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Despite some honorable advances, a huge quantity of public, private, and civil climate adaptation initiatives have failed to work in the Santa Catarina State (SC), Southern Brazil. Consequently, the state continues to face climate impacts; sometimes resulting in human fatalities. The main objective of this paper is to present a case study (Tapera da Base) within the context of the project, "Climate Change and Vulnerable Populations in Brazil", which discusses the problems associated with climate adaptation and relates these to risk-reducing activities. The methodology adopted involved: identifying local development organizations, focus group, interviews, and survey among families in the most vulnerable areas. The main findings show that Tapera residents do not associate the possible increase in their vulnerability to climate dynamics. They point to areas such as education, sanitation, and social assistance, as their most important local problems; thus not including climate change. To generate genuine participation it is crucial to creating initiatives that promote a social learning space for residents to evaluate their self-state of vulnerability and possibilities of development. Therefore climate change can make sense and the responses at the community level will be created in the context that shape how climate risk is perceived, prioritized and managed. • Climate change is only one of the existing hazard to communities are historically exposed. • Climate adaptation strategies development must be multidimensional and address community needs. • Adaptation must be based in the recognition of the vulnerability state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biogeographic studies often underline the role of glacial dynamism during Pleistocene (1.806–0.011 Mya) in shaping the distribution of subterranean species. Accordingly, it is presumed that present‐day distribution of most specialized cold‐adapted (cryophilic) cave‐dwelling species should bear the signatures of past climatic events. To test this idea, we modelled the distribution of specialized cold‐adapted subterranean alpine harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones: Ischyropsalididae: Ischyropsalis). We found that the distance from the glacier margins during Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; about 22,000 years ago) was the most important predictor of their present‐day distribution. In particular, the peak in the probability of occurrence of alpine subterranean Ischyropsalis was found to be in close proximity to the LGM glacier, with a sharp drop at a distance of 30 km from the ice margin. In light of the role played by past climatic events in determining the species current range, we briefly discuss their biogeographic history and the role played by glacial refugia dynamics in determining the current distribution of these species. We argue that low dispersal harvestmen such as our model species can be used as biological indicators for tracking past glaciations and other similar biogeographic events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management of nutrient inputs and usage of nuisance biomass as feedstock for bioenergy may be the solution of coastal lagoons eutrophication. We studied the species composition, photosynthetic pigments (Chl-a and Chl-c) and performance (OJIP-kinetics and JIP-test parameters), biochemistry (lipids and carbohydrates composition), and hydrogen production potential of Limnoraphis (Lyngbya) nuisance biomass collected from Lafri lagoon (1.24 km2) in Greece. The results showed that the removal of algal biomass from Lafri lagoon before its sedimentation, characterized by low Fν/Fm (0.42) and PItotal (2.67) values, and transfer of this in a simple, closed bioreactor, has the potential to produce hydrogen (H2), a renewable CO2-neutral energy that can directly be converted into electricity. The free carbohydrates of the lagoon water and that from the algal cells (42g glucose analogs per m3) could be also transferred to alcohols (biofuels), while the rest of the biomass could be used as organic fertilizer. The total lipid content (2.51%) of dry biomass composed primarily by palmitic acid was low. However, the presence of eicosapentaenoic (3.5%), and docosahexaenoic (1.7%), polyunsaturated fatty acids is worth mentioning. By harvesting and conversion of this coastal lagoon nuisance algal biomass to energy or other products, one could improve its water quality and, therefore, biodiversity and fish production; that is a sustainable solution of eutrophication necessary for the ongoing climatic change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Biociências is the property of Revista Biociencias and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Historical temperature data of Palestine in the 20th century have been analysed using time series analysis to detect the warming and cooling phases. Linear regression analysis was used to identify the signs and the magnitude of the temperatures trends. Linear correlation coefficient is used to identify the strength of the relationships of the temperature with time. The warming of the first and last decades is a general feature of the monthly, seasonal and annual temperature. The strongest positive trend of 1.2°C/100 years was found in summer and spring, while autumn and winter were warmed by 0.32°C and 0.95°C/100 years respectively. The annual temperature of the last century (1901- 2000) was warmed by 0.9°C. The strongest warming trend was found in the next half of the last century, particularly from around 1970s/mid1980s onward. Annual temperature was significantly warmed by 1.1°C from 1980 onward. Seasonal warming trend from mid 1980s onward was 1.1°C for both Summer and Autumn, and 0.5°C to 0.7°C for Spring and Winter respectively. T-test was applied to validate the statistical significance of the mean temperature differences between 1901-1950 and 1951-2000. Monthly, seasonal and annual temperatures in 1951-2000 showed positive and statistically significant differences, except for a few months. There was gradual decreasing trend/cooling for February and March from 1970s onward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the impact of climate change on range shifts in climatically suitable habitats of tree species is important for national afforestation planning, which can enhance the adaptation of tree plantation to climate change through movement of tree to follow suitable climatic conditions. Here, we overlap the current and future climate-related ranges of Chinese sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides subsp. sinensis), an important tree used for afforestation in China, to estimate the range shift in three geographic dimensions (latitude, longitude and elevation) between 2000 and 2070, which are projected by the maximum entropy algorithm (MaxEnt) under current climate conditions and four climate change scenarios (RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6.0, and RCP8.5). Our results show that the performance of the MaxEnt is highly accurate, with test AUC (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve) value of 0.91, Kappa value of 0.83 and predicted accuracy of 92%. About 10.7% area of land in China is climatically suitable for Chinese sea buckthorn plantation. Low representative concentration paths will have more effect on loss of climatic range and less effect on expansion of climatic range for Chinese sea buckthorn, while the impacts of high representative concentration path is the opposite. The centroids of climatic ranges will shift westward or northwestward at the rate of 10.4–22 km per decade, and the centroids of altitude will shift upward at the rate of 43–128 m per decade. The expansion area of climatically suitable habitat, covering 2.6–5.2 × 105 km2, is expected to be mainly located in parts of Qinghai, Ningxia, Gansu, Sichuan, Liaoning, and Jilin provinces; these areas should be monitored for planting of Chinese sea buckthorn in the future [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study employs a cross-sectional Ricardian Model to investigate impact of temperature and rainfall on wheat growers’ net-return in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province of Pakistan. Data for this purpose are collected from 255 wheat growers, selected from Southern, Central and Northern climatic zones of KP. Results from descriptive statistical analysis demonstrate that net-return per acre from wheat crop is highest in the Central zone because of conducive agro-climatic conditions. The estimated Cross-sectional Ricardian Model reveals that temperature and rainfall have non-linear relationships with net-return per acre. The relationship between growers’ net-return and atmospheric temperature, represented with a temperature response curve, is inverted U shaped having a yield maximizing temperature level of 25°C. The rainfall response curve for net-return is U shaped and the minimum net-return rainfall level is 89.6mm. Forecasting of net-returns for the whole KP reveals that an increase in temperature by 2°C from current average level could reduce wheat growers’ net-return by 37 percent. Increase in rainfall by 20 percent from current level could increase net-return by 6 percent. In the Central and Southern climatic zones of KP, where average monthly temperature in wheat season is above 25°C, wheat growers’ net return per acre could be hugely affected by temperature increase due to climate change. This change in temperature could positively affect wheat growers’ net-return in the Northern zone. Development of new seed varieties with increased heat tolerance and provision of timely and sufficient water for irrigation would be helpful in reducing future potential losses to wheat growers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated how the combined changes in environmental conditions and nitrogen (N) deposition influence the mineralization processes and carbon (C) dynamics of wetland soil. For this objective, we conducted a growth chamber experiment to examine the effects of combined changes in environmental conditions and N deposition on the anaerobic decomposition of organic carbon and the emission of greenhouse gases from wetland soil. A chamber with elevated CO2 and temperature showed almost twice the reduction of total decomposition rate compared to the chamber with ambient atmospheric conditions. In addition, CO2 fluxes decreased during the incubation under the conditions of ambient CO2 and temperature. The decrease in anaerobic microbial metabolism resulted from the presence of vegetation, which influences the litter quality of soils. This can be supported by the increase in C/N ratio over the experimental duration. Principle component analysis results demonstrated the opposite locations of loadings for the cases at the initial time and after three months of incubation, which indicates a reduction in the decomposition rate and an increasing C/N ratio during the incubation. From the distribution between the decomposition rate and gas fluxes, we concluded that anaerobic decomposition rates do not have a significantly positive relationship with the fluxes of greenhouse gas emissions from the soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The queen conch, Strombus ( Lobatus) gigas, is one of six species of conch distributed throughout the Caribbean of significant commercial importance. The Caribbean region is adversely impacted by climate change, which affects the marine ecosystems and the calcification process of organisms with calcareous structures, such as mollusks. We tested the influence of global warming predicted in 2100 on queen conch, Strombus gigas larval development, growth, survival rate, and calcification by exposing egg masses and larvae to increased temperatures (28, 28.5, 29, 29.5, and 30 °C) for 30 days. For analysis of calcification, imaging and chemical mapping (proportion, wt) were performed on 30-day-old larvae using a high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). A temperature of 30 °C resulted in the highest larval growth rate (mean ± SD 27.33 ± 2.96 μm day), significantly among treatments ( p ≤ 0.05). Development was fastest at 30 °C, where the first larvae settled by day 27 (49%) and the mortality rate was 76%. At 28 °C, day 29 was the first day where settlement was observed for 20% of the larvae. There are significant differences among treatments on larval growth and development. The calcification process of S. gigas larvae was not affected by the experimental temperatures tested. Percent Ca content of shelled larvae showed no significant differences among treatments (mean ± SD 25.44 ± 4.74 and 24.99 ± 0.74% w for larvae grown at 30 and 28 °C, respectively). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind and waves are key components of the climate system as they drive air-sea interactions and influence weather systems and atmospheric circulation. In marine environments, understanding surface wind and wave fields and their evolution over time is important for conducting safe and efficient human activities, such as navigation and engineering. This study considers long-term trends in the sea surface wind speed (WS) and significant wave height (SWH) in the China Seas over the period 1988-2011 using the Cross-Calibrated Multi-Platform (CCMP) ocean surface wind product and a 24-year hindcast wave dataset obtained from the WAVEWATCH-III (WW3) wave model forced with CCMP winds. The long-term trends in WS and SWH in the China Seas are analyzed over the past 24 years to provide a reference point from which to assess future climate change and offshore wind and wave energy resource development in the region. Results demonstrate that over the period 1988-2011 in the China Seas: 1) WS and SWH showed a significant increasing trend of 3.38 cm s yr and 1.52 cm yr, respectively; 2) there were notable regional differences in the long-term trends of WS and SWH; 3) areas with strong increasing trends were located mainly in the middle of the Tsushima Strait, the northern and southern areas of the Taiwan Strait, and in nearshore regions of the northern South China Sea; and 4) the long-term trend in WS was closely associated with El Niño and a significant increase in the occurrence of gale force winds in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The constantly growing human needs for water aiming to supply urban areas or for energy production or irrigation purposes enforces the application of practices leading to its saving. The construction of dams has been continuously increasing in recent years, aiming at the collection and storage of water in the formed reservoirs. The greatest challenge that reservoirs face during their lifetime is the sedimentation caused by debris and by the effects of climate change on water harvesting. The paper presents an investigation on the amount, the position and the height of the debris ending up at the Nipsa reservoir. The assessment of the debris volume produced in the drainage basin was conducted by a geographical information system (GIS) based model, named TopRunDF, also used to predict the sedimentation area and the sediment deposition height in the sedimentation cone. The impact of climate change to the reservoir storage capacity is evaluated with the use of a water balance model triggered by the HadCM2, ECHAM4, CSIRO-MK2, CGCM1, CCSR-98 climate change models. The results predict a significant future decrease in the stored water volume of the reservoir, and therefore several recommendations are proposed for the proper future functioning and operation of the reservoir.

The objective of this study was to assess the effect of environmental variations on the abundance of Sardinella aurita and Sardinella maderensis in Senegalese waters in the upwelling system. Monthly data indicating the abundance of sardinella were first estimated from commercial statistics, using Generalized Linear Model from 1966 to 2011. Abundance indices (AIs) were then compared with environmental indices, at the local scale, a Coastal Upwelling Index (CUI) and a coastal Sea Surface Temperature (SST) index, and on a large scale, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) and the Multivariate El Niño Southern Oscillation Index (MEI), using correlations and times series analyses. The results showed that the abundance of sardinella is determined by a strong seasonal pattern and inter-annual fluctuations. The abundance of S. aurita peaked in spring and in autumn, whereas that of S. maderensis peaked in the warm season (July-September). The trend of the sardinella abundance was significantly correlated with the CUI, especially in autumn and spring. Interannual fluctuations of S. maderensis and S. aurita abundance are, respectively, driven by the precocity and the duration of the upwelling season that is attributed to distinct migration patterns. Both sardinella species also respond with a delay of around 4 years to the winter NAO index and the autumn CUI, and the AMO index, respectively, both related to migration patterns. The wide variations in sardinella biomass are caused by variations in environmental conditions, which should be considered in the implementation of an ecosystem-based approach in sardinella stocks management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming causes rapid shrinking of mountain glaciers. New lakes can, thus, form in the future where overdeepenings in the beds of still-existing glaciers are becoming exposed. Such new lakes can be amplifiers of natural hazards to downstream populations, but also constitute tourist attractions, offer new potential for hydropower, and may be of interest for water management. Identification of sites where future lakes will possibly form is, therefore, an essential step to initiate early planning of measures for risk reduction and sustainable use as part of adaptation strategies with respect to impacts from climate change. In order to establish a corresponding knowledge base, a systematic inventory of glacier-bed overdeepenings and possible future lakes was compiled for the still glacierized parts of the Peruvian Andes using the 2003-2010 glacier outlines from the national glacier inventory and the SRTM DEM from the year 2000. The resulting inventory contains 201 sites with overdeepened glacier beds >1 ha (104 m²) where notable future lakes could form, representing a total volume of about 260 million m³. A rough classification was assigned for the most likely formation time of the possible new lakes. Such inventory information sets the stage for analyzing sustainable use and hazard/risk for specific basins or regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Erdkunde is the property of Universitaet Bonn, Geographisches Institut and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

ABSTRACT In this study, a monthly water-balance model is used to simulate monthly runoff for 2109 hydrologic units ( HUs) in the conterminous United States ( CONUS) for water-years 1901 through 2014. The monthly runoff time series for each HU were smoothed with a 3-month moving average, and then the 3-month moving-average runoff values were converted to percentiles. For each HU, a drought was considered to occur when the HU runoff percentile dropped to the 20th percentile or lower. A drought was considered to end when the HU runoff percentile exceeded the 20th percentile. After identifying drought events for each HU, the frequency and length of drought events were examined. Results indicated that (1) the longest mean drought lengths occur in the eastern CONUS and parts of the Rocky Mountain region and the northwestern CONUS, (2) the frequency of drought is highest in the southwestern and central CONUS, and lowest in the eastern CONUS, the Rocky Mountain region, and the northwestern CONUS, (3) droughts have occurred during all months of the year and there does not appear to be a seasonal pattern to drought occurrence, (4) the variability of precipitation appears to have been the principal climatic factor determining drought, and (5) for most of the CONUS, drought frequency appears to have decreased during the 1901 through 2014 period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of African Archaeology is the property of Brill Academic Publishers and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Northern peatlands are an important source for greenhouse gases, but their capacity to produce methane remains uncertain under changing climatic conditions. We therefore analyzed a 43 year time series of the pore-water chemistry to determine if long-term shifts in precipitation altered the vertical transport of solutes within a large peat basin in northern Minnesota. These data suggest that rates of methane production can be finely tuned to multidecadal shifts in precipitation that drive the vertical penetration of labile carbon substrates within the Glacial Lake Agassiz Peatlands. Tritium and cation profiles demonstrate that only the upper meter of these peat deposits was flushed by downwardly moving recharge from 1965 to 1983 during a Transitional Dry-to-Moist Period. However, a shift to a moister climate after 1984 drove surface waters much deeper, largely flushing the pore waters of all bogs and fens to depths of 2 m. Labile carbon compounds were transported downward from the rhizosphere to the basal peat at this time producing a substantial enrichment of methane in Δ14C with respect to the solid-phase peat from 1991 to 2008. These data indicate that labile carbon substrates can fuel deep production zones of methanogenesis that more than doubled in thickness across this large peat basin after 1984. Moreover, the entire peat profile apparently has the capacity to produce methane from labile carbon substrates depending on climate-driven modes of solute transport. Future changes in precipitation may therefore play a central role in determining the source strength of peatlands in the global methane cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the data of the Alxa desert region and 27 meteorological stations recorded by 1960-2013, T ≥ 0 and T ≥ 10 °C accumulated temperatures were analyzed by using sliding average, linear regression, Mann-Kendall abrupt change test, and kriging interpolation methods. The results show that the T ≥ 0 °C accumulated temperature increased significantly by 9.94 °C/a and that of the T ≥ 10 °C increased by 8.88 °C/a during 1960-2013. The increases in the eastern study area were the most obvious, followed by those in the western and central regions. Additionally, the trends of these regions were highly consistent with that of the entire study area. The accumulated temperatures in the study area increased modestly prior to the 1980s, after which time a fairly steady climb began during the late 1980s. The two abrupt change points of T ≥ 0 and T ≥ 10 °C were in 1996 and 1998, respectively. Additionally, the accumulated temperatures increased significantly around 2000. The analysis shows that higher accumulated temperature occurred in the Alxa desert region than in the surrounding area. The distribution of increases in T ≥ 0 and T ≥ 10 °C accumulated temperatures around the study area presented varying spatial differentiation. For T ≥ 0 °C accumulated temperature, an increase at the edge of the Tengger desert was the most obvious. T ≥ 10 °C accumulated temperature exhibited a smaller increase than that of T ≥ 0 °C. In addition, the smallest amplitude of temperature increase was measured in the central Alxa desert region and in the surrounding area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A set of paleoflood slack water deposit (SWD) beds was identified within slope clasts at the Jinpingcun (JPC) site in the Jingyuan–Jingtai reaches of the upper Yellow River gorges based on sedimentary criteria and analytical results. Paleoflood hydrology methods were applied to reconstruct paleoflood events in the Jingyuan–Jingtai reaches. The paleoflood peak stages were calculated based on the highest end-point elevations of the SWDs. The HEC-RAS model and optically stimulated luminescence dating enabled robust paleo-discharge estimates to be calculated between 12,750 and 16,310 m3/s for paleoflood events that occurred during 3200–3000 a BP. The peak discharges, including gauged and historical flood data at the Lanzhou gauge station and the reconstructed paleoflood peak discharges at the JPC site, were input for flood frequency analysis. These paleo-hydrological approaches can also be applied to other regions in the Yellow River gorges. Furthermore, the ages of the paleoflood events correspond well with the known climatic events at 3100 a BP during Holocene climatic variability. These findings are significant for flood risk estimation, in the assessment of water sources in dryland environments, and in understanding the interactions between hydrological systems and climatic change in arid and semi-arid regions of the upper Yellow River in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bangladesh is reported to suffer from climatic changes, and local people begin to wonder that six seasons in Bangladeshi annual calendar transition to four seasons. We collected observations of key climate variables from the weather station in Dhaka, and conducted surveys with 1,011 respondents and seven experts to address whether six seasons are becoming four seasons. To scientifically identify this, we apply nonparametric statistical methods to the climate variables and test whether any pair of two neighboring seasons is converging into one. The statistical analysis shows 'convergence' for specific two pairs of two neighboring seasons, meaning that the annual calendar now consists of four seasons, not six. The 65 % of respondents believe that the annual calendar transitions to four seasons. The results imply that the effect of climatic changes becomes evident to the extent that people correctly perceive some fundamental seasonal changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Human anthrax is currently a sporadic disease in Europe, without significant regional clustering.Objective: To report an unexpected aggregate of anthrax cases and correlate local climatic factors with yearly anthrax admissions.Methods: Clinical description of a geographical-temporal anthrax aggregate, correlation of disease admissions with local weather data in the period 2001-2014 and literature reports of anthrax clusters from Europe in the last 20 years.Results: We identified 5 cases, all cutaneous: an unexpected aggregate of 4 cases in mid-summer 2011 (including a probable human-to-human transmission) and a sporadic case in August 2005, all in relatively dry periods (p < 0.05). Remarkably, 3/6 reports of human anthrax aggregates from Europe were observed in Balkan Peninsula countries in the year 2011.Conclusion: In the light of the predicted climatic change, unexpected anthrax aggregates during dry periods in southern Europe underscore the risk of future anthrax re-emergence on this continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Field & Vegetable Crops Research / Ratarstvo i povrtarstvo is the property of Institute of Field & Vegetable Crops and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Most rich-fen bryophyte species are currently declining and red listed in many European countries. Little is known about their past and current occurrence. We investigated past and recent bryophyte assemblages in mires in the land uplift coast of Finland. The study areas included primary succession areas where mire development started c. 6000 BP. In total, seven mires were studied in two successional transects along the land uplift coast. The past occurrences of rich-fen and other bryophytes were studied in 45 mire stratigraphic peat profiles, and recent occurrences were collected from 158 vegetation plots of 10 m × 10 m. Bryophyte subfossils indicated that the central parts of the basins developed first to wet rich fens with groundwater influence, which developed towards intermediate fens or poorer mire types. Most mire bryophytes occurred in about the same proportion in peat profiles as in recent vegetation. Five rich-fen species (Hamatocaulis lapponicus, H. vernicosus, Meesia longiseta, M. triquetra and Pseudocalliergon trifarium) were clearly more common in peat profiles than in the present mire vegetation, where these species were very rare and appeared only in small patches without sporophytes. These rich-fen species have had markedly wider distributions in the past, probably linked to climate fluctuations, whereas current occurrences are becoming scarce because of multiple anthropogenic factors such mire drainage and climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]