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Climate extremes are threatening transportation infrastructures and hence require new methods to address their vulnerability and improve their resilience. However, existing studies have yet to examine the climate impacts on transportation networks systematically rather than independently assessing the infrastructures at a component level. Therefore, it is crucial to configure alternative shipping routes from a systematic perspective to reduce climate vulnerabilities and optimise the resilience of the whole shipping network. This paper aims to assess the global shipping network focusing on climate resilience by a methodology that combines climate risk indicators, centrality analysis and ship routing optimisation. The methodology is designed for overviewing the climate vulnerability of the current and future scenarios for comparison. First, a multi-centrality assessment defines the global shipping hubs and network vulnerabilities. Secondly, a shipping model is built for finding the optimal shipping route between ports, considering the port disruption days caused by climate change (e.g. extreme weather) based on the climate vulnerability analysis result from the first step. It contributes to a new framework combining the global and local seaport climate vulnerabilities. Furthermore, it recommends changing shipping routes by a foreseeable increase in port disruptions caused by extreme weather for climate adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme climate change has occurred over the last decade, which has impacted the port and shipping industries. Port operations are vulnerable to the detrimental effects of climate change, which are predicted to present significant challenges to port operators. The impact is adverse and adapting to it has become crucial. Given the initial state of research on climate change, this paper aims to provide a thorough overview via a Systematic Literature Review of its issues, impacts on port operations, and adaptation strategies. The findings indicate that several issues influence port operations, such as sea-level rise, storm surges, and extreme winds. The study clearly showed that the port has been identified as being vulnerable to climate change and there has already been an intrusion into port operations worldwide. Furthermore, the potential solutions to climate change adaptation have also been addressed, and the most suggested options include modernising the port infrastructure, relocating the port, and developing a symbiotic relationship with the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an integrated study on the effects of human activity, climate change and crustal movement on the changes of the middle reaches of the Tarim River in China. Remote sensing images and rainfall data from 38 stations from 1970 to 2021 were used for the research. The precise point positioning (PPP) approach was applied to ascertain the crustal movement of the study area using 256 Global Positioning System (GPS) station data of the recent 20 years. The results show that in the past 50 years the studied reaches of the river has moved north at maximum 2940 m or 57.9 m on average, and human activity may have played a dominant role in this change though extreme events of climate may have also taken a part in it. However, before the Anthropocene, its northeast migration is likely associated with crustal movement as the basin bottom inclines to northeast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite being the most tangibly impacted by the first-order effects of a warming climate, much of Australia's agricultural regions have remained relatively conservative in their views on climate change and the need for adaptation. This paper aims to understand how the experience of an extreme climate event like the 2017–2020 drought might shift opinions and values on these issues within agricultural communities. Through in-depth interviews with 20 graziers across Northwest NSW during the worst days of the drought, we found that various psychological lock-ins, historical memories of resilience, and local cultural values appeared to be undermining the perception of their vulnerability, while enhancing perceptions of their ability to endure. Such discursive constructions appear to explain why a jarring climatic event like the 2017–2020 drought was failing to produce a noticeable shift in their views. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the adaptive capacity of the Australian port workforce and its preparedness to manage the likely impact of climatic shifts and extreme weather events. Qualitative interviews and focus groups were conducted across three case-ports in which a wide range of adaptive capacity elements, including systems and processes, skills and knowledge and organizational culture and norms, were explored. In total, 15 interviews and three focus groups were organized, totaling 69 participant-hours of rich qualitative data. Findings suggest that the ports seem to have established a variety of systems and processes to cope with and manage the impacts of extreme weather events. Although acknowledging the need for continuous improvement, the management staff were confident about the effectiveness of current systems and processes to tackle the potential threats from extreme weather events. The general view was that additional adaption measures are not required to specifically deal with the impacts of extreme weather. However, it was also acknowledged that strengthening of adaptive capacity could be enhanced by mainstreaming climate considerations into existing risk evaluation, workforce management, and operational systems. Whilst sustainability issues are becoming increasingly important to port businesses, it is argued that ports should integrate climate change adaptation as part of their wider risk management strategies, as well as their sustainable development agenda to update and guide the actions, behaviours, and practices of the port workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydro-hazards are increasing in frequency due to climate change which has inspired a cultural change in Flood Risk Management (FRM). Uncertainty associated with climate change has resulted in a shift towards flood resilience as it helps deal with unexpected climatic perturbations that impact extreme flows. The concept of resilience has increased in popularity, leading to a multitude of definitions, measurements and applications. This paper systematically reviews the FRM literature to provide clarity on the differing perspectives of resilience and how they influence successful implementation of the concept. Our analysis assesses where FRM is positioned within three pre-defined interdisciplinary understandings of resilience. The polysemic nature of resilience has produced a multitude of different perspectives that prevent successful operationalisation. Resilience is interdisciplinary; therefore it requires integration between top-down and bottom-up FRM approaches, as well as a more holistic approach to the interdependence between temporal and spatial scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has long been recognized that there is a link between sustainable development, poverty and consistent access to useable water. Increased population is requiring more water and changing climate is altering the hydrological cycle making the water less accessible at the time when it is required. Combining the measurement of water availability and the socioeconomic capacity towards its access gives new insights in the fields of water resources management and poverty alleviation, which ultimately address the agenda of sustainable development. This paper customizes the water poverty index (WPI) indicators to encompass the climatic extremes and social settings to analyse the water stresses to the community people and their capacity to manage the water extremes focusing on the water availability in climatic variability condition in Karnali river basin in western Nepal. The indicators of the WPI were based on the multiple aspects of water focusing to water quantity and availability. The WPI is not only a useful tool to monitor progress; but it can even be used to identify areas of greatest need, thereby enabling prioritization of action in the water sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In August 2003, Western Europe experienced a deadly heat wave. It is estimated that 15,000 people died in France from its direct effects. Applying an indirect estimation technique to the monthly number of deaths by sex, age, and place of residence for the period 1996-2003, we estimate the number of years that would have remained to those who died from the heat wave had they been spared. The paper also evaluates the role of the 'harvesting' effect of the 2003 heat wave in explaining the deficit of deaths recorded in 2004 - estimated at 23,000 out of an expected total of 535,000 deaths. The harvesting effect was modest and accounted for fewer than 5,000 of the 'missing' deaths in 2004. The mortality decline in 2004 is thus due mainly to other factors. One hypothesis is that special efforts have been directed towards isolated older people as a consequence of the heat wave. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]