Search

Simple Summary: This paper reviews key issues regarding the spread of diseases that affect both humans and animals, known as zoonotic diseases. These diseases, which make up about 70% of all new and existing diseases, are increasingly interconnected with factors like the environment, society, and economics. The term "zoonoses" is discussed beyond just veterinary medicine, emphasizing its complex nature influenced by human activities and climate change. Bioethical principles and strategies for preventing these diseases are proposed. A case study on animal slaughter during disasters highlights ethical challenges in how we manage health across species, leading to discussions on "zoonoethics". The paper also explores how these diseases emerge and the ethical and political issues around antimicrobial resistance (AMR), with recommendations for tackling AMR. The management of these diseases will require the adoption and acceleration of the "One Health" approach, which recognizes the interconnectedness and interdependence between human, animal, and environmental health. This paper presents a critical review of key issues related to the emergence of new networks for the spread of zoonotic diseases amid the mass extinction of species. Zoonotic and infectious diseases account for approximately 70% of new and existing diseases affecting humans and animals. The initial section argues that the term "zoonoses" should not be confined to single-cause events within veterinary medicine. Instead, zoonoses should be viewed as complex, systemic phenomena shaped by interrelated factors, including environmental, sociocultural, and economic elements, influenced by anthropogenic climate change. The second section presents bioethical principles and potential strategies for those engaged in zoonotic disease prevention. The third section uses the slaughter of animals in disaster settings as a case study to illustrate the need for further clarification of normative and interspecies justice conflicts in One Health ethics. This section concludes with an outlook on "zoonoethics". Section four develops the analysis of the interlinked elements that trigger zoonoses and examines antimicrobial resistance (AMR) from an ethical and political standpoint, concluding with policy recommendations for addressing AMR. Section five offers a critical reflection, integrating contributions from zoonoethics, human ecology, and the ecotheological turn. Finally, section six concludes with a call to action and policy recommendations for an inclusive, intercultural, and gender-sensitive One Health approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biobanks have become an integral part of health and bioscience research. However, the ultra-low temperature (ULT) storage methods that biobanks employ [ULT freezers and liquid nitrogen (LN2)] are associated with carbon emissions that contribute to anthropogenic climate change. This paper aims to provide a 'Roadmap' for reducing carbon emissions associated with ULT storage in biobanking. The Roadmap offers recommendations associated with nine areas of ULT storage practice: four relating to ULT freezers, three associated with LN2 storage, and two generalised discussions regarding biosample management and centralisation. For each practice, we describe (a) the best approaches to mitigate carbon emissions, (b) explore barriers associated with hindering their implementation, and (c) make a series of recommendations that can help biobank stakeholders overcome these barriers. The recommendations were the output of a one year, UK-based, multidisciplinary research project that involved a quantitative Carbon Footprinting Assessment of the emissions associated with 1 year of ULT storage (for both freezers and LN2) at four different case study sites; as well as two follow up stakeholder workshops to qualitatively explore UK biobank stakeholder perceptions, views, and experiences on how to consider such assessments within the broader social, political, financial, technical, and cultural contexts of biobanking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a response to comments made by researchers from the Universidad de Sevilla regarding a paper on extending climate justice to animals. The authors of the response agree with the commenters that the Iberian Lynx population has increased due to conservation efforts, but they clarify that their paper was not intended as a critique of these measures. The purpose of their paper is to discuss how to help wild animals cope with climate change, using the Iberian Lynx as an illustrative case. They argue that while the population has increased, the species is still at risk of extinction due to climate change. The authors also address the commenters' mention of the lack of originality in their proposed conservation measures, stating that their intention was to examine the moral implications of intervention strategies. Overall, the authors emphasize the importance of climate justice for animals, including the Iberian Lynx. [Extracted from the article]

This document is an editorial from the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, discussing the importance of coastal areas as ecosystems and the pressures they face. The objective of the research topic was to explore large-scale coastal processes and their impacts over longer periods of time. The editorial highlights six papers that cover topics such as morphological processes, extreme water levels, dating of coastal dunes, and the impact of reclamation projects on tidal flats. The findings emphasize the need for interdisciplinary approaches and innovative technologies to understand and manage coastal environments in the face of climate change and human activities. The authors state that their claims are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of their affiliated organizations or the publisher, and any products or claims made by manufacturers are not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher. [Extracted from the article]

This document summarizes a collection of research papers on the effects of anthropogenic activities and climate change on harmful algal blooms (HABs) in marine and freshwater ecosystems. The papers discuss topics such as the discharge of nutrients into water systems, eutrophication, and the increase in frequency and severity of HABs worldwide. They also explore the diversity, growth, toxins, and toxicity of harmful algae, as well as mitigation strategies. The studies provide valuable insights into the impact of human activities on HAB-forming species and the need for further research and mitigation efforts. [Extracted from the article]

In 1980, reports of deep-sea jellyfish blooms in Norwegian fjords led researchers to investigate the problem. The helmet jellyfish, Periphylla periphylla, has since migrated far north into Arctic waters. This paper examines what happened when the jellyfish blooms were noticed in 1980 from a historical and ethnographic perspective. It traces four research projects and business ideas that proposed solutions to the jellyfish problem and asks how they are representative of the ways in which humans meet the challenges of anthropogenic climate change. The paper concludes that the jellyfish problem was met with a "techno-fix" attitude that sought to "turn a problem into a resource", which eventually leads to what Julia Livingston has termed "self-devouring growth". In a final outlook, the article asks how we can engage with questions of conservation from a humanities perspective and concludes that the jellyfish story can help us to ask questions about "conservation for whom". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Azolla is the only plant with a co-evolving nitrogen-fixing (diazotrophic) cyanobacterial symbiont (cyanobiont), Nostoc azollae, resulting from whole-genome duplication (WGD) 80 million years ago in Azolla's ancestor. Additional genes from the WGD resulted in genetic, biochemical, and morphological changes in the plant that enabled the transmission of the cyanobiont to successive generations via its megaspores. The resulting permanent symbiosis and co-evolution led to the loss, downregulation, or conversion of non-essential genes to pseudogenes in the cyanobiont, changing it from a free-living organism to an obligate symbiont. The upregulation of other genes in the cyanobiont increased its atmospheric dinitrogen fixation and the provision of nitrogen-based products to the plant. As a result, Azolla can double its biomass in less than two days free-floating on fresh water and sequester large amounts of atmospheric CO2, giving it the potential to mitigate anthropogenic climate change through carbon capture and storage. Azolla's biomass can also provide local, low-cost food, biofertiliser, feed, and biofuel that are urgently needed as our population increases by a billion every twelve years. This paper integrates data from biology, genetics, geology, and palaeontology to identify the location, timing and mechanism for the acquisition of a co-evolving diazotrophic cyanobiont by Azolla's ancestor in the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic climate change is changing the Earth system processes that control the characteristics of natural hazards both globally and across Australia. Model projections of hazards under future climate change are necessary for effective adaptation. This paper presents BARPA-R (the Bureau of Meteorology Atmospheric Regional Projections for Australia), a regional climate model designed to downscale climate projections over the Australasian region with the purpose of investigating future hazards. BARPA-R, a limited-area model, has a 17 km horizontal grid spacing and makes use of the Met Office Unified Model (MetUM) atmospheric model and the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES) land surface model. To establish credibility and in compliance with the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) experiment design, the BARPA-R framework has been used to downscale ERA5 reanalysis. Here, an assessment of this evaluation experiment is provided. Performance-based evaluation results are benchmarked against ERA5, with comparable performance between the free-running BARPA-R simulations and observationally constrained reanalysis interpreted as a good result. First, an examination of BARPA-R's representation of Australia's surface air temperature, precipitation, and 10 m winds finds good performance overall, with biases including a 1 ∘ C cold bias in daily maximum temperatures, reduced diurnal temperature range, and wet biases up to 25 mm per month in inland Australia. Recent trends in daily maximum temperatures are consistent with observational products, while trends in minimum temperatures show overestimated warming and trends in precipitation show underestimated wetting in northern Australia. Precipitation and temperature teleconnections are effectively represented in BARPA-R when present in the driving boundary conditions, while 10 m winds are improved over ERA5 in six out of eight of the Australian regions considered. Secondly, the paper considers the representation of large-scale atmospheric circulation features and weather systems. While generally well represented, convection-related features such as tropical cyclones, the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ), the Northwest Cloudband, and the monsoon westerlies show more divergence from observations and internal interannual variability than mid-latitude phenomena such as the westerly jets and extratropical cyclones. Having simulated a realistic Australasian climate, the BARPA-R framework will be used to downscale two climate change scenarios from seven CMIP6 global climate models (GCMs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various analyses show that right-wing populist parties (RWP) tend to be sceptical of climate science and policy. This points to a blank space in the dominant analyses of populism: their blindness towards society-nature relations. This paper aims to develop an approach grounded in Cultural Political Economy (CPE) that can be used to decipher the mediation of RWP within the context of economic, political, and cultural developments as well as society–nature relations. Against this background, the argument is developed that RWP is concerned not only with countering migration and processes of societal liberalisation, but also with defending an existing way of life that is firmly rooted in the destructive appropriation of nature. As a current of right-wing politics, RWP defends the imperial mode of living by expressing scepticism towards the existence of anthropogenic climate change. The paper contributes to a better understanding of the political economy of RWP by linking the dimensions of social domination with the appropriation of nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Religions play a key role in shaping our worldviews, values, and behaviours and this includes our interactions with the environment. Fuelled by the development of the technocratic paradigm, Christianity has historically received a bad reputation for perpetuating anti-environmental views. Nonetheless, the development of ecotheological strands and the emergence of faith-based organisations focusing on climate justice have aided in producing the much-needed environmental reformulations. As such, this paper seeks to provide a broad overview of the role of Christianity in shaping worldviews, from those hindering environmental action to more contemporary ecotheological approaches discussing climate change, particularly Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato si'. Christianity's preparedness to navigate climate change will be theorised in relation to empirical evidence and the work of European faith-based organisations, as well as the methodological opportunities that the field of ecolinguistics can offer to inform effective communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coral reefs are among the most diverse ecosystems on our planet, and essential to the livelihood of hundreds of millions of people who depend on them for food security, income from tourism and coastal protection. Unfortunately, most coral reefs are existentially threatened by global climate change and local anthropogenic pressures. To better understand the dynamics underlying deterioration of reefs, monitoring at high spatial and temporal resolution is key. However, conventional monitoring methods for quantifying coral cover and species abundance are limited in scale due to the extensive manual labor required. Although computer vision tools have been employed to aid in this process, in particular structure‐from‐motion (SfM) photogrammetry for 3D mapping and deep neural networks for image segmentation, analysis of the data products creates a bottleneck, effectively limiting their scalability.This paper presents a new paradigm for mapping underwater environments from ego‐motion video, unifying 3D mapping systems that use machine learning to adapt to challenging conditions under water, combined with a modern approach for semantic segmentation of images.The method is exemplified on coral reefs in the northern Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea, demonstrating high‐precision 3D semantic mapping at unprecedented scale with significantly reduced required labor costs: given a trained model, a 100 m video transect acquired within 5 min of diving with a cheap consumer‐grade camera can be fully automatically transformed into a semantic point cloud within 5 min. We demonstrate the spatial accuracy of our method and the semantic segmentation performance (of at least 80% total accuracy), and publish a large dataset of ego‐motion videos from the northern Gulf of Aqaba, along with a dataset of video frames annotated for dense semantic segmentation of benthic classes.Our approach significantly scales up coral reef monitoring by taking a leap towards fully automatic analysis of video transects. The method advances coral reef transects by reducing the labor, equipment, logistics, and computing cost. This can help to inform conservation policies more efficiently. The underlying computational method of learning‐based Structure‐from‐Motion has broad implications for fast low‐cost mapping of underwater environments other than coral reefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phytoplankton plays an essential role in the biogeochemical cycle because it is at the top of the food chain and is a source of oxygen. Eutrophication causes coastal areas to deteriorate as industrialization accelerates, leading to harmful algal blooms (HABs), severely affecting human and ecological health. The frequency and extent of HAB events potentially may increase due to climate change. HAB outbreaks have led to substantial losses for major coastal economies globally, and therefore have emerged as a critical research focus in environmental sciences. However, the lack of an overview of diverse factors influencing HABs complicates the cause identification and the effective countermeasure development for HAB occurrence, thereby impeding the formulation of targeted strategies for prediction and mitigation. Therefore, this review summarizes the influential factors affecting HABs in coastal areas, including water quality factors (nutrients, salinity, stratification, and biological factors) and climatological factors (temperature, pH and pCO2 , and irradiance and light). Recent work with several harmful algae species suggested that warmer temperatures combined with nutrient variation, stronger stratification, and ocean acidification may increase the growth of some toxic dinoflagellate species. Although the effects of factors vary for different species and locations, the intensification of anthropogenic activities and climate change likely will increase the frequency, outbreak scale, and severity of most coastal HABs. Because predicting HABs is crucial for understanding the factors and synergy affecting their growth and minimizing losses for decision makers and stakeholders, we reviewed models for predicting HABs, including process-based models, traditional statistical-empirical models, and data-driven machine learning models. Predicting HABs becomes more challenging as the spatial distribution of harmful algae is influenced by future climate patterns. This review paper presents a comprehensive overview of the various factors impacting HABs in coastal areas, serving as a valuable resource for decision makers and researchers to design targeted research and mitigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic climate change has an unprecedented impact on ecosystems and their services, with severe consequences for human well‐being, particularly for the marginalised and vulnerable members of society in the Global South. The well‐being of communities relies not only on material and regulating services ecosystems provide but also on non‐material services.In this paper, we unravel the diverse ways that climate change impacts affect Nature's Contributions to People (NCP) and the well‐being of rural populations in four sites in Madagascar—a biodiversity hotspot but one of the economically poorest countries in the world. We conducted participatory community workshops, mapping and semi‐structured interviews with local residents across social subgroups to understand the mechanisms of climate‐related degradation and the resulting impacts on different dimensions of human well‐being through an NCP lens.We found that non‐material services are generally more often associated with well‐being effects. Climate change degrades material and non‐material services through sea level rise, biodiversity loss, drought, precipitation and temperature variability, with consequences for materials, companionship and labour, food and feed, and physical and psychological experiences. Loss of land and forests is expressed through ecological grief.The outcome of our research provides evidence‐based information to local policymakers, conservation practitioners, and climate change agencies.This information can help improve government efforts toward holistic conservation and climate change adaptation by addressing the impacts on the physical and mental well‐being of the most vulnerable communities. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon dioxide, the leading contributor to anthropogenic climate change, is released mainly via fossil fuel combustion, mostly for energy generation. Carbon capture technologies are employed for reducing the emissions from existing huge point sources, along with capturing them from direct air, to reduce the existing concentration. This paper provides a quantitative analysis of the various subtypes of carbon capture technologies with the aim of providing an assessment of each from technological, social, geo-political, economic, and environmental perspectives. Since the emissions intensity and quantity, along with the social–political–economic conditions, vary in different geographic regions, prioritising and finding the right type of technology is critical for achieving ambitious net-zero targets. Four main types of carbon capture technology were analysed (adsorption, absorption, membrane, and cryogenic) under four scenarios depending on the jurisdiction. The Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (also known as the TOPSIS method) was used to establish a quantitative ranking of each, where weightages were allocated according to the emissions status and economics of each depending on the jurisdiction. Furthermore, forecasting the trends for technology types vis à vis carbon neutral targets between 2040 and 2050 was carried out by applying regression analysis on existing data and the emissions footprint of major contributing countries. The study found the membrane score to be the highest in the TOPSIS analysis in three of the four scenarios analysed. However, absorption remains the most popular for post-combustion capture despite having the highest energy penalty per ton of CO2 capture. Overall, capture rates are well short of projections for carbon neutrality; the methodology put forward for prioritising and aligning appropriate technologies and the region-by-region analysis will help highlight to technocrats, governments, and policymakers the state of the art and how to best utilise them to mitigate carbon emissions—critical in achieving the net-zero goals set at various international agreements on climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy rainfall in eastern Africa between late 2019 and mid 2020 caused devastating floods and landslides throughout the region. These rains drove the levels of Lake Victoria to a record-breaking maximum in the second half of May 2020. The combination of high lake levels, consequent shoreline flooding, and flooding of tributary rivers caused hundreds of casualties and damage to housing, agriculture, and infrastructure in the riparian countries of Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. Media and government reports linked the heavy precipitation and floods to anthropogenic climate change, but a formal scientific attribution study has not been carried out so far. In this study, we characterize the spatial extent and impacts of the floods in the Lake Victoria basin and then investigate to what extent human-induced climate change influenced the probability and magnitude of the record-breaking lake levels and associated flooding by applying a multi-model extreme event attribution methodology. Using remote-sensing-based flood mapping tools, we find that more than 29 000 people living within a 50 km radius of the lake shorelines were affected by floods between April and July 2020. Precipitation in the basin was the highest recorded in at least 3 decades, causing lake levels to rise by 1.21 m between late 2019 and mid 2020. The flood, defined as a 6-month rise in lake levels as extreme as that observed in the lead-up to May 2020, is estimated to be a 63-year event in the current climate. Based on observations and climate model simulations, the best estimate is that the event has become more likely by a factor of 1.8 in the current climate compared to a pre-industrial climate and that in the absence of anthropogenic climate change an event with the same return period would have led lake levels to rise by 7 cm less than observed. Nonetheless, uncertainties in the attribution statement are relatively large due to large natural variability and include the possibility of no observed attributable change in the probability of the event (probability ratio, 95 % confidence interval 0.8–15.8) or in the magnitude of lake level rise during an event with the same return period (magnitude change, 95 % confidence interval 0–14 cm). In addition to anthropogenic climate change, other possible drivers of the floods and their impacts include human land and water management, the exposure and vulnerability of settlements and economic activities located in flood-prone areas, and modes of climate variability that modulate seasonal precipitation. The attribution statement could be strengthened by using a larger number of climate model simulations, as well as by quantitatively accounting for non-meteorological drivers of the flood and potential unforced modes of climate variability. By disentangling the role of anthropogenic climate change and natural variability in the high-impact 2020 floods in the Lake Victoria basin, this paper contributes to a better understanding of changing hydrometeorological extremes in eastern Africa and the African Great Lakes region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of our rapidly evolving word, where pressing issues like anthropogenic climate change and accelerating urbanization demand innovative solutions, a critical evaluation of the potential and impact of digital technologies is necessary. Climate-neutral governance entails the implementation of governmental instruments and tools designed and used to harmonize short-term policy actions with a long-term vision of achieving a climate-neutral state. This fact aims to facilitate evidence-based decision-making, foster inter-sectoral coordination, enhance transparency, and cultivate public legitimacy for climate mitigation and adaptation measures. This paper presents a focused analysis of SmartCities projects and their implementation across diverse urban centers and nations. Our objective is to provide a comprehensive overview, highlighting recent advancements in the realm of smart and climate-neutral city governance. Furthermore, we conduct a comprehensive inquiry into Romania's legislative framework, encompassing the regulations and strategies pertaining to energy, climate change, and urban development. This analysis is complemented by an exploration of the evolving perspectives and legislative proposals that are likely to shape the future course of action in these domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

English poet Peter Reading (1946-2011) was one of Britain's most innovative and controversial poetic voices, and one of the first of his generation to engage in what we now call ecopoetics. Marked by a strange mix of pessimism and irony, Reading's work is, above all, focused on representing anthropogenic climate change and mass-species extinction in their awful, matter-of-fact actuality. This interest in the multifaceted nature of the current ecological crisis is foregrounded in his poetry through the fusion of different narratives and stylistically through changing registers, the use of different poetic forms, textual fragments, and heterogeneous voices. Although much has been written on Reading's thematic concerns, little scholarly attention has been paid to his poetry's formal qualities and innovative aspects. In this paper, I offer a critical review of Peter Reading's experimental ecopoetics by examining his better-known book-length poem on global warming -273.15 [absolute zero] (2005) as a case study. To do so, I will initially open my analysis with an overview of ecopoetry, a term that was first introduced in the late twentieth century to describe a new type of writing with a strong ecological emphasis. I will posit that Reading's works align well with this genre, which offers a lens through which to understand his unique poetics of ecological catastrophe. Following these theoretical foundations, the rest of the article will focus on the interaction between textual ecology and the real-world ecologies described in the poem. In particular, my analysis will also concentrate on Reading's use of experimental stylistic and linguistic techniques, which, I argue, open up new interesting ways of navigating the extreme complexity, uncertainty, and vast metanarrative scope of the current environmental crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid anthropogenic climate change has elevated the interest in studying the biotic responses of species during the Last Glacial Maximum. During this period, species retreated to highly spatially restricted geographic regions where survival was possible, known as glacial micro-refugia, from which they migrated and expanded when conditions became more suitable. Several distinct sources of evidence have contributed to developing a new understanding of how these regions might have impacted the sustainability of the natural populations of many species. Pollen records in Eastern Beringia have been used to explore the possibility that the region harbored glacial refugia for several plants from the arctic tundra and/or the boreal forest biomes common to the region. Our study focuses on Alnus viridis and Picea glauca, two predominant species of arcto-boreal vegetation. We propose to integrate genomic, SDM, and existing fossil data in a hierarchical Bayesian modeling (HBM) framework to determine whether multiple refugia existed in isolated geographic areas. This study demonstrates how the flexibility of HBMs makes the formal synthesis of such disparate data sources feasible. Our results highlight the regions of plausible refugia that can guide future investigations into studying the role of glacial refugia during climate change. Supplementary materials accompanying this paper appear online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In freshwater systems, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus are essential macroelements. Changing ecological communities as a result of anthropogenic activity and climate change has become a global issue. C:P has been demonstrated to be a trustworthy and sensitive assay for detecting and monitoring single or multiple species in a wide range of samples. We look at how C:P can be utilized to manage and reduce eutrophication and harmful algal blooms (HABs) in freshwater environments in this review work. Recent research show how C:P has been shown to be a useful strategy for gathering complete data in freshwater ecosystem studies. The total number of papers in ScienceDirect from 2000 to 2023 with the terms "carbon and phosphorus ratios, fresh water ecosystems, and phytoplankton" in the title, abstract, or keywords was acquired for this review. Based on the number of published research demonstrating an increased understanding of the basic scientific concepts behind the carbon and phosphorus ratio, the overall temporal trend in publications on the ratio showed a steady growth. Compared to eutrophic Lake Victoria, which had a C:P of 149, mesotrophic Lakes Malawi and Kivu had a ratio of 263. Applying the carbon‐to‐phosphorus ratio to lake and reservoir eutrophication assessment is feasible, and the increasing C:P ratio serves as a prime indicator for the initiation of lake and reservoir reoligotrophication. Our findings establish the framework for future study into the relationship between organic nutrients and eutrophication, as well as the ecological ramifications of these relationships in freshwater systems. Furthermore, our prediction was that increases in C:P would change the structure of phytoplankton communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of the challenges and solutions related to climate change and sustainability in California. It highlights the impacts of climate change that the state is already experiencing, such as increasing temperatures, sea level rise, and more frequent heatwaves. The article emphasizes the need for global emissions reduction and discusses the legislation and policies enacted by the state government to address climate change, with a focus on environmental justice. It also emphasizes the importance of understanding regional impacts and finding adaptable solutions. The document further discusses the importance of climate adaptation, particularly for marginalized communities, and highlights the role of Indigenous knowledge and stewardship in building climate resilience. It addresses the impacts of climate change on ecosystems, wildfires, agriculture, urban systems, and human health. The authors argue for inclusive and equitable policies and collaborations to tackle climate change and promote sustainability in California. The document includes references to various scientific studies and reports related to climate change and its impacts on the state. [Extracted from the article]

Beliefs and attitudes regarding climate change significantly influence public support for environmental policy regulations and willingness to engage in voluntary actions. This paper endeavours to forecast public perceptions concerning global warming, anthropogenic climate change, support for environmental tax policies, and the inclination to purchase energy-efficient home appliances. Leveraging data from the European Social Survey, we employ four machine learning techniques to anticipate individuals' environmental beliefs and attitudes. Across various settings, our analysis achieves an accuracy of over 70% in identifying environmentally conscious respondents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Drylands occupy 41% of the Earth's surface and 31% of South America. In these environments, anthropogenic climate changes may contribute to the intensification of droughts and increase the susceptibility of lands to desertification. In this study, the evolution, current topics, and the research trends in climate change in four dry environments in South America (Caatinga, Patagonia, Gran Chaco, and the Atacama Desert) were analyzed. Methods: The database was obtained from the Core Collection of Web of Science. A total of 1,386 scientific papers (1993–2022) were analyzed. Results: Patagonia accounted for 37.4% of research on climate change in the four studied environments, while the Gran Chaco accounted for only 6.9%. Overall, the research trends indicate the need for the understanding in the increasing severity of drought in the Caatinga and the intensification of fire frequency in the Gran Chaco on soil properties, animals, and plants. The implementation of more sustainable animal production systems, aiming at soil conservation and reducing greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions should be a priority in Patagonia. In Atacama Desert, the relationship between climate change and soil microbiome, as well as plant-microorganism interactions under hyper-arid conditions, represent important research trends in this ecosystem. Across all biomes, quantification of GHG emissions, the development of strategies to promote C sequestration by biomass and in soils and studies to understand the effects of climate change on people's lives have been scarce and urgently need implementation. Conclusion: There is an urgent need to implement public policies aimed at mitigating and adapting to climate change in the dry climate environments of South America with emphasis on the Gran Chaco, where climate-environmental research is limited, and ecosystem degradation is pronounced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the interaction between climate change and anthropogenic pressures in the eutrophication process. Eutrophication, which is the excessive supply of nutrients to estuarine and coastal regions, poses a significant threat to ecosystems worldwide. The article explores the complex link between climate change and eutrophication, highlighting the potential exacerbation of eutrophication and its negative impacts due to climate-driven factors such as temperature changes, wind patterns, and sea level rise. The research topic also covers various themes related to eutrophication assessment, biogeochemical consequences, anthropogenic pressures, climate variability, ecosystem comparisons, and the effects of eutrophication on ecosystem services. The volume includes six papers contributed by scientists from different countries, providing insights into the effects of different factors on marine ecosystems. [Extracted from the article]

Microbial contamination of water, as well as the development of biofilm in irrigation systems, is one of the factors contributing to water losses, leading to a decrease in the optimization of the irrigation process and, consequently, a decrease in plant production. Water shortages are a highly undesirable phenomenon, particularly within the context of anthropogenic climate changes and the constraint of potable water resources. Biofilm can also be a reservoir of pathogenic microorganisms for human health, animal welfare, and plant production. Contaminated water used to irrigate vegetables that do not require heat treatment can lead to pathogen propagation, causing disease outbreaks. Therefore, it is essential to understand the dynamics of biofilm development and its underlying mechanisms, as well as its relation to water quality, to develop strategies that could help reduce or prevent biofilm formation and its negative effects. The analysis of factors promoting the development and composition of biofilm in irrigation systems allows the implementation of the most effective preventive methods, which translate into the optimization of the irrigation process and plant production. This paper aims to analyze reports related to the formation and microbial composition of biofilms occurring in agricultural irrigation systems, as well as to present the risks associated with biofilm formation and methods for its eradication. This review summarizes reports related to the various factors influencing biofilm formation and irrigation water quality, which may be a prelude to a comprehensive assessment and formulation of guidelines related to the management of water-based irrigation systems to improve biosafety. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is a regionally important marine ecosystem with valuable fisheries that may be detrimentally impacted by anthropogenic climate change. In recent years, our scientific understanding of climate change impacts on the GOM water quality has advanced considerably. Such advancements include increased understanding of climate change impacts on the GOM's hypoxia and sediment, and subsequent impacts on the region's marine ecosystem. This paper reviews these developments and highlights gaps in our understanding of climate change impacts on marine water quality and its implications in the GOM region. There is broad scientific agreement that physical changes induced by anthropogenic climate change are determining factors of water quality and biodiversity in the GOM. However, the scientific community should work toward a greater understanding of species and ecosystem specific changes through modeling studies exclusive to the GOM region and this should inform the development of broader multi-disciplinary mitigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Higher fertility rate induces more labor for childcare and thus crowds out labor for work. • The three-child policy slightly increases fertility intention. • The three-child policy increases emission abatement of the designed emission trading scheme. • In emission trading scheme, technological progress increases GDP and decreases total emissions. • The three-child policy strengthens technological impacts on GDP but weakens technological impacts on emissions. Although population growth plays a vital role in driving anthropogenic climate change, fertility impact on achieving mitigation target is usually overlooked in literature. This paper attempts to narrow the research gap by employing a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model to analyze the interrelations among fertility rate, fertility policy, and climate policy in China. The model results show that fertility rate negatively correlates with GDP and emissions because higher fertility induces more labor for childcare and thus crowds out labor for work. The three-child policy raises fertility intention; it does not unidirectionally influence the effects of the emission trading scheme (ETS) on employment and GDP, but it increases ETS emission abatement. Technological progress increases GDP and decreases emissions; the three-child policy strengthens technological impact on GDP but weakens technological impact on emissions. Hence, technological progress benefits emission mitigation; the three-child policy enhances economic benefits but impairs emission abatement of technological progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article announces the recipients of the 2024 Richard and Minnie Windler Award for the best systematics and ecology papers published in Castanea. The winners are Ashley B. Morris, Clayton Visger, Shelby Watkins, and Cathy Pollack for their article on the genetic variation and niche space of the federally endangered legume, Leafy Prairie-Clover, and Michaella Ivey and Lissa M. Leege for their article on plant community dynamics following the removal of the invasive Ligustrum sinense. The study on Leafy Prairie-Clover reveals lower genetic diversity in northern populations, potentially due to migration and glacial cycles, while the study on Ligustrum sinense removal shows an increase in native herb species richness but urges caution against other invasive species. [Extracted from the article]

Planetary health equity – the equitable enjoyment of good health and wellbeing in a sustainable ecosystem – is under threat from anthropogenic climate change and economic and social inequities. Driving these major challenges is the global consumptogenic system that encourages excessive production and consumption goods and services that are harming human and planetary health. Growth models lie at the core of the consumptogenic system. This paper examines the sources of economic growth in Australia, the coalitions that sustain this approach politically, and the implications of these dynamics for planetary health equity. Australia's consumption-led growth model is underpinned by a combination of rising house prices and a permissive credit regime. This growth model is supported by a dominant growth coalition of producer interests, elements of organised labour, and property owners. The growth coalition has been able to successfully generate growth model policy convergence between the mainstream political parties. In turn this growth model, and associated growth coalition, has undermined the pursuit of planetary health equity in Australia by incentivising and driving excessive consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and economic inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low-lying Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD) is a key agricultural production landscape increasingly threatened by anthropogenic stresses and climate change. Among the different threats, droughts caused by extreme events, climate change and upstream developments, affect the delta the most. This paper explores the relationship between the intensity, duration, and frequency of meteorological droughts and hydrological droughts using a range of indices. We used monthly rainfall and stream flow data for the period 1992–2021 to calculate the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), the Reconnaissance Drought Index (RDI), and the streamflow drought Index (SDI) for different time intervals. We found no observed time lag, and a strong correlation coefficient between upstream hydrological and downstream meteorological drought events assessed over long-term scales (i.e., 12-months). This is true for all downstream sites, except Ben Tre City. Hydrological drought events onset lagged 5–6-, 6-, and 3–4-month behind meteorological droughts at mid- and shorter assessment time scales (9-, 6-, 3-month). The average correlation coefficients between hydrological indices and meteorological indices at 9–3-month time scales ranged from moderate to weak. These findings shed light and advance the understanding of the progression of meteorological to hydrological droughts in the VMD. Our results aid the regional understanding of drought onset and the causative mechanisms at work, which is important for both medium- and long-term drought forecasting and adaptation planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have raised concerns regarding the reconstruction of glacier mass balance using tree-ring data. The method relies on a stable relationship between both variables and summer (June–August) or melt season (May–September) temperature. However, with recent anthropogenic climate change the stability of this relationship is challenged by both, a divergence between tree-ring and temperature, as well as mass balance and temperature data. Establishing to what extent this divergence influences the reconstruction of mass balance using tree-ring data is important to assess the future viability and applicability of the method. In this paper we analyze the relationship between the Torneträsk tree-ring and Storglaciären mass balance records, their response to climate change, and investigate changes in the relationship. We provide evidence for a sensitivity loss in the Torneträsk record and quantify its impact on the reconstruction of summer mass balance of Storglaciären. We find that by including years post 1980, the amplitude of reconstructed variability is reduced, but it remains possible to explain the variance of the record significantly. Our results suggest that for glaciers without an extensive mass balance record the applicability of the method is challenged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mismanaged plastic waste (MPW) and urban flooding are typically considered distinct environmental challenges. However, there are notable links between growing quantities of MPW and the rising incidence of floods in cities. A majority of people now live in cities, especially along coastlines and in estuaries where residents are both vulnerable to flooding and significant sources of plastic waste. Predicted increases in the frequency and severity of heavy rainfall associated with anthropogenic climate change coincide with rising global quantities of MPW, much of which is discharged into water bodies and the sea. Given the urgent and expanding nature of these issues, understanding impacts of urban floods on solid waste management and vice versa is crucial. Social-ecological systems (SES) thinking calls for a holistic approach to the relationships and interactions between human actors and environmental systems which can result in dynamic and emergent outcomes. In this review paper, we make a first step towards better understanding of the interactions between urban flooding and MPW by synthesizing emerging quantitative and qualitative research on particular aspects of such interactions. More research is needed which explicitly focuses on and elaborates the nature of these interactions, and also to consider potential relations across scales (from global to local) and over both long and short timeframes. We conclude that an SES approach can make visible novel possibilities for interventions which are context specific and sensitive to the interactions between urban floods and MPW. This article is categorized under: Science of Water > Water and Environmental Change Human Water > Water Governance Engineering Water > Planning Water [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture is the leading sector that is responsible for global climate change through its significant contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Intriguingly, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is experiencing higher temperatures and lesser rainfall due to climate change enhanced by anthropogenic GHG emissions. Agriculture and energy use in the SSA predominantly influence the anthropogenic GHG leading to global warming. Therefore, reducing agricultural GHG emissions (such as carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane) plays a significant role in climate change adaptation. This paper reviews the potential implication of agriculture and energy use on climate change and its implications on environmental sustainability in SSA. Herewith, we explored various GHGs emitted through agriculture-energy use, their effects on climate change, as well as several climate change adaptation mechanisms, and gaps in existing knowledge that necessitate more research, were also explored. We found that agriculture had negative implications on climate change impacts in the SSA countries and that a more focused strategy that is both economically and technically feasible in terms of preferences for land use, effective energy use, and food supply would aid in GHG emission reduction and environmental sustainability. Adapting to the projected changes in the short term while investing in long-term mitigation strategies might be the only way toward a sustainable environment in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), as one of the largest coupled climate modes, influences the livelihoods of millions of people and ecosystems survival. Thus, how ENSO is expected to behave under the influence of anthropogenic climate change is a substantial question to investigate. In this paper, we analyze future predictions of specific traits of ENSO, in combination with a subset of well-established precursors—the Trade Wind Charging and North Pacific Meridional Mode (TWC/NPMM). We study it across three sets of experiments from a protocol-driven ensemble from CMIP6—the High Resolution Model Intercomparison Project (HighResMIP). Namely, (1) experiments at constant 1950's radiative forcings, and (2) experiments of present (1950–2014) and (3) future (2015–2050) climate with prescribed increasing radiative forcings. We first investigate the current and predicted spatial characteristics of ENSO events, by calculating area, amplitude and longitude of the Center of Heat Index (CHI). We see that TWC/NPMM-charged events are consistently stronger, in both the presence and absence of external forcings; however, as anthropogenic forcings increase, the area of all ENSO events increases. Since the TWC/NPMM-ENSO relationship has been shown to affect the oscillatory behavior of ENSO, we analyze ENSO frequency by calculating CHI-analogous indicators on the Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) of its signal. With this new methodology, we show that across the ensemble, ENSO oscillates at different frequencies, and its oscillatory behavior shows different degrees of stochasticity, over time and across models. However, we see no consistent indication of future trends in the oscillatory behavior of ENSO and the TWC/NPMM-ENSO relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a special issue of the journal "River Research & Applications" focused on the topic of fluvial biogeomorphology. It originated from a workshop held in London in 2023 and includes papers presented at the workshop as well as contributions from others. The articles cover various aspects of fluvial biogeomorphology, including the role of large wood, riparian vegetation, and the management implications of this research. The authors emphasize the importance of understanding the dynamic interactions between vegetation and fluvial processes in river restoration and the need for better communication and approaches that improve river biogeomorphic condition. [Extracted from the article]

The marine biological carbon pump (BCP) stores carbon in the ocean interior, isolating it from exchange with the atmosphere and thereby coregulating atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). As the BCP commonly is equated with the flux of organic material to the ocean interior, termed "export flux," a change in export flux is perceived to directly impact atmospheric CO2, and thus climate. Here, we recap how this perception contrasts with current understanding of the BCP, emphasizing the lack of a direct relationship between global export flux and atmospheric CO2. We argue for the use of the storage of carbon of biological origin in the ocean interior as a diagnostic that directly relates to atmospheric CO2, as a way forward to quantify the changes in the BCP in a changing climate. The diagnostic is conveniently applicable to both climate model data and increasingly available observational data. It can explain a seemingly paradoxical response under anthropogenic climate change: Despite a decrease in export flux, the BCP intensifies due to a longer reemergence time of biogenically stored carbon back to the ocean surface and thereby provides a negative feedback to increasing atmospheric CO2. This feedback is notably small compared with anthropogenic CO2 emissions and other carbon‐climate feedbacks. In this Opinion paper, we advocate for a comprehensive view of the BCP's impact on atmospheric CO2, providing a prerequisite for assessing the effectiveness of marine CO2 removal approaches that target marine biology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution to the Reflections section of Ocean Yearbook devoted to the memory of the late Professor Meinhard Doelle concerns the options available to coastal States in their responses to global sea level rise driven by anthropogenic climate change. These reflections seek to explore the main policy options and practical approaches based on physical interventions in this context and to assess the possible risks as well as benefits of those approaches. They also explore some of the more radical and cutting-edge technologies which are already being deployed. While addressing the physical intervention options and some of their practical and legal implications, this paper also addresses the importance of environmental impact assessments (EIAs) and capacity-building, both of which were key themes in Meinhard Doelle's work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of anthropogenic climate change, forest and tree populations must adapt, migrate, or face extirpation. Assisted migration (AM) has emerged as a promising forestry strategy to mitigate the impacts of climate change, yet its role in the evolutionary and ecological processes remains unclear. Various models, including climate niche models and transfer and response functions, have been employed to guide AM efforts. Each of these models has advantages and limitations, necessitating a comprehensive understanding of their rationale and constraints for further development and improvement. In our review, we aimed to define the role of forestry AM and elucidate the scenarios in which AM becomes a critical necessity in the context of climate change. Furthermore, we provided a comprehensive overview of the rationale and development of commonly used models and functions in the realm of forestry AM. Finally, we analyzed 214 published papers related to forestry AM, examining how previous evidence either supports or opposes the implementation of AM, and the underlying reasons for the agreement or disagreement. Our findings reveal that nearly 60% of the reviewed papers express a positive stance towards AM. More than one-fifth of the papers emphasize AM's potential to enhance adaptation. Another significant aspect supporting AM is its capacity to increase production and reduce extirpation risks. However, AM can also introduce invasive risks, lead to maladaptation, and even raise moral concerns. In conclusion, we advocate for a holistic approach to AM, incorporating genetic knowledge, models accounting for biological interactions and edaphic adaptation, and the formulation of comprehensive policies. This integrated strategy will be pivotal in guiding AM practices aimed at mitigating the impacts of anthropogenic climate change. ● Explores AM's ecological and evolutionary role under climate change. ● AM enhances species adaptation and productivity. ● AM risks: invasive species and maladaptation. ● Advantages and limits of forestry AM models. ● Calls for integrated policy in AM strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysing non-stationarity in runoff and sediment load is crucial for effective water resource management in the Dongting Lake basin amid climate change and human impacts. Using the Mann-Kendall test, Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale, and Shape framework, and Random Forest models, we evaluated non-stationarity and its drivers in the annual runoff and annual sediment load series at eight hydrological stations from 1961 to 2021. These stations include three inflow sites at the Jingjiang Three Outlets (Ouchi, Songzi, and Hudu Rivers), four inflow sites in the Four Rivers basin (Xiang, Zi, Yuan, and Li Rivers), and one outflow site at Chenglingji. Results revealed a significant decrease in annual runoff at the Three Outlets and Chenglingji, while the Four Rivers basin showed no significant trend. The non-stationary models with multiple physically-based covariates better captured non-stationarity compared to single covariate models. Annual rainfall was a key contributor to annual runoff in the Four Rivers basin, while reservoir storage capacity played a more dominant role in the Three Outlets. At Chenglingji station, both factors significantly influenced annual runoff. For annual sediment load, reservoir storage capacity emerged as the most critical factor across all regions. These findings provide a basis for improving runoff and sediment regulation in the Dongting Lake basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ocean has experienced substantial oxygen loss over recent decades, affecting marine ecosystems and fisheries. Investigating ocean deoxygenation during hyperthermal events, such as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), offers insights into its future dynamics. Here, sediment cores from the South Atlantic reveal a pronounced decline in foraminifera-bound δ15N, concurrent with an increase in marine barite δ34S and enhanced ocean productivity during the PETM. These findings suggest an expansion of oxygen-deficient zones (ODZs) from suboxia to anoxia in the thermocline, with ammonium and sulfide accumulation. Model simulations indicate "ammonium-type" ODZs were driven by Southern Ocean warming and elevated productivity. Intense fixed nitrogen loss at the upper boundary of these ODZs, along with increased oceanic phosphorus inventory, likely spurred a compensatory rise in N2 fixation. While the Pacific might experience different oxygenation conditions during the PETM, parts of the Atlantic thermocline became anoxic, highlighting potential spatial variabilities of ocean deoxygenation under global warming. Extreme warming 56 million years ago may have rendered parts of the subsurface Atlantic Ocean anoxic and toxic to fish due to ammonium and hydrogen sulfide accumulation – a scenario we must strive to prevent under current anthropogenic climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coral reefs along Pakistan's coastline are of ecological and economic significance. However, they are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic threats and climate change. These vulnerable ecosystems are declining due to various factors such as sedimentation, climate change, overfishing, destructive fishing practices, marine pollution, and tourism development. We found that 29%, 24%, 26%, 16% and 18% of the studies exceeding, marine pollution, overfishing/destructive fishing, coastal tourism, climate change and sedimentation, respectively; thus, indicating inadequate water quality status in part of Pakistan coastal water. These influences lead to several negative impacts, such as jeopardized coral health, decline in biodiversity, and the simplification of reef structures. In response to these threats, conservation efforts are imperative. This literature review provides an in-depth analysis of anthropogenic threats, climate change and the conservation of coral reefs in Pakistan. This review provides suggestions on how the country could better conserve its coral reef ecosystem. These include (1) initiatives such as establishing marine protected areas (MPAs), (2) encouraging sustainable fishing practices and reducing pollution, (3) developing the country as an ecotourism destination and implementing climate change adaptation measures, and (4) community engagement through awareness campaigns and fostering collaboration among, governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and scientists. These comprehensive conservation policies address human-caused and other challenges, safeguarding their ecological, economic, and cultural relevance for future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic climate change has significantly altered terrestrial and marine ecosystems globally, often in the form of climate-related events such as thermal anomalies and disease outbreaks. Although the isolated effects of these stressors have been well documented, a growing body of literature suggests that stressors often interact, resulting in complex effects on ecosystems. This includes coral reefs where sequential associations between heat stress and disease have had profound impacts. Here we used the model cnidarian Exaiptasia diaphana to investigate mechanisms linking prior heat stress to increased disease susceptibility. We examined anemone pathogen susceptibility and physiology (symbiosis, immunity, and energetics) following recovery from heat stress. We observed significantly increased pathogen susceptibility in anemones previously exposed to heat stress. Notably, prior heat stress reduced anemone energetic reserves (carbohydrate concentration), and activity of multiple immune components. Minimal effects of prior heat stress on symbiont density were observed. Together, results suggest changes in energetic availability might have the strongest effect on pathogen susceptibility and immunity following heat stress. The results presented here provide critical insight regarding the interplay between heat stress recovery and pathogen susceptibility in cnidarians and are an important first step towards understanding temporal associations between these stressors. The anemone Exaiptasia diaphana is more susceptible to pathogenic challenge following exposure to prior heat stress, even after two weeks of recovery at ambient temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The editorial in the Journal of Plant Ecology discusses the urgent need for biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration of vulnerable ecosystems in the Anthropocene era. It highlights the challenges faced in restoring ecosystems due to human activities and climate change, emphasizing the importance of effective restoration techniques and sustainable management. The special issue covers various studies on ecosystem restoration and biodiversity conservation, providing insights into carbon storage dynamics, plant functional diversity, N2O emissions, invasive species traits, wetland conservation laws, and more. The goal is to advance understanding and collaboration among ecologists, conservation biologists, and eco-engineering scientists to develop advanced restoration theories and techniques. [Extracted from the article]

The 2022 and 2023 western Mediterranean summer temperatures exceeded millennial natural variability, reaching unprecedented anomalies of +3.6 °C and +2.9 °C respectively. We show that anthropogenic climate change may turn extreme heatwaves from a rarity of 1 in 10,000 years into events occurring every 4–75 years, depending on future scenarios. This shift underscores the urgency of implementing adaptive strategies as extreme climate events manifest sooner and more intensely than expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite growing scientific alarm about anthropogenic climate change, the world is not on track to solve the crisis. Inaction may be partially explained by skepticism about climate change and resistance to proenvironmental policies from people who are motivated to maintain the status quo (i.e., conservative-rightists). Therefore, practical interventions are needed. In the present research program, we tested an experimental manipulation derived from system justification theory in which proenvironmental initiatives were framed as patriotic and necessary to maintain the American "way of life." In a large, nationally representative U.S. sample, we found that the system-sanctioned change intervention successfully increased liberal-leftists' as well as conservative-rightists' belief in climate change; support for proenvironmental policies; and willingness to share climate information on social media. Similar messages were effective in an aggregated analysis involving 63 countries, although the overall effect sizes were small. More granular exploratory analyses at the country level revealed that while the intervention was moderately successful in some countries (e.g., Brazil, France, Israel), it backfired in others (Germany, Belgium, Russia). Across the three outcome variables, the effects of the intervention were consistent and pronounced in the United States, in support of the hypothesis that system justification motivation can be harnessed on behalf of social change. Potential explanations for divergent country-level effects are discussed. The system-sanctioned change intervention holds considerable promise for policymakers and communicators seeking to increase climate awareness and action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mosquito vectors of pathogens (e.g., Aedes, Anopheles, and Culex spp. which transmit dengue, Zika, chikungunya, West Nile, malaria, and others) are of increasing concern for global public health. These vectors are geographically shifting under climate and other anthropogenic changes. As small-bodied ectotherms, mosquitoes are strongly affected by temperature, which causes unimodal responses in mosquito life history traits (e.g., biting rate, adult mortality rate, mosquito development rate, and probability of egg-to-adult survival) that exhibit upper and lower thermal limits and intermediate thermal optima in laboratory studies. However, it remains unknown how mosquito thermal responses measured in laboratory experiments relate to the realized thermal responses of mosquitoes in the field. To address this gap, we leverage thousands of global mosquito occurrences and geospatial satellite data at high spatial resolution to construct machine-learning based species distribution models, from which vector thermal responses are estimated. We apply methods to restrict models to the relevant mosquito activity season and to conduct ecologically plausible spatial background sampling centered around ecoregions for comparison to mosquito occurrence records. We found that thermal minima estimated from laboratory studies were highly correlated with those from the species distributions (r = 0.87). The thermal optima were less strongly correlated (r = 0.69). For most species, we did not detect thermal maxima from their observed distributions so were unable to compare to laboratory-based estimates. The results suggest that laboratory studies have the potential to be highly transportable to predicting lower thermal limits and thermal optima of mosquitoes in the field. At the same time, lab-based models likely capture physiological limits on mosquito persistence at high temperatures that are not apparent from field-based observational studies but may critically determine mosquito responses to climate warming. Our results indicate that lab-based and field-based studies are highly complementary; performing the analyses in concert can help to more comprehensively understand vector response to climate change. Author summary: Mosquito vectors are strongly affected by temperature, and their distributions are likely to shift under climate change. Lab studies show that mosquito abundance has a unimodal response to temperature with thermal optima, upper and lower thermal limits. However, it remains unknown how mosquito laboratory-derived thermal responses relate to the thermal responses of mosquitoes in nature. We used a global database of field-collected mosquito occurrences, geospatial environmental covariates, and species distribution models to estimate the relationship between temperature and probability of mosquito occurrence. We found that thermal minima (r = 0.87) and, to a lesser degree, thermal optima (r = 0.69) estimated from laboratory studies were correlated with those from the species distribution models. For most species, we did not detect thermal maxima. These results suggest that laboratory studies and field-based machine learning studies are complementary. Together, they can help to better understand vector response to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic climate change and associated increasing nutrient loading to coasts will worsen coastal eutrophication on a global scale. Basin Head is a coastal lagoon located in northeastern Prince Edward Island, Canada, with a federally protected ecosystem. Nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) is conveyed from agricultural fields in the watershed to the eutrophic lagoon via intertidal groundwater springs and groundwater-dominated tributaries. A field program focused on four main tributaries that discharge into the lagoon was conducted to measure year-round NO3-N loading. These measurements were used to calibrate a SWAT+ hydrologic model capable of simulating hydrologic and NO3-N loads to the lagoon. Several climate change scenarios incorporating different agricultural best management practices (BMPs) were simulated to better understand potential future NO3-N loading dynamics. Results indicate that all climate change scenarios produced increased annual NO3-N loading to the lagoon when comparing historical (1990-2020) to end of century time periods (2070-2100); however, only one climate scenario (MRI-ESM2-0 SSP5-8.5) resulted in a statistically significant (p-value <0.05) increase. Enlarged buffer strips and delayed tillage BMP simulations produced small (0%-8%) effects on loading, while changing the crop rotation from potato-barley-clover to potato-soybean-barley yielded a small reduction in NO3-N loading between the historical period and the end of the century (26%-33%). Modeling revealed changes in seasonal loading dynamics under climate change where NO3-N loads remained more consistent throughout the year as opposed to current conditions where the dominant load is in the spring. An increase in baseflow contributions to streamflow was also noted under climate change, with the largest change occurring in the winter (e.g., up to a five-fold increase in February). These findings have direct implications for coastal management in groundwater-dominated agricultural watersheds in a changing climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-impact river floods are often caused by very extreme precipitation events with return periods of several decades or centuries, and the design of flood protection measures thus relies on reliable estimates of the corresponding return values. However, calculating such return values from observations is associated with large statistical uncertainties due to the limited length of observational time series, uneven spatial distributions of rain gauges and trends associated with anthropogenic climate change. Here, 100-year return values of daily precipitation are estimated on a global grid based on a large data set of model-generated precipitation events from ensemble weather prediction. In this way, the statistical uncertainties in the return values can be substantially reduced compared to observational estimates due to the substantially longer time series. In spite of a general agreement in spatial patterns, the model-generated data set leads to systematically higher return values than the observations in many regions, with statistically significant differences, for instance, over the Amazon, western Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and India. This might be linked to an overestimation of tropical extreme precipitation in the model or an underestimation of extreme precipitation events in observations, which, if true, would have important consequences for practical water management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) would have substantial impacts on global precipitation patterns, especially in the vulnerable tropical monsoon regions. We assess these impacts in experiments that apply the same freshwater hosing to four state‐of‐the‐art climate models with bistable AMOC. As opposed to previous results, we find that the spatial and seasonal patterns of precipitation change are remarkably consistent across models. We focus on the South American Monsoon (SAM), the West African Monsoon (WAM), the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) and the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM). Models consistently suggest substantial disruptions for WAM, ISM, and EASM with shorter wet and longer dry seasons (−29.07%, −18.76%, and −3.78% ensemble mean annual rainfall change, respectively). Models also agree on changes for the SAM, suggesting rainfall increases overall, in contrast to previous studies. These are more pronounced in the southern Amazon (+43.79%), accompanied by decreasing dry‐season length. Consistently across models, our results suggest a robust and major rearranging of all tropical monsoon systems in response to an AMOC collapse. Plain Language Summary: The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a key element of the Earth's climate system, transporting large amounts of heat and salt northward in the upper layers of the Atlantic Ocean. Although its likelihood remains highly uncertain, a collapse of the AMOC in response to anthropogenic climate change would have catastrophic ecological and societal consequences. This is especially true in the vulnerable monsoon regions of the tropics. Yet, the precise effects of an AMOC collapse on the tropical monsoon systems remain unclear. We take advantage of a climate model intercomparison project, and provide a detailed and systematic analysis of the seasonal impacts of an AMOC collapse on the major tropical monsoon systems. We find remarkable, previously unseen, agreement between four independent state‐of‐the‐art climate models. Consistently across models, our results suggest major rearranging of all tropical monsoon systems in response to an AMOC collapse. Key Points: A collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) would cause a major rearrangement of all tropical monsoon systemsFour state‐of‐the‐art climate models show remarkable agreement on the effects of an AMOC collapseRevealed impacts persist for at least 100 years, and so are irreversible over at least a human lifetime [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews the exhibition "Minumum Cost Housing Group: Design for the Global Majority Project" held at Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture in Montreal, Quebec from October 2-27, 2023.

Brazil, despite possessing the largest renewable freshwater reserves in the world (8.65 trillion m3 annually), faces growing challenges in water management due to increasing demand. Agriculture, responsible for 68.4% of water consumption, is one of the main drivers of this demand, especially in the São Francisco River Basin, where irrigation accounts for 81% of total water withdrawals. Water bodies play a crucial role in sustaining ecosystems and supporting life, particularly along the East-West axis of Alagoas, a water-rich region in the ENEB. This study aimed to map and quantify the spatiotemporal variations of water bodies in the ENEB region and assess the impacts of human activities using MODIS satellite data, applying hydrological indices such as NDWI, MNDWI, and AWEI. Between 2003 and 2022, significant variations in the extent of water bodies were observed, with reductions of up to 100 km2 during dry periods and expansions of up to 300 km2 during wet seasons compared to dry periods. AWEI and MNDWI proved to be the most effective indices for detecting water bodies with MODIS data, providing accurate insights into water dynamics. Additionally, the MapBiomas Rios dataset, despite being resampled from a 30 m to a 500 m resolution, offered the most accurate representation of water bodies due to its methodology for data acquisition. Changes in albedo and surface temperature were also detected, highlighting the influence of climate change on the region's water resources. These findings are crucial for guiding the sustainable management of water resources, not only in Alagoas but also in other regions of Brazil and similar semi-arid areas around the world. The study demonstrates the hydrological variability in the state of Alagoas, indicating the need for adaptive strategies to mitigate the impacts of climate change and anthropogenic pressures, supporting the need for informed decision-making in water resource management at both local and national levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]