Climate Change Situation Research Articles

Managing Genetic Resources in Temperate Fruit Crops

Biodiversity representing variation within genetic resources at gene, population, species and ecosystem level is our heritage that makes a key contribution to well-being and sustainable development. India is one of the mega biodiversity-rich countries of the world, with only 2.4% of the land area; it accounts for 7.8% of all the recorded species on this planet and ranks 10th in the world and 4th in Asia in plant diversity. This richness of species and genetic diversity provides many opportunities, which can be achieved through appropriate management of this diversity. There has been a significant progress in introduction, collection, characterization, conservation and utilization of genetic resources of horticultural crops. Germplasm management activities on temperate fruit in India are primarily carried out by NBPGR, however conservation in field gene banks is also done by various institutes. Besides field gene banks, germplasm of temperate fruits is also conserved by cryobanks, in vitro tissue culture. Thus, in the situation of climate change and depletion of natural resources, the challenges are more to feed growing population, so efforts are required for exploring the unexplored areas for collection of horticultural biodiversity for conservation and utilization for the benefit of mankind. In the quest to meet the emerging challenges, the gains with respect to genetic resources have to be sustained and further collection of new genes are required to be looked and utilized for gains where the strong base of horticultural plant biodiversity have to be in driving seat for bringing gene revolution.

Spatio-Temporal Trends and Projections of Climate Indices in the Banas River Basin, India

The objective of the paper is to understand the historical and future climate change situation using 19 extreme climatic indices of daily precipitation and temperature (maximum and minimum) in the Banas River Basin of Rajasthan, India. For this study, both historical (1971–2013) and future period (2021–2050) data of precipitation and temperature are used to calculate the climate indices using the RClimDex tool. For the future period, ensemble data of precipitation and temperature from three Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment South Asia (CORDEX-SA) climate experiments (CNRM-CM5, CCSM4 and MPI-ESM-LR) are used to predict the change in climatic indices. The test for significance was applied to all the indices for two historical periods (1971–2003 and 1981–2013) by using the Mann-Kendall method. The result shows the significant increase in the annual number of warm days and warm nights, whereas there is a decreasing trend in the annual number of cool days and cool nights. The significant decrease in the total annual precipitation (PRCPTOT) in two historical periods is observed. The Consecutive Dry Days (CDD) indicator shows an increasing trend for the past period and predicts the same for the future period over the basin. In the case of Number of heavy precipitation days (R10) and Number of very heavy precipitation days (R20) indices, there is a decreasing trend in the basin. In the case of temperature indices, there is a rise in temperature for most of the indices, but change is more in the lower basin as compared to the upper basin. Increase in consecutive dry days is also more prominent in the upper basin.

The Fight to Overcoming Greenhouse Effect for Anti Global Climate Change and Current Situation

The greenhouse effect is caused by CO2 released from various industrial and agricultural sources. Now assumed that, If we treat about 50% of the global greenhouse emission gases, global warming is considered to be remedied, while half of the total greenhouse gas emissions are nearly equal to the total emissions of greenhouse gases. From all thermal power plants. So if we treat all the exhaust gases from all thermal plants, global warming is considered to be remedied. So far, the greenhouse effects have not been treated yet. In our opinion, There are four reasons for this situation, that is: 1- We do not have a new generation of suitable industrial equipment and no suitable technologies 2- .We cannot remove the dust thoroughly before CO2 separation from the exhaust gases. 3- We have used ethanolamine to CO2 separation from industrial emissions, 4-We do not have the suitable solution to bury CO2 on the ocean floor. The authors of this project have overcome all the disadvantages mentioned above by proposing new generation of suitable new equipment as well as proposing new no-waste technologies suitable for treatment and reusing industrial exhaust gas as well as CO2 separation out of it, proposed using a cheap solvent called soda instead of ethanolamine to remove carbon dioxide from industrial emissions, suggests two inexpensive solutions to bury carbon dioxide in the ocean floor. The author has designed some major industrial equipment with a sufficiently large scale to handle industrial emissions of 3.4 million m3 per hour from a fossil fuel-fired 1,000MW plant. Industrial processes from very costly processes have many unreasonable steps have turned into less expensive industrial processes, even profitable. Content of the project is represented by 27 exclusive patents VN, 23 of these inventions were participated in the international invention innovation competition in Toronto Canada in 2017, and all 23 proposals are awarded with 15 gold medals and 8 silver medals. The project concludes with the following conclusions: 1. Conclusion on the generation of the suitable new equipment. 2. Conclusion on the suitable new technologies. 3. Conclusion on the two stages for the treatment of industrial exhaust gases. 4. Conclusion on the CO2 separation from the industrial emissions and CO2 transportation storage. 5. Conclusion on the CO2 storing on the deep ocean. 6. Conclusion on the economic efficiency. 7. General conclusion.

Parametric Studies on the Characteristics of Climate Change in Hulunbeir Steppe of China

This study aims to analysis the characteristics of climate change on Hulunbeir steppe of China in the past 50 years which are from 1958 to 2007. Fist hand monitoring data were collected by utilizing a parametric model that is established using indicators of temperature, precipitation, and relative humidity. The Ivanov model were applied in the case study in order to calculate land evaporation and drought index for obtaining better understand on the climate changes in Hulunbeir Steppe. The modelling results indicated that the overall situation of climate change began to dry out and had a tendency towards drought according to the last 50 years, especially there was a significant increasing in average temperature, precipitation, and the evaporation. According to the monitoring date from our six meteorological stations established in Hulunbeir steppe, it has been shown that the average temperature have increased by 2.31 °C, the maximum value of precipitation have increased by 158.56mm after 1980s, drought indexes and evaporation capacity have increased by 3.2 to 10.6 times and 4.3 to 5.4 times during 1991 to 2007, respectively. The results in present study are expected to give a theoretical support for relevant researches in the future.

From Paris Agreement to Action: Enhancing Climate Change Familiarity and Situation Awareness

The Paris Agreement was a monumental stride towards global climate change governance. It unlocked the climate change gridlock, introducing country-subjective commitments and a five-year review mechanism. To support the implementation of the Paris Agreement, we designed the Nzoia WeShareIt climate change game. Game sessions were conducted in June and July 2015, and 35 respondents completed a pre- and post-game situation awareness (SA) questionnaire and an in-game performance measurement system. The questionnaire uses a 10-dimensional situation awareness rating technique (SART). Subsequently, we conducted a factorial MANOVA (multivariate analysis of variance) to assess the interaction effects between familiarity, team, and gender. Results indicate an increase in situation awareness. However, policymakers’ action was not contingent on the increased SA only, there was a significant interaction effect between familiarity and SA, to lead to climate change actions. Therefore, we recommend more emphasis on the role of familiarity in enhancing SA and, subsequently, supporting the implementation to the Paris five-year review country commitments. We also recommend the increased usage of symbols and capacity development of policymakers on connective capacity to enable them to span the climate change boundaries.

An Overview of Hydropower Reservoirs in Brazil: Current Situation, Future Perspectives and Impacts of Climate Change

Global climate change, related to the greenhouse gases emission, impacts hydroelectric power generation mainly due to the increase in air temperature and changes in the precipitation patterns. As a consequence, it affects basin evapotranspiration process, runoff, sediment transport as well as evaporation of reservoirs. This study analysed the current and future Brazilian context of hydroelectric reservoirs and investigated the potential impacts of climate change on hydropower generation and possible mitigation adjustments, giving relevant examples from around the world. Moreover, it is key to consider other factors that influence the availability of water resources such as: (a) upstream development of reservoirs, mainly the development of agricultural systems, which can contribute to increased water demand; (b) changes in land use, which can have an impact on soil degradation and sediment transport. Hydroelectric dams are a possible alternative to mitigate the impacts of climate change considering that those impacts could generate the need of adaptive actions. The assessment of climate change impacts’ projections anticipates possible future scenarios and can assist in strategic planning together with the definition of adaptive operational policies.

Quality and Yield of Triticum durum Under Temperate Continental Climate of the Czech Republic

In Europe, durum wheat is traditionally grown primarily in the Mediterranean region. A question arises as to whether now, in a situation of global climate change, the conditions for durum wheat might be more favourable also in countries with temperate continental climate. Field trials at a location in the south-eastern part of the Czech Republic with a typical European continental climate were established in four harvest years (2011 – 2014). Yield, quality and deoxynivalenol content were evaluated and the impact of year and variety was studied. The best quality was achieved in 2013, when 4 of 5 varieties met all the quality requirements for durum wheat according to Commission Regulation (EU) No. 1272 / 2009. The most frequent reason for unsatisfactory quality was loss of vitreousness and low falling number. In 2012, three varieties froze, and this year was therefore excluded from evaluation. Yield varied between 7.6 t ha−1 in 2013 to 10.9 t ha−1 in 2014 and it was in a negative, statistically significant relationship with most of qualitative traits, particularly with vitreousness (r = − 0.72). The strongest correlation between qualitative traits was found between vitreousness and thousand kernel weight (r = − 0.73) and vitreousness and test weight (r = 0.70).

Hazards to food caloric availability and coverage per capita due to climate change in the Puno region, Peruvian Altiplano: Challenges in food security and sovereignty

AbstractThe Peruvian Altiplano is frequently threatened by weather extremes, including droughts, frosts, and heavy rainfall. Given the persistence of significant undernourishment despite regional development efforts, this paper attempts to analyse and explain food insecurity in the Puno region in terms of food availability and food sovereignty. The purpose was to estimate the per capita caloric nutritional coverage and to determine the percentage contribution of food groups to the caloric availability in different climate change situations (normal, flood, drought), based on the Food Balance Sheet developed by FAO. Official information mainly from the Dirección Regional Agraria de Puno was used. The analysis revealed that the productive potential for food security and sovereignty of the Puno region depends mostly on climatic behavior, which becomes very critical during the last years. The caloric nutritional coverage in the Puno region during a climatologically normal year, reaches only 60% of the theoretical caloric needs of one person per day, with a caloric deficit of 40%. Even more, a year with excessive rainfalls generates a food calories dependence of 60%, while a year of drought generates 87%. The food groups that contribute most to the caloric availability are tubers, cereals and red meats. However, the proportions of the supply vary substantially according to the particular behavior of rainfalls, either in a normal year, with excessive rainfalls and/or in a drought situation. Results revealed a deficit of 1,000 kcal per capita per day in the Puno region even during normal years (750 mm of water layer), which can be resolved in a great part doubling the regional production of potato and quinoa, achieving a nutritional coverage of 95% of the nutritional requirements. These results must be considered to implement public policies focused in redress the caloric imbalance and adaptation to climate change in the Puno region.

Application of GAINS model for assessing selected air pollutants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, Pakistan

Pakistan is a developing country existing geographically at a pivoted location between two of the world’s largest pollution emitting countries (China and India) which adds to the severity of environmental issues faced by the country. These concerns include air pollution, climate change, and extreme weather situations prevailing in Pakistan. This increasing air pollution is deteriorating the health, threatening the food security and adding up its share to the already existing global warming. The initial step in devising a wide ranging, multifaceted, economically feasible, and sustainable solution to deal with the severity of this issue is the quantification of the air pollution and greenhouse gas emission in Pakistan. The GAINS model is one of the most comprehensive tools, dealing with the air pollutants and greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol. This study has utilized this model to analyze the source-based anthropogenic emissions of air pollutants (NH3 and SO2), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and greenhouse gases (CH4 and CO2), their impacts and abatement cost, for the duration of 1990–2030, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan regions of Pakistan. An overall increasing trend was observed during 1990–2030 for (a) air pollutants: NH3 (223.52–568.87kT/Y); SO2 (50.52–332.95kT/Y), (b) VOCs (121.76–246.81kT/Y), and (c) greenhouse gases: CO2 (7.83–62.45MT/Y) and CH4 (1120-2314kT/Y). The emission inventories created for all greenhouse gases together estimated the increase of 42.37 to 138.57 MTCO2eq. for greenhouse gases over the time duration of 1990–2030.

Gender sensitive education in watershed management to support environmental friendly city

This study is about gender-sensitive perspective in watershed management education program as one of capacity building for citizens in watershed management with community-based strategy to support environmental friendly cities and security for women from flood disasters. Involving women and increasing women’s active participation in sustainable watershed management is essential in urban area. In global warming and climate change situations, city management should be integrated between social aspect and environmental planning. This study used mix method (concurrent embedded type, with quantitative as primary method) with research type is descriptive-explanatory. The result of this study is education strategies with gender approaches and affirmative action through emancipation approach and local knowledge from women’s experiences can increase women’s participation. Women’s empowerment efforts need integrated intervention and collaboration from government, NGO, and other stakeholders to optimize women’s role in watershed management for support environmental friendly city. The implication of this study is an educational strategy on watershed conservation with gender perspective to offer social engineering alternatives for decision makers to policy of sustainable watershed management in urban area related to flood mitigation efforts.

Determinants of technology-based product adoption by consumers

The climate change situation is alarming due to both industrial and domestic consumption patterns and a positive change in consumer preference for more energy-efficient household appliances is crucial to address this challenge. This study attempts to ascertain the determinants of technology-based household product adoption by consumers. The data collected has been analysed empirically to identify the significance of various factors while making a purchase decision. The study finds out the major factors towards adoption of technology-based household products by the consumers. This study of consumer behaviour has been carried out with medium-range investment products that are technology-based. The study will provide significant insight to various stakeholders associated with technology-based household products; these include manufacturers, marketing communities, environmental professionals and associated researchers. The output model will be useful for the government in formulating any forward-looking strategy towards reduction of household GHG emission for climate proactivity. The study findings are supported by adequate empirical evidence.

To overcoming greenhouse effect for anti global climate change and current situation

To overcoming greenhouse effect for anti global climate change and current situation

Barriers and Benefits of Changing People’s Behavior Regarding Energy Saving of Air Conditioners at Home

Energy saving is a desirable behavior in terms of solving the global warming problem. In order to change people’s behavior from the non-saving to the saving use of air conditioners, for example, the barriers to and benefits of changing their behavior should be investigated. This study collected data from four focus groups consisting of eight adults in each group. Two of the focus groups were non-energy savers in terms of their use of air conditioners while the other two focus groups were energy savers in their use of air conditioners. The results indicated that the barriers to energy saving behavior regarding air conditioners were comfort, habit, and privacy. The benefits of energy saving in relation to the use of air conditioners included saving money, alleviating the climate change situation, saving natural resources, behaving as a good role model for family members, gaining better health, and lengthening the life of the air conditioners.

Research on the response of the water sources to the climatic change in Shiyang River Basin

The influence of the future climate change to the water resource will directly pose some impact on the watershed management planning and administrative strategies of Shiyang River Basin. With the purpose of exploring the influence of climate change to the runoff, this paper set Shiyang River as the study area and then established a SWAT basin hydrological model based on the data such as DEM, land use, soil, climate hydrology and so on. Besides, algorithm of SUFI2 embedded in SWAT-CUP software is adopted. The conclusion shows that SWAT Model can simulate the runoff process of Nanying River well. During the period of model verification and simulation, the runoff Nash-Sutcliffe efficient coefficient of the verification and simulation is 0.76 and 0.72 separately. The relative error between the simulation and actual measurement and the model efficient coefficient are both within the scope of acceptance, which means that the SWAT hydrological model can be properly applied into the runoff simulation of Shiyang River Basin. Meantime, analysis on the response of the water resources to the climate change in Shiyang River Basin indicates that the impact of climate change on runoff is remarkable under different climate change situations and the annual runoff will be greatly decreased as the precipitation falls and the temperature rises. Influence of precipitation to annual runoff is greater than that of temperature. Annual runoff differs obviously under different climate change situations. All in all, this paper tries to provide some technical assistance for the water sources development and utilization assessment and optimal configuration.

Benefit—Cost Analysis on Coastal Structures Design for Climate Change Adaptation in Hong Kong

Some experts believe that Hong Kong will probably be subjected to more extreme weather conditions due to climate change. To better understand the potential implications of the effects of climate change on coastal structures in Hong Kong and to ascertain necessary revisions to the current design standards to minimize the risk of coastal flooding, the Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government conducted a study to review the climate change situation in Hong Kong and its implications to coastal structures design. Projection method has been developed to project the two major climate change factors pertinent to design of coastal structures, i.e. the mean sea levels (MSLs) and extreme wind speeds, to different time windows of the 21st century based on IPCC AR5 scenarios. CEDD seriously considered investing in the future coastal structures by designing the new structures with climate change revisions as one of the adaptation measures against the climate change impact and undertook benefit—cost assessment to evaluate whether the adaptation measure is effective in coastal structures design. Three types of common coastal structures to cope with climate impact, i.e. sloping rock armor seawall, vertical blockwork seawall and piled-deck pier, were investigated. The cost-benefit analysis results demonstrated that the benefits of increased protection on new coastal structures to cope with climate change effects outweigh the additional costs incurred to construct and maintain these structures.

Summer Season Water Temperature Modeling under the Climate Change: Case Study for Fourchue River, Quebec, Canada

It is accepted that human-induced climate change is unavoidable and it will have effects on physical, chemical, and biological properties of aquatic habitats. This will be especially important for cold water fishes such as trout. The objective of this study is to simulate water temperature for future periods under the climate change situations. Future water temperature in the Fourchue River (St-Alexandre-de-Kamouraska, QC, Canada) were simulated by the CEQUEAU hydrological and water temperature model, using meteorological inputs from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) Global Circulation Models (GCMs) with Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 2.6, 4.5 and 8.5 climate change scenarios. The result of the study indicated that water temperature in June will increase 0.2–0.7 °C and that in September, median water temperature could decrease by 0.2–1.1 °C. The rise in summer water temperature may be favorable to brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) growth, but several days over the Upper Incipient Lethal Temperature (UILT) are also likely to occur. Therefore, flow regulation procedures, including cold water releases from the Morin dam may have to be considered for the Fourchue River.

Water Supply Prediction for the Next 10 Years in Algeria: Risks and Challenges

Water is the source of life, with population growth, environmental problems and water shortages, water resources management become a major priority for the Algerian government. The environmental problems and the climate change context apply a high pressure on the policy of groundwater and surface waters management. Future simulation of water demand is a way for prediction and prevention against climatic and environmental risks through the establishment of real and feasible solutions for better exploitation of water resources. In this study we simulate the future demand of water to supply population need, in the Algerian territory at the horizon of 2020, to show critical situation of lack of water, under a climate change situation. According to the results we are arriving at the conclusion that to solve the continuous arising demand of water we must return to the used unconventional water resources.

Simulating Nitrogen and Irrigation Effects on Wheat Production in Bangladesh under Changing Climate

Climate change impacts are visible in Bangladesh which requires adoption of judicious crop management practices for sustainable agriculture. Crop simulation models are effective in this regard and can be used for optimizing water and nitrogen inputs for maximization of wheat yields. Two field studies were conducted at Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) for evaluating the effect of increased temperature on wheat production under variable water and N rates, through the use of DSSAT v4.6 model. Thirty years historic weather data and BARI Gom-26 wheat-cultivar coefficients, as generated through use of GLUE of DSSAT model, were used for evaluating the impact of temperature rise with variable rates of irrigation water and nitrogen. The effects of four levels of nitrogen (0, 40, 80 and 120 kg ha-1) and four irrigation levels [0 (no irrigation), 1, 2 and 3] on wheat yield were evaluated under 0°C, 1°C, 2°C and 3°C rise in temperature. Simulation results indicated that wheat yield increased with increase in nitrogen application rate, but decreased with the temperature rise. Crop growing duration was reduced by about five days for each degree rise in temperature, irrespective of levels of irrigation water and nitrogen-rates. In general, there was yield reduction of 8.13, 16.77 and 24.97 % with increased temperature of 1°C, 2°C and 3°C, respectively, when compared with no temperature rise treatment. For interaction of temperature rise-N dose, the magnitude of yield decline under temperature rise was higher with increased dose of N. Agronomic N use efficiency at different N rates and temperature rise level were calculated. N use efficiency decreases with the increase in temperature rise and the highest (29.95 kg grain kg-1 N) was obtained from 40 kg N ha-1 treated plot with 0°C temperature rise i.e. existing atmospheric temperature. Simulation results indicated increase in wheat yield with higher levels of irrigation water, and interaction of irrigation level with temperature rise was significant. Irrigation use efficiency decreases with the increase in temperature rise. From the present study, it was seen that the interaction of temperature rise with varying levels of N and irrigation water was significant, and there is a need to design the appropriate inputs’ management, as the adaptation strategy, to sustain the wheat yield under climate change situation.

Genotypic variation in carbon fixation, δ13C fractionation and grain yield in seven wheat cultivars grown under well-watered conditions.

Biotic carbon (C) sequestration is currently being considered as a viable option for mitigating atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) emission, in which photosynthesis plays a significant role. A field experiment was conducted between 2013 and 2015 to investigate the efficiency of seven modern wheat varieties for CO2 fixation, C partitioning, δ13C fractionation in the leaves, and grain yield. A strong correlation between flag leaf photosynthesis and stomatal density (r=0.891) was detected. Photosynthetic efficiency was highest in the variety WH-1021 (28.93µmolm-2s-1). Grain yield was influenced by biomass accumulation in the heads and these were significantly correlated (r=0.530). Our results show that upregulated biomass partitioning to the developing kernels of wheat was inversely proportional to biomass accumulation in the roots, and led to a higher grain yield. These results led us to conclude that identification of a wheat genotype like WH-1021 followed by WH-1080 and WH-711, with higher isotopic discrimination in the flag leaves, stomatal densities, water use and photosynthetic efficiencies along with higher grain yield, can contribute to sustainable agriculture in future climate change situation in India. A yield increment of 9-48% was recorded in WH-1021 over other six tested wheat varieties.

Yom Kippur’s Call for Environmental Repentance

Yom Kippur’s Call for Environmental Repentance