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The moisture sources of precipitation in the Tianshan Mountains, one of the regions with the highest precipitation in Central Asia during 1979–2017 are comprehensively and quantitatively summarized by using a Lagrangian moisture source detection technique. Continental sources provide about 93.2% of the moisture for precipitation in the Tianshan Mountain, while moisture directly from the ocean is very limited, averaging only 6.8%. Central Asia plays a dominant role in providing moisture for all sub‐regions of the Tianshan Mountains. For the Western Tianshan, moisture from April to October comes mainly from Central Asia (41.4%), while moisture from November to March is derived primarily from Western Asia (45.7%). Nearly 13.0% of moisture to precipitation for Eastern Tianshan in summer originates from East and South Asia, and the Siberia region. There is a significant decreasing trend in the moisture contribution of local evaporation and Central Asia in the Eastern Tianshan during winter. The contribution of moisture from Europe to summer precipitation in the Central and Eastern Tianshan and the contribution of the North Atlantic Ocean to summer precipitation in the Northern, Central, and Eastern Tianshan also exhibit a decreasing trend. The largest increase in moisture in Western Tianshan stems from West Asia during extreme winter precipitation months. Europe is also an important contributor to extreme precipitation in the Northern Tianshan. The moisture from East and South Asia and Siberia during extreme precipitation months in both winter and summer is significantly enhanced in the Eastern Tianshan., Key Points: Local evaporation and Central Asia play a leading role in providing moisture for all sub‐regions of the Tianshan Mountains. The largest moisture component during the months of extreme winter precipitation for Western Tianshan derives from western Asia. Moisture from East and South Asia and Siberia during extreme precipitation months is significantly enhanced in the Eastern Tianshan., China Scholarship Council, Humboldt‐Universität zu Berlin, https://zenodo.org/record/6451656#.YrrfbqhBwuU

Purpose: In urban areas, humans shape the surface, (re-)deposit natural or technogenic material, and thus become the dominant soil formation factor. The 2015 edition of the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) describes anthropogenic urban soils as Anthrosols or Technosols, but the methodological approaches and classification criteria of national soil classification systems are rather inconsistent. Stringent criteria for describing and mapping anthropogenic soils in urban areas and their application are still lacking, although more than half (53%) of the urban soils in Berlin are built-up by or contain anthropogenic material., Materials and methods: On behalf of the Berlin Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection and in close cooperation with the German Working Group for Urban Soils, a comprehensive guideline for soil description in the Berlin metropolitan area (BMA), with special regard to anthropogenic/technogenic parent material and anthropogenic soils, has been developed. Our approach includes all previous standard works for soil description and mapping and is based on studies that have been conducted in the BMA over the last five decades. Special emphasis was placed on the integration of our manual into the classification system of the German soil mapping guideline (KA5)., Results and discussion: The extension of existing data fields (e.g., the further subdivision of land use types) as well as the creation of new data fields (e.g., pH value) adapted to the requirements of urban soil mapping has been carried out. Additional technogenic materials that occur in urban environments have been added to the list of anthropogenic parent materials. Furthermore, we designed appendices that clearly characterize typical soil profiles of the BMA and depict technogenic materials, their physical and chemical characteristics, as well as their origin and distribution. Our approach will set new benchmarks for soil description and mapping in urban environments, which will improve the quality of urban soil research in the BMA. It is expected that our approach will provide baselines for urban soil mapping in other metropolitan areas., Conclusions: Our guideline is a comprehensive manual for the description of urban soils within a national soil classification system. This mapping guideline will be the future standard work for soil surveys and soil mapping in the federal state of Berlin. Currently, representatives from federal and state authorities are reviewing our guideline, with a view to potentially integrating key components into the classification system of the forthcoming 6th edition of the German soil mapping guideline (KA6)., Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection

Importance of evaluation of global hydrological models (gHMs) before doing climate impact assessment was underlined in several studies. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of six gHMs in simulating observed discharge for a set of 57 large catchments applying common metrics with thresholds for the monthly and seasonal dynamics and summarize them estimating an aggregated index of model performance for each model in each basin. One model showed a good performance, and other five showed a weak or poor performance in most of the basins. In 15 catchments, evaluation results of all models were poor. The model evaluation was supplemented by climate impact assessment for a subset of 12 representative catchments using (1) usual ensemble mean approach and (2) weighted mean approach based on model performance, and the outcomes were compared. The comparison of impacts in terms of mean monthly and mean annual discharges using two approaches has shown that in four basins, differences were negligible or small, and in eight catchments, differences in mean monthly, mean annual discharge or both were moderate to large. The spreads were notably decreased in most cases when the second method was applied. It can be concluded that for improving credibility of projections, the model evaluation and application of the weighted mean approach could be recommended, especially if the mean monthly (seasonal) impacts are of interest, whereas the ensemble mean approach could be applied for projecting the mean annual changes. The calibration of gHMs could improve their performance and, consequently, the credibility of projections., BMBF, JSPS KAKENHI, NSFC

The predominant responses to rising sea levels are in situ adaptations. However, increasing rates of sea-level rise will render ex situ adaptations—in the form of relocations—inevitable in some low-lying coastal zones. Particularly small island states like the Maldives face this significant adaptation challenge. Here, government action is necessary to move vulnerable communities out of flood-prone areas. Yet, little empirical knowledge exists about the governance of relocations. While the literature often highlights risks and benefits of relocations, it remains unclear how governments organized relocations and what drove relocation policy. Therefore, we examined Maldivian relocation policies from 1968 to 2018 to explain government support of relocations. For this, we used a qualitative research design and extended the multiple streams approach with the theoretical lens of historical institutionalism. To gather data, we conducted semi-structured interviews (n = 23) with relocation policy experts and locals affected by relocations. Interview data was complemented with a desk review of relevant laws, historical records, and policy documents. We find 29 completed and 25 failed cases of relocations in the 50-year period. Key drivers of relocation policies are focusing events, socioeconomic development, and institutionalized island autonomy. We find that relocations were predominantly initiated as means to facilitate economic development, not as a response to rising seas or coastal risk. With current rapid economic development and strengthened democratic institutions, relocations are not considered as a policy option anymore. We conclude that implementing relocations proactively will face significant barriers in the future, which highlights the urgency of successful in situ adaptations in the Maldives., Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (1034)

Purpose: Sb is a metalloid that naturally occurs in traces in the Northern German Lowland Area, only. Its frequent and still growing demand for industrial purposes and its release during coal combustion and by vehicular emissions lead to an enrichment of Sb in topsoils. Numerous analyses on heavy metals have been conducted in the urban environment so far, but although Sb can be ecologically harmful and potentially carcinogenic, only few studies on Sb in soils were carried out., Materials and methods: Due to the formation of anthropogenic soils by men, especially in the course of industrialization and after World War II, more than 50% of the Berlin soils consist of anthropogenic material like redeposited natural material, debris, waste, or ashes. This composition of soils of the Berlin Metropolitan Area can function as a model for other metropolitan regions of Central Europe. In the urban and peri-urban area of Berlin, analysis of more than 900 topsoil samples has been performed measuring the content of 12 heavy metals and metalloids (Al, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, and Zn). As a reference for the natural environment, soil profiles of typical parent rock material have been investigated taking also the regional (0.3 mg/kg), the local background value (0.61 mg/kg), and the baseline value (0.07 mg/kg) for Sb into account., Results: By doing so, we could show the spatial distributional pattern of Sb in the Berlin Metropolitan Area and statistically evaluate our results in dependency of land-use, parent material, and soil parameters such as organic carbon content and pH. Thereby, we could prove an average enrichment two to six times over the regional background value. Median Sb content is very low in forest topsoils (0.54 mg/kg) and reaches its maximum in roadside soils (1.75 mg/kg). Technogenic materials, vehicular emissions, industrial processes, and (former) land-use are the predominant factors for Sb enrichment and distribution in the study area. Some single samples show an enrichment of up to 600% of the regional background value for topsoils., Conclusion: Our study revealed that the Sb content in the Berlin Metropolitan Area is elevated compared to natural environments. Furthermore, we could demonstrate that Sb is a previously neglected key pollutant, specific to metropolitan areas. Due to the high environmental relevance, further Sb data from selected investigated spaces in other metropolises and specific land-use types are needed to assess the potential environmental risk of Sb in metropolitan areas., Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (1034)

Peacemakers Project team members: Koç University: Project Coordinator: Nilüfer Akpınar Şahin,Scientific Coordinator: Şebnem Köşer Akçapar, Project Assistant: Bora Berke Şahin; Universidade Aberta: Mário José Filipe da Silva, Lúcio Sousa, Rosa Maria Sequeira, Joaquim Gronita, Natália Ramos; University of Bologna: Monica Rubini, Silvia Moscatelli, Michela Menegatti, Elisabetta Crocetti, Francesca Prati, Flavia Albarello; Erasmus University Rotterdam: Phyllis Livaha; Gaziantep University: Metin Bedir, Ins. Simge Akbaş; Humboldt Universitat zu Berlin: Matthes, Kristin Küter. The ongoing refugee crisis in Europe and Turkey reinforced xenophobic and anti-immigrant sentiment, manifested in attacks on migrants, and those perceived as foreigners and support for populist anti-immigration parties in many European Union (EU) states. In many of the EU member states, high levels of immigration appear to have produced an increase in hostility toward immigrants (Quillian 1995; McLaren 1996b), increased support for right-wing parties (Knigge 1998; Lewis-Beck & Mitchell 1993), and even produced violent right-wing behaviour (McLaren 1999). “In September, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein warned leaders of populist parties in Europe about the corrosive effect on societies of their instrumentalization of bigotry and xenophobia for political ends.” (Human Rights Watch, 2017). As we see this trend continuing in Europe and Turkey, the question to ask is how to reduce intergroup prejudice and discrimination in order to promote inter-ethnic social inclusion. Indeed, immigration is very often source of “shock of the culture” for both native and immigrant people, often leading to what is called the “integration crisis”, that is, a conflictual situation among individuals with different geographical, cultural, or ethnic background. Such crisis is often caused by the necessity for individuals to redefine social interactions and norms that are adaptive for all social groups. To do this, it is essential to understand the perspective of both native, or the majority, and immigrant people, or the minority group. Research on social integration has shown that the inclusion of the new members in the host societies is the basis for social cohesion (Fleras, 2009), and continuous positive contacts between members of different groups (Allport, 1954) are necessary, as they increase native people’ knowledge about immigrants and vice versa, then break prejudices and stereotypes, facilitating the social cohesion. With the support of the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Supraglacial deposits of tephra or volcaniclastics have the potential to cause significant anomalies of glacier ablation and runoff. The intensity of these anomalies is governed by the thermal resistivity of the covering layer and hence the thermal conductivity of the deposited grains. This study concentrates on causal and quantitative relationships between density, geochemical composition and thermal conductivity of volcanic materials based on the analysis of 43 samples from locations across Iceland. Thermal conductivity is primarily influenced by density, whereas geochemical composition has been proved to be of subsidiary importance. Four different multiple regression models were calibrated that calculate the grain thermal conductivity of a volcanic material based on rock properties and geochemical composition. In a subsequent step, the bulk thermal conductivity of the respective deposit is calculated as a function of porosity and degree of water saturation. Examples using volcanic material from the Eyjafjallajökull 2010 and Grímsvötn 2011 eruptions confirm that the presented calculation scheme can be executed using only limited geochemical data as input. This facilitates an easy application of the modeling scheme immediately after a volcanic eruption., Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001659