Climate Change Exposure Research Articles

Climate change exposure and internal carbon pricing adoption

AbstractGovernments and corporations around the world are increasingly pressured to manage climate‐related business risks and reduce their carbon footprint. Consequently, a growing number of corporations have started implementing internal carbon pricing (ICP) programs, assigning a monetary value to their carbon emissions as a mitigation and adaptation mechanism. This paper explores the motives underlying voluntary ICP adoption and examines whether a firm's exposure to climate‐related risks is a relevant driver of ICP adoption. Using a worldwide sample of firms reporting to the Carbon Disclosure Project between 2016 and 2018, we find that firm‐level climate change exposure is significantly and positively related to the likelihood of ICP adoption. More specifically, the probability of adoption is largely linked to regulatory shocks and opportunity exposure. Moreover, we find that board independence acts as a moderator in the climate change exposure–ICP adoption relation. The findings of this study shed light on the factors contributing to the acceleration in ICP implementation in the context of a coordinated effort between public and private sectors to reduce global emissions.

Green finance and decarbonization: Evidence from around the world

This paper studies the effect of green finance on decarbonization. Using a large sample of 46 countries, we show that green finance significantly reduces carbon emissions in the short and long run. This effect is driven by green bonds issued to support waste and pollution control and improve energy efficiency. The impact of green finance on carbon emissions is more pronounced in developed credit markets and economies with higher innovation success and higher climate change exposure. Our results are robust under the conditions of short-run and long-run homogeneity and the cross-sectional dependence in the sample.

Assessing the climate change exposure of foreign direct investment

This study deploys newly available data to examine the exposure of multinational companies’ overseas investments to physical climate risks. Globally, foreign investments are significantly exposed to lower physical climate risks, compared with local firms across countries. Within countries however, the differences of physical climate risks between foreign and local facilities are small. We also examine China, as it is fast becoming one of the largest sources of outward foreign investment across the globe. We find that foreign direct investment from China is significantly more exposed to water stress, floods, hurricanes and typhoon risks across countries, compared with other foreign facilities. Within host countries however, once again the physical climate risks of Chinese overseas facilities are comparable to those of non-Chinese foreign investments.

A Scoping Review of Climate Change, Climate-Related Disasters, and Mental Disorders among Children in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Children, particularly those living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), are highly vulnerable to climate change and its impacts. Our main objective was to conduct a scoping literature review to determine how exposure to climate change and climate-related disasters influences the presence of mental disorders among children in LMICs. We also aimed to identify gaps in this area of scholarship. We included studies of children in LMICs that had a climate change or climate-related disaster exposure and mental disorder outcome. Twenty-three studies were included in the final synthesis. Fourteen studies were conducted in China, three in India, two each in Pakistan and the Philippines, and one each in Namibia and Dominica. All studies assessed the association between a climate-related disaster exposure and a mental disorder outcome, while none explored broader climate change-related exposures. Post-traumatic stress disorder (n = 21 studies) and depression (n = 8 studies) were the most common mental disorder outcomes. There was considerable between-study heterogeneity in terms of sample size, follow-up length, and outcome measurement. Overall, the literature in this area was sparse. Additional high-quality research is required to better understand the impacts of climate-related disasters and climate change on mental disorders within this population to ultimately inform future policies and interventions.

Addressing Climate Change Vulnerability in the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems—Results Demonstrated for a Cross-Section of Major Vegetation-Based Ecosystem Types in the United States

The IUCN Red List of Ecosystems (RLE) is a global standard for ecosystem risk assessment that integrates data and knowledge to document the relative risk status of ecosystem types as critically endangered (CR), endangered (EN), and vulnerable (VU). A series of indicators for each type gauge the probability of range wide “collapse”. Climate change vulnerability can factor into RLE assessments, especially as indicators of climate change severity under the criteria for environmental degradation over the recent and upcoming 50 years. We applied a new framework to assess climate change vulnerability—and thus, severity of climate change degradation—to a cross-section of 33 upland ecosystem types in the United States to demonstrate this input to the RLE. The framework addressed climate exposure and ecosystem resilience. Measures of climate change exposure used climate projections for the mid-21st century compared against a 20th century baseline. Augmenting measures in use for RLE assessment, measures of resilience included several for adaptive capacity, including topoclimate variability, diversity with functional species groups, and vulnerability of any keystone species. All 33 types were listed as VU (n = 22), EN (n = 9), or CR (n = 2) and 51% scored at least one step higher (e.g., LC up to VU) from climate change severity.

Effects of Firms’ Business Ties With Government on Firm-Level Climate Change Exposure

Effects of Firms’ Business Ties With Government on Firm-Level Climate Change Exposure

Firm-level Climate Change Exposure and Cost Structure

Firm-level Climate Change Exposure and Cost Structure

Does threatened species listing status predict climate change risk? A case study with Australian Persoonia (Proteaceae) species

Climate change risk assessments are essential for the successful conservation and management of species under future climates. However, many management plans fail to include such assessments when evaluating threats to species or ecological communities. Species distribution models (SDMs) are versatile tools that can estimate species exposure to shifts in climate, but they lack information on the response capacity of species to climate change. Functional traits can be used in conjunction with SDMs to understand aspects of species biology that would suggest sensitivity to climate change. We illustrate how exposure to climate change and sensitivity of species based on their traits can be combined to generate predictions of climate change risk in four species listed as threatened (under state and federal legislation) and four unlisted plant species from the endemic Australian genus Persoonia (Proteaceae). We develop distribution models for each species using two emissions scenarios and assess four traits and two range metrics that are recognized as limiting factors in four potential climate change responses (reproduction, movement capability, habitat specialization, and spatial coverage) to assess the sensitivity of these eight species to climate change. Listed and unlisted species varied in niche breadth, environmental envelopes, and the percent contribution of variables to the model building process. Our models project a significant decline in habitat suitability under future climates at current occurrence locations for all species, and a 32–95% reduction in the total area (km 2 ) of suitable habitat for all species by 2060, with significantly greater decline under the higher emissions scenario. Seven out of the eight species assessed ranked high for overall climate sensitivity therefore listing status may be a poor indicator of climate change risk to plant species. This has important implications for the continued focus on threatened taxa in conservation planning, particularly for hyper-diverse groups like plants and invertebrates where a species listing status is influenced by an often-slow progress towards comprehensive assessments of threat status. • Projected climate change exposure was high for all Persoonia we assessed. • Species traits revealed high sensitivity to climate change among most Persoonia we assessed. • Exposure and sensitivity did not differ based on listing status. • A species listing status may be a poor indicator of climate change risk. • Suitable habitat loss for all species was higher under the higher emissions scenario.

Risk and Resilience: How Is the Health of Older Adults and Immigrant People Living in Canada Impacted by Climate- and Air Pollution-Related Exposures?

Background: In the rapidly shifting Canadian climate, an ageing population, and increased migration, a greater understanding of how local climate and air pollution hazards impact older adults and immigrant populations will be necessary for mitigating and adapting to adverse health impacts. Objectives: To explore the reported health impacts of climate change and air pollution exposures in older adults and immigrant people living in Canada, identify known factors influencing risk and resilience in these populations and gaps in the literature. Methods: We searched for research focused on older adults and immigrants living in Canada, published from 2010 onward, where the primary exposures were related to climate or air pollution. We extracted data on setting, exposures, health outcomes, and other relevant contextual factors. Results and Discussion: We identified 52 eligible studies, most focused in Ontario and Quebec. Older people in Canada experience health risks due to climate and air pollution exposures. The extent of the risk depends on multiple factors. We found little information about the climate- and air pollution-related health impacts experienced by immigrant communities. Conclusions: Further research about climate- and air pollution-related exposures, health, and which factors promote or reduce resiliency in Canada’s older adults and immigrant communities is necessary.

Uniting the Global Gastroenterology Community to Meet the Challenge of Climate Change and Non-Recyclable Waste

Uniting the Global Gastroenterology Community to Meet the Challenge of Climate Change and Non-Recyclable Waste

Changing opinions on a changing climate: the effects of natural disasters on public perceptions of climate change

The frequency and intensity of natural disasters such as hurricanes, wildfires, and floods are predicted to change as greenhouse gas concentrations increase. These disasters may represent sources of information for individuals as they update their beliefs related to climate change. Using a dataset that includes climate beliefs of respondents, we examine the effect of natural disasters on climate change beliefs and find that hurricanes significantly increase the probability that survey respondents from a given county believe that climate change is occurring and that it is human caused. We find that past experience with certain types of natural disasters (e.g., hurricanes) impacts beliefs regarding whether climate change is occurring and if it is human caused. The research contributes to the literature evaluating climate change attitudes by using spatially disaggregate information on climate change beliefs and exposure to a set of natural disasters over time. Characterizing beliefs and attitudes toward climate change and related policies is important since these beliefs are a determinant of individual adaptation and support for policies related to reducing carbon emissions.

Climate change, climate-related disasters and mental disorder in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review

IntroductionClimate change and climate-related disasters adversely affect mental health. Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and climate-related disasters and often lack adequate...

Assessment of climate change exposure of tourism in Hungary using observations and regional climate model data

Climate constitutes key resources for tourism since it influences the range of tourism activities and the development of tourism supply. Tourism is highly sensitive to changes in climate elements. It is extremely important for adaptation strategy-making to explore whether the tourism climate conditions in a given region and at a specific time are appropriate and how they may change in the future. This is described by the exposure of the tourism sector to climate conditions and climate change. In this study, we analyse the exposure of tourism for Hungary on a district level and every month (from March to November) with the help of the modified Tourism Climate Index. First, the present conditions are evaluated based on a gridded observational database CarpatClim-HU, which forms the basis for assessing the future conditions. Afterwards, the expected future circumstances are analysed using regional climate model outputs. In order to interpret the uncertainties of the climate projections properly, we use two different model results (HIRHAM5 and RACMO22E) relying on two emission scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5). The results have demonstrated that the most favourable conditions are found in spring (MAM) and autumn (SON), while in summer (JJA) a decline in climate potential is observed. According to the future tendencies, generally, a decline is expected between May and September, but the other investigated months usually bring an improvement. For a given emission scenario, the expected trend is quite similar for the two model experiments, while for a given climate model, the use of RCP8.5 scenario indicates larger changes than RCP4.5. The results prove that climate change will have an obvious impact on tourism potential in Hungary, and therefore tourism strategy development has to take into account this effect more than before.

Exploring community-level health impacts of extreme temperatures and air pollution in older adult and immigrant populations living in Edmonton, AB

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Climate change and air pollution pose a significant challenge to public health as the health impacts of these exposures are felt at a local scale and depend on socio-environmental context. However, knowledge of what factors promote or reduce resilience to these exposures in Edmonton, AB (pop 972,223) is largely missing. Assessing the relationship between exposures to air pollution and extreme temperatures and community health, we will generate novel insights into the development of climate change and air pollution resilience in older adults and immigrants. Findings will inform community-level planning for effective, targeted adaptation measures and lay groundwork for developing a real-time vulnerability index based on climate change. METHODS: This exploratory ecological study assessed spatial differences in the association between climatic and air pollution variables (extreme temperatures, ambient air pollution) and health events (cardiovascular, respiratory, mental health, and musculoskeletal outcomes) among Edmonton’s Dissemination Areas using generalized linear models. Community-level factors (demographics, socioeconomic status, social isolation, active living environment, health facility availability) were explored in terms of confounding and effect modification. RESULTS:Preliminary results indicate certain air pollutants are associated with a higher risk for increased rates of health events per capita, as well as increasing age. We observed a healthy immigrant effect; areas with higher proportions of immigrants demonstrated lower rates of cardiovascular, mental health, and injury events. Material and social deprivation, access to green space, and active living environment were identified as critical community-level factors in specific relationships. CONCLUSIONS:The effects of air pollution and climate change exposures on a northern metropolitan’s community health depend on specific exposures, outcomes, and community characteristics. We need to further characterize how population composition and community characteristics (i.e. access to healthcare, social support) drive local health risk to target higher risk populations with meaningful approaches to reduce the health impact of climate change and air pollution. KEYWORDS: climate change, air pollution, community health, older adults, immigrants

Heat Tolerance, Energetics, and Thermal Treatments of Honeybees Parasitized With Varroa

Ongoing global change affects both wildlife and economically relevant species, which are now subjected to combined challenges from climate change and higher exposure to pathogens. Honeybee colonies worldwide are under threat by higher temperatures and the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor, hence we studied the impact of these combined challenges in the thermal biology and energetics of Apis mellifera. We estimated the heat tolerance and energy expenditure (CO2 production and VCO2) of honeybees acclimated to different temperatures (32 and 38°C) and subjected to different levels of parasitism (0, 1, and 2 mites). Heat tolerance was quantified employing thermal death time (TDT) curves describing how survival times vary as a function of temperature, which differed significantly between treatments. Warm-acclimated uninfected bees exhibited a higher thermal tolerance than their cold-acclimated counterparts, but parasitism by Varroa resulted in a substantial drop in tolerance rendering TDT curves of parasitized bees virtually indistinguishable. Accordingly, VCO2 increased dramatically in parasitized bees (46.5 and 67.1% with 1 and 2 Varroa, respectively), suggesting that Varroa impinges on substantial costs on energy expenditure which, in combination with lower fat reserves due to parasitism, should have synergistic effects on bees’ survival and performance. Results provide conclusive evidence of the detrimental impact of Varroa on heat tolerance that undermines potentially adaptive responses associated with thermal acclimation. Results also show that heat treatments are a realistic venue to control Varroa, and we discuss how TDT curves may be employed to optimize management strategies in this context.

The 6th International Conference On Climate Change (6th ICCC) Preface

Intro and Goal Covid-19 pandemic teaches us that climate change impact sometimes incredibly unpredictable. Not only the increase of heat exposure or natural hazard due to extreme weather, but the emergence of new species or the mutation of microorganism due to the changing ecology may harmful for human beings and another organism. This anthropological climate change phenomenon has negatively altered the most fundamental natural resources for living organism: air, water, and soil. Air has been polluted and warming due to human activities. The quantity of freshwater keeps on depleting, while the ground water recharge intervened with chemical and biological contamination. The sustainability of soil as the natural planting media is under threat due to land use conversion and soil quality degradation. Water acidification and temperature increase have been proved to change the salinity of seawater. Those climate change sensitive exposure may affect the immune system of the living things to survive. Those conditions grow the concern for the health status of humans, crops, farmed and wild animals.Understanding the mechanism whereby the climate change exposures affects the immunomodulation in living organisms may mitigate the negative health risks outcome. According to the circumstances, the 6th International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC) is focusing the discussion on climate change effects on immunomodulation as it is also the main topic of Sebelas Maret University of the 45th Dies Natalis’ anniversary address. Focusing and improving the climatic resilience strategies on immune system will be of considerably important to overcome the key climate-change sensitive pathways, as well as to support the achievements some global goals in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The goal of the 6th ICCC was to accommodate the new related inspiration and innovation about how to minimize the climate change impact at present. It formulated a comprehensive and efficient strategies on how to minimize the risk of outbreak and hazards caused by climate change.The 6th ICCC 2021 is organized by The Graduate School of Sebelas Maret University (Surakarta, Indonesia), collaborating with The United Graduate School of Agriculture Science (UGSAS), Gifu University (Japan) together and UNS Forestry Education and Training Center (UPT Pusat Pendidikan dan Pelatihan Kehutanan, UNS) (Karanganyar, Indonesia). The 6th ICCC is also part of Sebelas University 45th Dies Natalis Anniversary celebration activities, as can be seen in the e-poster of call for papers presented in Figure 1.List of titles Invited Speakers and Guest Editors, Virtual Conference Disclaimer, Date of conference, Location of organizer and Conference model, Location of participants and overall participant number, Committee List, The success of delivery of the conference are available in this Pdf.

Climate change exposure of waterbird species in the African-Eurasian flyways

SummaryClimate change presents a particularly complex challenge in the context of flyway scale conservation of migratory bird species as it requires coordinated action by multiple countries along these species’ migratory routes. Coordinating conservation responses requires understanding the vulnerability of species and their habitats to climate change at the flyway scale throughout each species’ annual cycle. To contribute to such understanding, we used species distribution models to assess the exposure to climate change of waterbird species that are the focus of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA). We found that the species with the smallest proportion of their current range projected to be climatically suitable by 2050 (those whose distributions respond to changes in water availability but that do not perform synchronised migration) are dispersive species in the Afrotropical biogeographic realm, and migratory species in their breeding season, particularly Arctic breeding waders. These species also have the most limited availability of newly suitable areas. Projections for most other Palearctic migratory waterbird species suggest that losses of suitable areas in their current passage and wintering ranges may be largely offset by new areas becoming climatically suitable. The majority of migratory Palearctic waterbirds in the breeding season and Afrotropical waterbirds are widely dispersed with only a small proportion of their populations currently supported by ‘Critical Sites’ (i.e. sites that are either important for Globally Threatened Species or support 1% of the bioregional population of any waterbird species). This makes it unlikely that climate change adaptation measures focusing only on key sites will be sufficient to counter the predicted range losses. Therefore, climate change adaptation responses should also be implemented at the landscape scale for Afrotropical waterbirds and for breeding populations of Palearctic migrant waterbirds.

Analysis of narwhal tusks reveals lifelong feeding ecology and mercury exposure

The ability of animals to respond to changes in their environment is critical to their persistence. In the Arctic, climate change and mercury exposure are two of the most important environmental threats for top predators.1-3 Rapid warming is causing precipitous sea-ice loss, with consequences on the distribution, composition, and dietary ecology of species4-7 and, thus, exposure to food-borne mercury.8 Current understanding of global change and pollution impacts on Arctic wildlife relies on single-time-point individual data representing a snapshot in time. These data often lack comprehensive temporal resolution and overlook the cumulative lifelong nature of stressors as well as individual variation. To overcome these challenges, we explore the unique capacity of narwhal tusks to characterize chronological lifetime biogeochemical profiles, allowing for investigations of climate-induced dietary changes and contaminant trends. Using temporal patterns of stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) and mercury concentrations in annually deposited dentine growth layer groups in 10 tusks from Northwest Greenland (1962-2010), we show surprising plasticity in narwhal feeding ecology likely resulting from climate-induced changes in sea-ice cover, biological communities, and narwhal migration. Dietary changes consequently impacted mercury exposure primarily through trophic magnification effects. Mercury increased log-linearly over the study period, albeit with an unexpected rise in recent years, likely caused by increased emissions and/or greater bioavailability in a warmer, ice-free Arctic. Our findings are consistent with an emerging pattern in the Arctic of reduced sea-ice leading to changes in the migration, habitat use, food web, and contaminant exposure in Arctic top predators.

The Palliative Function of Climate Change Denial Is Stronger in More Exposed Countries

In our multinational study, we tested whether the palliative effect of climate change denial depends on the local level of climate change exposure. Building upon the literature of ecoanxiety and the palliative function of ideological beliefs, we assumed that the acknowledgment of climate change intensifies ecoanxiety while climate change denial eases it. More importantly, we also assumed that the extent of this ease is larger in countries being more threatened by the harmful consequences of climate change. To test this assumption, we analyzed data collected from representative samples of 23 European countries within European Social Survey Programme, and additional data on the actual exposure of these countries to the effects of climate change. Results of our multilevel models showed that climate change denial is related to lower ecoanxiety, and this negative relationship is stronger at high (vs. low) levels of climate change exposure. Our results support the general principle stating that the harsher reality is the larger emotional benefit can be achieved by its distorted perception and denial. This psychological defense mechanism can partly explain why many people are reluctant to fight against climate change even in countries that are threatened by it.

Out of sight, out of mind: Phylogenetic and taxonomic gaps imply great underestimations of the species’ vulnerability to global climate change

The study of the species’ climatic niche is an excellent proxy of their vulnerability to global climate change. It is well known that species with greater niche marginality or a smaller niche breadth are most vulnerable to global climate change. However, these measures have never been contextualized regarding the shortfalls in biogeography: Linnean and Darwinian shortfalls. Here based on the study of Liolaemidae, one of the most diverse families of tetrapods, we showed that as phylogenetic and taxonomic knowledge accumulated across time and shortfalls filled up, the split of species complexes (previously recognized as single species) generates new species much more vulnerable to the effect of global climate change. We calculated and compared via Ecological Niche Factor Analyses (ENFA), Climate-Niche Factor Analysis (CNFA), and ellipsenm the marginality and breadth of climatic niches of five monophyletic groups of lizards, considering two stages in their taxonomic knowledge: the original described species (past period), and currently the updated species (2020 period). For both stages, we also estimated their climate change exposure and vulnerability. The climatic niche of the updated species (current, 2020) was significantly more marginal and smaller, and therefore their exposure and vulnerability to global climate change significantly more remarkable, than the originally described species (past periods). Our findings evidence that the real vulnerability of biodiversity to global climate, could be masked for the lack of taxonomic and phylogenetic knowledge, highlighting the great importance of these disciplines for species’ risk assessments. This fact is especially exacerbated in those poorly known or unstudied diverse groups and countries.