–vegetation interactions; icing blisters decrease; rising receding river water interactions; the formation of new soil, ice, and snow types; increasing ground, air, and water temperatures; and the (non)circulation of harsh air throughout the snowpack. We demonstrate the science-like structure and value of Indigenous typologies and hypotheses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Andaman Sea has been a classic study region for internal solitary waves (ISWs) for several decades, and extraordinarily large ISWs are characteristic of the Andaman Sea in the Indian Ocean. This paper presents results on the estimation of the propagation velocity of ISWs in the Andaman Sea that were tracked using 195 image pairs acquired by MODIS National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Terra/Aqua satellites between January 2014 and December 2018. A total of 562 ISWs were identified during the period, and the results of the propagation velocity distribution of ISWs in the Andaman Sea are presented. The estimated propagation velocity of ISWs agrees well with the theoretical results derived from the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation using monthly climatology stratification data and local bathymetry. The ISW propagation velocity decreases as they propagate from deep to shallow water; the maximum propagation velocity of 3.27 m/s was estimated on the western side of the Nicobar Islands and minimum speed of 0.54 m/s occurred in the shallow water region of the southeastern Andaman Sea. The results show that the ISW propagation characteristics differ in the northern, central, and southern regions of the Andaman Sea. In the northern Andaman Sea, the velocity of ISWs propagating westward was greater than that of ISWs propagating eastward at the same water depth. In the central Andaman Sea, the propagation velocity of the ISWs differed over a small area at a depth of 2 500 m, and the velocity of ISWs in the deep mixing layer in winter was higher than that in the shallow mixing layer in spring. Monthly variations in ISW propagation velocity were analyzed in the southern Andaman Sea, and the velocity of ISWs differed greatly in shallow water and was not significantly different in deep water. Water depth and monthly stratification play vital roles in controlling the phase speed of ISWs in the Andaman Sea. This study will provide a basis for the propagation and prediction of ISWs in the Andaman Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing F-test for two counts data from the Poisson distribution under classical statistics can be applied only when the counts in the data are exact or not intervals. The existing test cannot be applied when the count data is indeterminate, in the interval, and uncertain. In this paper, the F-test for two counts data from the Poisson distribution under classical statistics is designed. The test for two counts recording at the same time or different times is presented. The daily and the monthly number of records broken data in the U.S from the weather department is selected for the application of the proposed test. The application and comparison studies show the efficiency of the proposed test. The proposed test was found to be informative, flexible, and appropriate to be applied in an uncertain environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes three algorithms for retrieving precipitation over oceans from brightness temperatures (TBs) of the Micro-Wave Humidity Sounder-2 (MHWS-2) onboard Fengyun-3C (FY-3C). For algorithm development, scattering-induced TB depressions (ΔTBs) of MWHS-2 at channels between 89 and 190 GHz were collocated to rain rates derived from measurements of the Global Precipitation Measurement's Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) for the year 2017. ΔTBs were calculated by subtracting simulated cloud-free TBs from bias-corrected observed TBs for each channel. These ΔTBs were then related to rain rates from DPR using (1) multilinear regression (MLR); the other two algorithms, (2) range searches (RS) and (3) nearest neighbor searches (NNS), are based on k-dimensional trees. While all three algorithms produce instantaneous rain rates, the RS algorithm also provides the probability of precipitation and can be understood in a Bayesian framework. Different combinations of MWHS-2 channels were evaluated using MLR and results suggest that adding 118 GHz improves retrieval performance. The optimal combination of channels excludes high-peaking channels but includes 118 GHz channels peaking in the mid and high troposphere. MWHS-2 observations from another year were used for validation purposes. The annual mean 2.5° × 2.5° gridded rain rates from the three algorithms are consistent with those from the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) and DPR. Their correlation coefficients with GPCP are 0.96 and their biases are less than 5%. The correlation coefficients with DPR are slightly lower and the maximum bias is ∼8%, partly due to the lower sampling density of DPR compared to that of MWHS-2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gridded data products, for example interpolated daily measurements of precipitation from weather stations, are commonly used as a convenient substitute for direct observations because these products provide a spatially and temporally continuous and complete source of data. However, when the goal is to characterize climatological features of extreme precipitation over a spatial domain (e.g., a map of return values) at the native spatial scales of these phenomena, then gridded products may lead to incorrect conclusions because daily precipitation is a fractal field and hence any smoothing technique will dampen local extremes. To address this issue, we create a new "probabilistic" gridded product specifically designed to characterize the climatological properties of extreme precipitation by applying spatial statistical analysis to daily measurements of precipitation from the Global Historical Climatology Network over the contiguous United States. The essence of our method is to first estimate the climatology of extreme precipitation based on station data and then use a data-driven statistical approach to interpolate these estimates to a fine grid. We argue that our method yields an improved characterization of the climatology within a grid cell because the probabilistic behavior of extreme precipitation is much better behaved (i.e., smoother) than daily weather. Furthermore, the spatial smoothing innate to our approach significantly increases the signal-to-noise ratio in the estimated extreme statistics relative to an analysis without smoothing. Finally, by deriving a data-driven approach for translating extreme statistics to a spatially complete grid, the methodology outlined in this paper resolves the issue of how to properly compare station data with output from earth system models. We conclude the paper by comparing our probabilistic gridded product with a standard extreme value analysis of the Livneh gridded daily precipitation product. Our new data product is freely available on the Harvard Dataverse (https://bit.ly/2CXdnuj). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes five sets of regions intended for use in summarizing extreme weather over Earth's land areas from a climate perspective. The sets differ in terms of their target size: ∼10 Mm2, ∼5 Mm2, ∼2 Mm2, ∼0.5 Mm2, and ∼0.1 Mm2 (where 1 Mm2= 1 million km2). The regions are based on political/economic divisions, and hence are intended to be primarily aligned with geographical domains of decision-making and disaster response rather than other factors such as climatological homogeneity. This paper describes the method for defining these sets of regions; provides the final definitions of the regions; and performs some comparisons across the five sets and other available regional definitions with global land coverage, according to climatological and non-climatological properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamical downscaling (DD) consists in using archives of Coupled Global Climate Models (CGCM) simulations as the atmospheric and sea-surface boundary conditions (BC) to drive nested, Regional Climate Model (RCM) simulations. Biases in the CGCM-generated driving BC, however, can have detrimental impacts on RCM performance. It is well documented for the historical period that CGCM-simulated sea-surface temperatures (SST) suffer substantial biases, especially important near coastal regions. Assuming that these SST biases are time-invariant, they could in principle be subtracted from century-long CGCM projections before being used to drive RCMs. This paper investigates the performance of a 3-step DD approach as follows. The CGCM-simulated sea-surface temperatures (SST) are first empirically corrected by subtracting their systematic biases; the corrected SST are then used as ocean surface BC for an atmosphere-only GCM (AGCM) simulation; finally this AGCM simulation provides the atmospheric lateral BC to drive an RCM simulation. This is what we refer to as the 3-step approach CGCM–AGCM–RCM of DD, which can be compared to the traditional 2-step approach CGCM–RCM consisting of driving an RCM simulation directly by CGCM-generated BC. In this paper we compare the results obtained with the two approaches, for present and future climates under RCP8.5, using the fifth-generation Canadian Regional Climate Model (CRCM5) with a grid mesh of 0.22° over the North American CORDEX domain, driven by two CMIP5 models: the Canadian Earth System Model of the Canadian Centre for Climate modelling and analysis (CanESM2) and the Earth System Model of the Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie (MPI-ESM-MR). The results show that, in current climate, the seasonal-mean 2-m temperature fields simulated with the 3-step DD have generally smaller biases with respect to the observations than those simulated with the 2-step DD; in fact the performance of the 3-step DD simulations often approaches that of the reanalyses-driven simulation. For the seasonal-mean precipitation field, however, the differences between the two DD methods are not conclusive. Differences between the projected climate changes with the two DD methods vary substantially depending upon the variable being considered. Differences are particularly important for temperature: over the bulk of the North American continent, the 3-step DD projects more warming in winter and less in summer. This result highlights the nonlinearities of the climate system, and constitutes an additional measure of uncertainty with DD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate adaptation is a process for minimizing the risks of damage or loss to coastal archaeological sites. Yet, adaptation requires identifying and prioritizing among the diverse aspects of a site's significance, as not all sites can be simultaneously adapted due to financial and human capital constraints. Developing a measurement framework that can ascertain the relative significance between sites necessitates the collaboration of multiple perspectives, including experts who set policy and on-the-ground managers who must translate policy into practice while accounting for the management preferences of associated communities. This paper explores if a values-based process enables co-production of knowledge related to the significance of archeological sites. Specifically, this paper examines the influences of a workshop—conducted with diverse archaeological experts working for the U.S. National Park Service—on knowledge co-production and documents the extent of changes in experts' opinions using a pre–post survey design. Findings suggest that the values-based approach applied during the workshop can have a positive impact on knowledge co-production among experts. Changes were found in experts' perceptions of the importance of various considerations influencing archaeological site prioritization, as well as of the extent to which uncertainties challenge archaeological preservation. This paper presents novel findings about the importance of knowledge co-production in relation to coastal archaeological site preservation and climate adaptation in the U.S. Prioritization considerations and challenges of various uncertainties assessed in this study can provide valuable insights for progress in climate change policy for cultural heritage both in the U.S and globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this final paper, the guest editors identify and discuss ten guidelines emerging from the papers in this Special Issue on Decision-Support Tools for Climate Change Adaptation. The guidelines are arranged under three headings: foundational, design and construction, and supporting sustainability in the long term. Under foundational, we address the need for co-operation with end users of decision-support resources, the contribution these resources can make to the formation of thriving communities of practice, and the match between the different types of decision support and user needs. Under design and construction, we point to the risk that policy settings will change over the multiple years required to build and publish complex decision-support resources, reducing the relevance of the final product. We discuss the need for innovative approaches to ensure visibility, credibility and hence uptake. Developers should be mindful of the requirements, resources and capabilities of potential users at all points in the design and build. We also suggest that decision-support resources may be transferable between sectors and locations, but the motivation should be around achieving excellence, and not just cost savings. Under supporting sustainability in the long term, we stress the need for evaluation and comparative studies of performance, leading to carefully documented updating and improvement of decision-support resources. Finally, in the conclusions, we look to the future. Can decision-support resources evolve successfully to meet the information and guidance requirements of the increasingly sophisticated adaptation practitioner community? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formal structures for evaluating climate change risk are important components of adaptation decision-making. In this paper, we present an accessible, cost-effective and user-tested climate change risk assessment framework which allows organisations to systematically apply a risk management process aligned with international standards to identify and manage their climate change risks. It is delivered through 'CoastAdapt', a resource supporting climate change adaptation in Australia. This three-tier framework offers four benefits to the adaptation process. First, it allows organisations to identify climate change risks and integrate them with their mainstream risk management process. Second, it makes optimal use of an organisation's limited adaptation resources by taking a tiered approach, so allowing an organisation to start from a low knowledge base using minimal resources and, only if required, then move to more complex and resource-intensive risk assessment processes. Third, it introduces a time-dependent vulnerability rating which recognises the particular characteristics of climate change risks—that they are long term and associated with a considerable degree of uncertainty. Finally, it takes into account business inter-dependencies that can exacerbate impacts but be overlooked in a sector-based impacts evaluation. In this paper, we highlight the appropriate context in which to use each risk assessment tier, explore key technical differences among the three tiers, describe performance testing and present one case study of application. We discuss the benefits of this tiered risk assessment approach in the context of broader adaptation planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential for transferring and translating existing adaptation to climate change decision-support tools for use in different settings provides both opportunities and challenges to those wanting to support such decisions in or for the targeted community/organisation. The opportunities are related to being able to build on an existing credible and tested tool and its supportive resources and foregoing the costs associated with developing such themselves. The challenges relate to taking advantages of the strengths of an existing tool whilst adapting it and its supportive resources such that they are fit for purpose and accepted within the targeted community/organisation. This paper identifies and explores these opportunities and challenges through those revealed as a result of transferring and translating the UKCIP Adaptation Wizard for use within other parts of the world and in different communities and organisations. Whilst drawing on a number of different examples of where the Wizard has been translated, this paper particularly focuses on the transfer and translation for use in Portugal and in Brazil. General lessons learnt related to transferring adaptation decision-support tools are identified and used to develop a practical framework. The intention is to provide insights that have broader implications for those considering transferring similar adaptation decision-support tools, but also for tool developers who want to see their tools being used more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the simulation performance of the 37 coupled models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) with respect to the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) and the Indo-Pacific warm pool and North Pacific Ocean dipole (IPOD) and also the interrelationships between them. The results show that the majority of the models are unable to accurately simulate the interannual variability and long-term trends of the EASM, and their simulations of the temporal and spatial variations of the IPOD are also limited. Further analysis showed that the correlation coefficients between the simulated and observed EASM index (EASMI) is proportional to those between the simulated and observed IPOD index (IPODI); that is, if the models have skills to simulate one of them then they will likely generate good simulations of another. Based on the above relationship, this paper proposes a conditional multi-model ensemble method (CMME) that eliminates those models without capability to simulate the IPOD and EASM when calculating the multi-model ensemble (MME). The analysis shows that, compared with the MME, this CMME method can significantly improve the simulations of the spatial and temporal variations of both the IPOD and EASM as well as their interrelationship, suggesting the potential for the CMME approach to be used in place of the MME method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces three quantitative indicators to conduct research for characterizing Northeast China cold vortex persistence activity: cold vortex persistence, generalized "cold vortex," and cold vortex precipitation. As discussed in the first part of paper, a hindcast is performed by multiple regressions using Northeast China precipitation from 2012 to 2014 combination with the previous winter 144 air-sea system factors. The results show that the mentioned three cold vortex index series can reflect the spatial and temporal distributions of observational precipitation in 2012–2014 and obtain results. The cold vortex factors are then added to the Forecast System on Dynamical and Analogy Skills (FODAS) to carry out dynamic statistical hindcast of precipitation in Northeast China from 2003 to 2012. Based on the characteristics and significance of each index, precipitation hindcast is carried out for Northeast China in May, June, July, August, May–June, and July–August. It turns out that the Northeast Cold Vortex Index Series, as defined in this paper, can make positive corrections to the FODAS forecast system, and most of the index correction results are higher than the system's own correction value. This study provides quantitative index products and supplies a solid technical foundation and support for monthly precipitation forecast in Northeast China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on using climate information has often focused on the interaction between users and producers and the technical fit of information for real decision-making. However, due to resource and capacity constraints within both user and producer communities, this approach will not always be feasible or indeed necessary depending on the decisions at hand. These contexts have been relatively under-explored by scholars, and this paper provides an original empirical contribution using three case studies of sub-national governments in India, Kenya and Uganda. In the paper, we analyse how social learning supports changing the usability of climate information and the role of intermediary organisations in these processes. Firstly, the paper shows that intermediaries often choose to build the commitment to project aims rather than using climate information as an entry point to working on climate change, and this allows them to instigate challenging learning processes. Secondly, there are barriers to iterative processes and critical reflection with government stakeholders but these processes can gain traction when built into institutional practices such as formal M&E processes. Lastly, social learning can broaden the framing of climate change from a single sector issue to a multi-sectoral one. We conclude by arguing that bringing together scholarship on social learning with that on the usability of climate information can deepen understanding of the dynamic context in which the information becomes usable. The evidence from the case studies shows that learning processes can alter this context across scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topical issue includes 22 papers on different aspects of meteorology and climatology of the Mediterranean and Black Seas. The papers are grouped into three categories, based on scale analysis of processes, and whether the study is dominantly related to the atmospheric or oceanic phenomenon. The category “Storms, Extremes and Mesoscale Processes” encompasses seven papers, ranging from observation and modelling data analysis of extreme atmospheric (severe winds, hailstorms, waterspout, cyclones) and oceanic (meteotsunamis, surface waves) events, occurring locally, but being connected to wider patterns and processes. The six papers in category “Atmospheric Climate, Variability and Climate Change” contain analyses of long-term observations and climate projection outputs, but also assess atmosphere-ocean-land interactions and cycles, that are important in a climate perspective. The category “Ocean Climate and Variability” includes nine papers, which map ocean processes (sea level variability, circulation, sea surface temperatures, vertical thermal structure, water masses and dense water formation) on a climate timescale, both, in the Mediterranean and Black Sea sub-basins, or taking them as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a contribution towards the link between urban microclimate and building energy modelling using the Town Energy Balance model TEB as a new component embedded into the non-stationary building energy model TRNSYS. A number of comparative features between TEB and TRNSYS motivated this work, which includes commensurate time processing speed, similarity in describing the building facets, comparable inputs and simulation time scope, and the versatile modular architecture of TRNSYS. The paper describes the parameter tabs, inputs and outputs of TEB-Type 201, which offers (i) a user-friendly graphical interface, (ii) short time for data pre-processing with consistency check of inputs, (iii) versatility in selecting and storing outputs in small-sized files and (iv) easy installation. Besides illustrating the capabilities and practicality of this new component, an extensive sensitivity analysis highlights in a hierarchical form the main decisive urban and building parameters responsible in the formation of urban canopy heat or cool islands. The anthropogenic heat, the canyon geometry (aspect ratio, roof plan density) as well as the thermo-physical and radiative properties of the building envelope (thermal insulation, thermal inertia, albedo, emissivity) considered individually or in combination with each other appear to have clear effects on the formation of a microclimate in-canyon on the one hand, and in the magnitude and frequency of canopy heat or cool island episodes at daily and monthly basis on the other hand. The warming of canyon air is heavily influenced by the combination of high urban density (deep canyons and high plan density), high level of anthropogenic heat and weak thermal insulation. Low emissivity, no or low anthropogenic heat, better thermal insulation and low thermal mass favour the cooling of the canyon. These findings reveal the decisiveness of urban and building design choices on the outdoor thermal environment and hence on the energy demand for heating and cooling indoors. As outlook, the paper also notes the necessity of a synchronised coupling of urban canopy and building energy models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using 30 years of hourly rain gauge records and reanalysis data, this paper reveals two types of heavy summer rainfall in central North China (CNC): the lasting mountain (LM) rainfall and the mountain-plain (MP) rainfall, and further explains their formation mechanisms. The evolutions of the rainfall are found to be closely connected to upper-tropospheric temperature anomalies. When upper-tropospheric warm (cold) anomalies dominate North China (the Japan Sea) and stretch down to lower layers, positive (negative) geopotential anomalies, which appear above the warm (cold) anomalies governed by hydrostatic equilibrium, extend from upper to lower troposphere. In the lower layers, evident low-level easterly anomalies form to the south (north) of the positive (negative) geopotential center, controlling the downstream of CNC and making convective systems difficult to progress eastward. Correspondingly, the low-level convergence and strong convection maintain in the west, and the rainfall persists over the mountains constituting the LM process. But when upper-tropospheric cold (warm) anomalies dominate the west (east) of 110°E and stretch down to lower layers, CNC is situated between an upstream trough and a downstream ridge. As the trough-ridge system progresses eastward, the low-level moisture tongue and strong convections in front of the trough move from the mountains to the plains, and the rainfall propagates downstream constituting the MP process. Results in this paper indicate that upper-tropospheric temperature has significant influence on the evolution of rainfall, and pay attention to its characteristics could provide helpful information in the analysis and forecasting of rainfall propagation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism climatology past and present: A review of the role of the ISB commission on climate, tourism and recreation. While in the emergent phase of tourism climatology, a majority of studies were either strong in climatology or tourism leading to a rather one-dimensional representation of this complex system and its interrelationships. Special issue papers Among the most-studied research areas in the tourism climatology literature is snow sports tourism, which is understandable given its reliance on climatic resources (i.e., low temperatures, snowfall) and thereby high vulnerability to climate change (Steiger et al. [28]). Moving forward From inception, the CCTR has sought to bring together scientists and tourism experts to review the current state of knowledge of tourism climatology, while exploring future areas of inquiry by supporting multi- and interdisciplinary collaborations. [Extracted from the article]

Low-level temperature inversions play crucial roles in inhibiting vertical exchange of energy and mass, and may lead to air pollutants accumulation. The climatological study of them provides a fundamental overview of the static stability of atmosphere and is indispensable for air pollution controls. Based on high-vertical-resolution radiosondes at 00 and 12 UTC during 2011–2018, this work comprehensively examined the spatial and temporal variability of three characteristics (occurrences, strengths, and depths) of low-level inversions in China. Results revealed that inversions are prevalent (more than 80% of the observation records) over Eastern China. The northern part of Eastern China is dominated by the thick strong surface-based inversions with median thickness and strength of 200 m and 3 K, while the southern part by thin weak elevated ones of 80 m and 0.8 K. Tibetan Plateau experiences rare inversions (less than 50% of the time) which tend to be strong thick surface-based inversions with median depth and intensity of 170 m and 4 K. Inversion depths and strengths are positively correlated. The three properties of inversions present remarkable seasonal variations. Generally, inversions are strongest, thickest, and most frequent in winter and least so in summer, with median intensity and depth ranging from 0.3 K and 80 m to 5 K and 220 m. This paper also analyzed the monthly variations of inversions of four representative stations (Harbin, Urumqi, Beijing, and Chongqing) in details. These four cities are known for frequent severe air pollution events. The quantitative investigations of inversions may play a significant role in atmospheric environmental management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a research about the use of tree rings in providing information about the amount of snow or rainfall. It references a study by Kerstin Treydte and colleagues published within the issue. They concluded that the latter part of the twentieth century was by far the wettest period, suggesting that humans may play a role in the climate of the world.

The article focuses on the research on the role of climate data in predicting malaria outbreaks in Botswana. Researchers was able to identify the malaria season which starts during the rainy season in the country. Their model could help them determine which areas will be hit hardest by the epidemic. This advance information could help curb the epidemics by implementing preventive action.

Early adolescence (12–13 years old) is a critical but under-researched demographic for the formation of attitudes related to climate change. We address this important area by exploring adolescent views about climate change. This paper presents opinions collected from surveys of 463 1st-year secondary school students (12–13 years old) in public secondary schools in inner-urban centres in Austria and Australia on whether climate change is (1) something about which to worry, (2) caused by humans and (3) happening now. Eligible respondents in both countries showed similar levels of agreement that climate change was probably or definitely something we should (1) worry about (84.6% Austria, 89.1% Australia), which is significantly higher than either country's adult population. Eligible respondents agreed that climate change probably or definitely is (2) caused by humans (75.6% Austria, 83.6% Australia) and that climate change is probably or definitely something that is (3) happening now (73.1% Austria, 87.5% Australia). Their response differed from the respective adult populations, but in opposite directions. Our results suggest that socio-cultural worldview may not have as much influence on this age group as it does on the respective adult populations and suggests that this age group would be receptive and ready for climate science education and engagement initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]