Climate Change-related Threats Research Articles

Evaluation of management options for climate-change adaptation of threatened species: a case study of a restricted orchid

Context Global climate is changing rapidly, necessitating timely development of specific, actionable species conservation strategies that incorporate climate-change adaptation. Yet, detailed climate-change adaptation planning is noticeably absent from species management plans. This is problematic for restricted species, which often have greater extinction risk. Aims Focusing on the restricted and endangered Tarengo leek orchid (Prasophyllum petilum), we aimed to adapt and test a framework for producing strategies for its management under climate change. Methods We used expert elicitation to estimate the severity of threats and assess potential management actions to mitigate threat impacts. We created a conceptual model detailing ecology, threats and likely impacts of climate change on the species, including the interactions between components. Key results Although climate change-related threats will affect the species, the most severe threats were non-climate threats including grazing, weeds, and habitat degradation. Fire management was deemed highly beneficial but had low feasibility for some populations. Without management, experts estimated up to a 100% decrease in one P. petilum population, and up to 50% decrease if management remained unchanged. Conclusions Management actions with the highest benefit and feasibility addressed the non-climate threats, which, in turn, can give the species the best opportunity to withstand climate-change impacts. Experts highlighted the difficulty of addressing climate threats with such limited knowledge; therefore, further research was recommended. Implications This adapted framework enabled a structured analysis of threats, and informed selection of priority adaptation options. We recommend its use for other restricted species for efficient and robust decision-making in climate-change management.

Examining the impact of climate information access on adaptive behaviors during heatwaves: insights from Central Vietnam

This study focuses on the correlation between the different sources of climatic information involving the Short Message Service (SMS), social networks, local governments, online platforms, and workplaces and the individual adaptation measures concerning heatwaves. The survey data were obtained from four areas in central Vietnam involving 400 respondents. We used propensity score matching (PSM) to estimate the average treatment effect on the treated, aiming to mitigate selection bias. Findings indicate that the availability of various information sources encourages communities to address rising heat stress, with information sourced from SMS, social media platforms, local authorities, and workplaces being prominent. The findings signal the need to increase the visibility of heatwave data, which can change people’s behavior to reduce climate risks. In order to accomplish this goal, it is important to focus on climate change information sharing through platforms such as social networks, local administration offices, and the workplace in coping with climate change-related threats.

Addressing coordination problems in residential buyouts: Experimental evidence for managed retreat in the face of climate change-related threats

Voluntary home buyouts can be an effective way to protect homeowners from severe and repeated flood risk while also benefiting the local community by creating flood control areas and reducing local infrastructure costs. Successful implementation of residential buyout programs is complicated by homeowners’ (unobservable) attachment to place and community. In the presence of such preferences, standard posted price offers at fair market value are generally too low to induce a majority of homeowners to move, resulting in spatially fragmented (checkerboarded) buyout patterns, which can be troublesome from both a community and environmental perspective. To help resolve the resulting coordination problem, we experimentally test two acquisition mechanisms from the land conservation literature in the residential flood buyout context, posted price offers and reverse auctions, and pair them with two additional program features, agglomeration bonuses and target constraints (also known as provision points—a threshold required for the buyout to be implemented). Using an induced-value approach, we show that both reverse auctions and agglomeration bonuses are effective at increasing contiguity in this setting by inducing more homeowners to accept buyout offers and to move away from the neighborhood. However, reverse auctions have the advantage of being flexible enough to accommodate heterogeneity in place and community attachment. If external benefits are non-linearly increasing in the number of contiguous residential lots acquired, adding a target constraint to a reverse auction is a potential avenue for effective future buyouts.

Climate change anxiety, hurricane exposure, and climate change actions and attitudes: results from a representative, probability-based survey of US Gulf Coast residents

Exposure to climate change-related threats (eg, hurricanes) has been associated with mental health symptoms, including post-traumatic stress symptoms. Yet it is unclear whether climate change anxiety, which is understudied in representative samples, is a specific mental health threat, action motivator, or both, particularly in populations exposed to climate-change related disasters. We sought to examine the associations between exposure to hurricanes, climate change anxiety, and climate change actions and attitudes in a representative sample of US Gulf Coast residents. This study used data from a 5-year, representative, prospectively assessed, probability-based, longitudinal cohort sample of residents in Texas and Florida (USA) exposed to exogenous catastrophic hurricanes rated category 3 or greater. Participants were adults aged 18 years and older and were initially recruited from the Ipsos KnowledgePanel in the 60 h before Hurricane Irma (Sept 8-11, 2017). Relationships between climate change anxiety, hurricane exposure, hurricane-related post-traumatic stress symptoms, general functional impairment, and climate change-related individual-level actions (eg, eating a plant-based diet and driving more fuel efficient cars) and collective-level actions (eg, petition signing and donating money) and climate change action attitudes were evaluated using structural equation modelling. The final survey was completed by 1479 individuals (787 [53·2%] women and 692 [46·8%] men). Two climate change anxiety subscales (cognitive-emotional impairment and perceived experience of climate change) were confirmed using confirmatory factor analysis. Mean values were low for both climate change anxiety subscales: cognitive-emotional impairment (mean 1·31 [SD 0·63], range 1-5) and perceived climate change experience (mean 1·67 [SD 0·89], range 1-5); these subscales differentially predicted outcomes. The cognitive-emotional impairment subscale did not significantly correlate with actions or attitudes; its relationship with general functional impairment was attenuated by co-occurring hurricane-related post-traumatic stress symptoms, which were highly correlated with general functional impairment in all three models (all p<0·0001). The perceived climate change experience subscale correlated with climate change attitudes (b=0·57, 95% CI 0·47-0·66; p<0·0001), individual-level actions (b=0·34, 0·21-0·47; p<0·0001), and collective-level actions (b=0·22, 0·10-0·33; p=0·0002), but was not significantly associated with general functional impairment in any of the final models. Hurricane exposure correlated with climate change-related individual-level (b=0·26, 0·10-0·42; p=0·0011) and collective-level (b=0·41, 0·26-0·56; p<0·0001) actions. Expanded treatment for post-traumatic stress symptoms after disasters could help address climate change-related psychological distress; experiences with climate change and natural hazards could be inflection points to motivate action. National Science Foundation and the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

A longitudinal investigation of risk perceptions and adaptation behavior in the US Gulf Coast.

Climate change is occurring more rapidly than expected, requiring that people quickly and continually adapt to reduce human suffering. The reality is that climate change-related threats are unpredictable; thus, adaptive behavior must be continually performed even when threat saliency decreases (e.g. time has passed since climate-hazard exposure). Climate change-related threats are also intensifying; thus, new or more adaptive behaviors must be performed over time. Given the need to sustain climate change-related adaptation even when threat saliency decreases, it becomes essential to better understand how the relationship between risk perceptions and adaptation co-evolve over time. In this study, we present results from a probability-based representative sample of 2,774 Texas and Florida residents prospectively surveyed 5 times (2017-2022) in the presence and absence of exposure to tropical cyclones, a climate change-related threat. Distinct trajectories of personal risk perceptions emerged, with higher and more variable risk perceptions among the less educated and those living in Florida. Importantly, as tropical cyclone adaptation behaviors increased, personal risk perceptions decreased over time, particularly in the absence of storms, while future tropical cyclone risk perceptions remained constant. In sum, adapting occurs in response to current risk but may inhibit future action despite increasing future tropical cyclone risks. Our results suggest that programs and policies encouraging proactive adaptation investment may be warranted.

Environmental impact of cardiovascular healthcare

ImportanceThe healthcare sector is essential to human health and well-being, yet its significant carbon footprint contributes to climate change-related threats to health.ObjectiveTo review systematically published studies on environmental impacts, including...

Major threats caused by climate change to grapevine

The main worrying feature of climate change is its rapid evolution, in extent and variation, becoming less and less predictable. In this paper, we have reviewed the available literature and elaborated original data to outline how climate change will affect the grapevine cultivation and wine quality. We start by discussing which features of climate change will impact grapevine production most. The effects of heatwaves, air and soil temperature, extreme rainfall events, atmospheric evaporative demand, wildfires, and smoke are addressed. An increased frequency and intensity of heat waves since 2010 is shown in four grapevine production areas of Northern Italy. The focus then shifts to the impacts of the predicted increase in temperature and drought on frost risks, grapevine phenology, yield, berry quality and water needs as well as vine and vineyard carbon budgets. Climate change will challenge the achievement of current yields and wine quality as well as the ability of vineyards to sequester atmospheric carbon, but such effects will likely depend on the characteristics of the growing environments and on the varieties present. Climate change-related threats to grapevine call for a rapid implementation of adaptation strategies

Planning for Urban Development in the Context of Climate Change. Evidence from Poland and Romania

"Climate change effects are becoming increasingly noticeable especially in the dynamic and overcrowded city areas. The frequency of occurrence and ways of appearance of natural risks along with the negative effects of intensive economic activities, energy conventional production, unsustainable transportation and energy consumption determine increases in dysfunctions that must be managed by the local authorities in the long term. This study addresses climate change in relation to policy and regulatory framework for urban planning. The article portrays several climate change-related threats that usually occur in urban areas, which are emphasized in the scientific literature, but also exemplifies practical solutions formulated by planners in their strategy for sustainable urban development as counteracting the current specific threats. The selected case studies are the cities of Kraków in Poland and of Cluj-Napoca in Romania. Results of the literature review show that the main risks related to sustainability of the urban areas, as effects of the climate change and man-made actions, are correspondingly visible and addressed in the main strategic plans at the local level, adopted by the city authorities as practical measures and actions to be implemented by 2030 aiming to limit the effects of the climate changes that arise, as well as to limit the causes that generate these changes. By implementing the proposed measures and by achieving the objectives described in the presented action plans, both of the selected cities prove their engagement in the European mission of climate change adaptation and mitigation. "

Analysis of Urbanization and Climate Change Effects on Community Resilience in the Rio Grande Valley, South Texas

Disruptive development events have tested and will continue to test community resilience as people work to balance healthy living, economic growth, and environmental quality. Aspects of urbanization, if not designed and guided by healthy living strategies, convert natural areas into built environments, thus reducing the diversity of plant and animal species that are the foundation of resilience in communities. In this study, we attempted to answer the following question: What are the most effective ways to ensure that ongoing urbanization and climate change do not negatively affect ecological services and community resilience in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV)? The region is experiencing a high urban growth rate and is also one of the poorest regions in Texas. Thus, it has an inadequate capacity to prevent or mitigate climate change-related threats and take advantage of opportunities associated with urbanization. Using qualitative analysis, we consulted existing literature to identify relevant leverage points that can help foster regional resilience capacity. The findings show that there are very strong leverage points that can produce cumulative desired resilience outcomes, but these have not been incorporated into policy and natural systems in the RGV.

Emotions in climate change communication: An experimental investigation

AbstractWe conducted an experiment to test whether altering the saliency of information provided by experts in fictitious news stories on climate change triggered different emotions among readers. Based on appraisal theories of emotions in the psychology literature, we hypothesized that 1) news stories that presented climate change related threats as diffuse and uncertain would elicit greater levels of anxiety, while 2) stories that provided a specific target to blame would induce greater anger, and 3) those that underlined the potential of technology and human efforts to solve climate change related issues would elicit greater levels of hope. We found that while all news stories concerning climate change elicited high levels of anxiety, there were statistically significant differences between the emotions expressed by participations in the expected directions. We discuss the potential implications of these findings for climate change communication and for public opinion on climate change.

Climatic Hazards and the Associated Impacts on Households’ Willingness to Adopt Water-Saving Measures: Evidence from Mexico

Numerous regions across the globe are facing water shortage challenges, and domestic water demands are predicted to grow vastly by 2050. In this regard, household water-saving measures are critical to adapt to future risks. Few studies have evaluated the association between climate change-related threats and their impacts on water-saving activities and intentions. However, a limitation in this line of research is the assumption that only the hazards that directly affect water shortages, such as drought, can influence water conservation behaviors. Our study takes a step forward to examine the possible association between other types of extreme climate events (in addition to drought) and household water-saving behavioral willingness. Mexico is used as a case study. The information from the most recent versions of two Mexican national surveys is employed. The potential roles of three demographic characteristics (age, gender, and education) are also investigated. We found that recent experience of harsh climatic events positively affects willingness to adopt water-saving measures (although this is a small effect). The results validate the significance of experiential knowledge as a driver to increase the willingness to act responsibly regarding water challenges. The lessons we derive are of significance for Mexico and other settings facing water crises and natural hazards.

UAV-Based Remote Sensing for Managing Alaskan Native Heritage Landscapes in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta

The Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta is home to the Alaskan Native Yup’ik people who have inhabited this remote, subarctic tundra for over 1500 years. Today, their ancestral lifeways and cultural landscapes are at risk from severe climate change-related threats. In turn, we propose that remote sensing technologies, particularly with sensors mounted on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) platforms, are uniquely suited for protecting Yup’ik landscape heritage. Based on collaborative, community-based fieldwork in Quinhagak, AK, we present evidence that cultural sites—ranging from historic fishing camps to pre-contact winter villages—exhibit predictably atypical vegetation patterns based on the local ecological biome. Furthermore, these vegetation patterns can be recorded and statistically quantified through the analysis of multispectral imagery obtained from UAV-mounted sensors with three different false color composite rasters and vegetation indices depending on biome type. Finally, we suggest how the Yupiit can combine these methodologies/workflows with local knowledge to monitor the broader heritage landscape in the face of climate change.

Climate Security and Policy Options in Japan

Climate security has been discussed in both academia and policy documents in the West. A key point that surfaces from these discussions is that the cooperation of non-military organizations is essential for effective responses to climate change-related threats. This overlaps considerably with debates on security in Japan, where the use of force is constitutionally restricted. Therefore, it is possible to localize the concept of climate security to the genealogy of Japan’s security policy that, in the 1980s and 1990s, sought a non-traditional security strategy that did not rely solely on military power in the name of “comprehensive security,” “environmental security,” and “human security.” In Japan, the perspective of climate security is rare. However, the introduction of a unique climate security concept into security policy enables the maintenance of national security and environmental conservation. Additionally, struggling with climate change alongside neighboring countries contributes to mutual confidence building and stability in international relations in Northeast Asia. To achieve this objective, we first show that climate security includes many kinds of security concerns by surveying previous studies and comparing Western countries’ climate security policies. Second, we follow the evolution of Japan’s security policy from 1980 to 2021. Finally, we review Japanese climate security policies and propose policy options.

Climate change and coastal archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa: assessing past impacts and future threats

Climate change threatens coastal archaeology through storm flooding (extreme sea-level: ESL), long-term sea-level rise (SLR) and coastal erosion. Many regions, like the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), lack key baseline evidence. We present initial results from a climate change threat assessment of MENA's coastal heritage using the Maritime Endangered Archaeology inventory: a geospatial database of MENA maritime archaeological sites incorporating a disturbance/ threat assessment. It informs two analyses of past disturbance and future threat: (1) using the integral threat/disturbance assessment, and (2) geospatial extraction of information from external coastal change models. Analysis suggests <5% of documented coastal sites are definitely affected by coastal erosion but up to 34% could also have experienced past flooding, erosion, or storm action. Climate change-related threats will increase over the 21st Century and accelerate post-2050 if carbon emissions remain high. SLR and ESL could impact 14–25% of sites by 2050 and 18–34% by 2100. Over 30% to 40% of sites could be impacted by erosion by 2050 and 2100 respectively. Whilst documentation is ongoing and there remain modeling uncertainties, this approach provides a means to redress the absence of baseline data on climate change threats to coastal cultural heritage in MENA .

Mental health and climate change – a developmental life course perspective

IntroductionClimate change is a major global public health challenge that will have wide ranging effects on human psychological health and wellbeing through the increased incidence of acute (e.g., storms, floods, wildfires), sub-acute (e.g., heat stress, droughts, lost agricultural yields) and long-term stressors (e.g., changes to landscapes and ecosystems). Children and adolescents are particularly at risk because of their rapidly developing brain, vulnerability to disease and limited capacity to avoid or adapt to climate change-related threats and impacts. They are also more likely to worry about climate change impacts than any other age group.ObjectivesTo produce a new conceptual framework that describes climate change-related threats to youth mental health from a developmental life course perspective.MethodsWe critically review and synthesis literature documenting the pathways, processes and mechanisms linking climate change to increased mental health vulnerability.ResultsWe show that climate change-related threats can additively and interactively increase psychopathology risk from conception onwards, that these effects are already occurring and that they constitute an important threat to mental health and therefore human capital worldwide. We then argue that birth cohort studies are uniquely positioned to examine climate change-related threats and that incorporating relevant measures into existing and planned birth cohorts is a matter of social justice and crucial long-term investment in mental health research.ConclusionsClimate change is affecting the healthy psychological development of children and these risks are increasing worldwide. New theoretical and empirical work is urgently needed so that threats can be tracked and mitigated.

A GIS-based screening method to identify climate change-related threats on road networks: A case study from Sweden

Extreme weather-related events are likely to increase in both frequency and intensity if current emission rates continue. Particularly vulnerable to the potential effects of climate change is the transportation sector, which fully relies on the uninterrupted accessibility of the road network. With the Swedish Government adopting a National Adaptation Strategy in 2018, creating a coordinated cross-disciplinary strategy underpinned by international frameworks, new ambition levels regarding climate change adaptation efforts have been established. Identifying particularly vulnerable parts of the road network is an essential step for National Road Authorities (NRAs) in early planning stages to prioritize adaptation efforts around high-risk areas to safeguard the road network. By utilizing both publicly and commercially available climate-related data, as well as applying and assessing new terrain analysis techniques, a large-scale vulnerability assessment is carried out for Halland County in southwestern Sweden by assessing three climate-adjusted extreme weather events (a 100-year pluvial flood event, a 100-year fluvial flood event, and an extreme coastal storm surge event) projected to exacerbate in the region. The study demonstrates how a GIS-based screening method, specifically adapted for NRAs or similar stakeholders, may provide quick overviews of potentially at-risk areas along road networks through a simple vulnerability index assigned to individual road segments. Further studies are recommended to compare modeled results to recorded flood events if available and incorporate updated climate change trajectories from upcoming IPCC reports.

Renewable energy in the Russian Arctic: Environmental challenges, opportunities and risks

The Arctic is a specific geographical region with extreme climate conditions, vulnerable environment, but rather intensive ongoing industrialization. The Arctic requires alternative solutions to provide energy supply to the energy consumers due to the growing energy demand and small-scale decentralized character of energy supply. At the moment, the largest part of energy consumption in the region is covered by hydrocarbon energy resources delivered from the mainland. Renewable energy technologies may be efficiently implemented to cover the needs of small scale decentralized energy consumers in the Russian Arctic, but at the moment they are applied on a very modest scale. The current study analyses and discusses the main challenges and risks related to renewable energy resources use in the Russian Arctic. Further, the study elaborates on the issues related to the environmental challenges and climate change-related threats, their relationship and influence on the technological choices of the future energy supply in the region, addressing the perspectives of sustainable development of the Russian Arctic.

Mangrove planting on dredged material: three decades of nature-based coastal defence along a causeway in the Arabian Gulf

Nature-based coastal defence approaches are increasingly being explored to protect shorelines from erosion and climate change-related threats such as sea level rise, storms and coastal flooding. At Mubarraz, near Abu Dhabi in the Arabian Gulf, mass plantings of &amp;gt;500000 nursery-reared seedlings of the mangrove Avicennia marina were conducted over 30 years in response to erosion of an artificially created, 17-km-long causeway of dredged material. Planting efforts resulted in successfully established mangrove vegetation along 6.7km of shoreline, covering an area of 16.5ha. Survival rates of planted mangrove seedlings to healthy saplings or trees were in the order of 26% averaged over all years, with best results obtained at planting sites established in artificial tidal channels excavated parallel to the causeway, ensuring appropriate tidal hydrological conditions. The mangroves and causeway have attracted a high diversity of birds (48 species), some of which breed on the island, and there are significant densities of crabs and gastropod snails in the mangroves. These results demonstrate that planting mangroves on dredged material is feasible (even under extreme climatic conditions) and may offer a cost-effective alternative for shoreline protection, with added benefits for biodiversity through the creation of new habitats.

Global climate change and health in Canadian children.

Climate change is a reality. Numerous expert authorities warn of the critical need to undertake and adapt environmental efforts to protect human health. Climate change is accelerating, and countries in high latitudes, such as Canada, are experiencing climate change more directly and, for some end points, more dramatically than mid- and low-latitude countries. Children are vulnerable to climate change health effects, and physicians and other health care providers need to be ready to identify, manage, and prevent climate change-related health hazards. This practice point highlights specific, climate change-related threats to the health of children and youth, and provides resources for health care providers. Climate challenges and their health impacts on children are described, based on key Canadian reports and scientifically referenced information. Enhanced awareness of the immediate and longer-term health effects of climate change on children allows physicians and other health care providers to counsel families and practice more effectively.

An evaluation on climate change adaptation for tourism sector in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam

ABSTRACTThis study analyses short- and long-term adaptation strategies for the tourism sector in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta that arose out of empirical research. The study evaluates the adaptation approach for government authorities, businesses, and tourists to manage climate change-related threats of rising temperature, irregular rainfall, sea-level rise, severe storms, and increasing salinity. In addition, the study points out the main responsibilities for realizing climate change adaptation in the tourism sector. The study figures that there are some differences between government authorities, businesses and tourists’ perspectives on recommended approaches to adapt to climate change. However, current strategies are very short-term and operate at the individual institutional level.