Threat Of Climate Change Research Articles

Priority conservation areas for protected saproxylic beetles in Romania under current and future climate scenarios

Climate change threatens species and ecosystems globally, including forest ecosystems that support rich invertebrate diversity. Saproxylic beetles, that depend on old-growth trees and deadwood, are facing increasing pressure. Consequently, conserving these beetles has become a priority for EU Member States. We developed ensemble species distribution models for five saproxylic beetles for current and three future time horizons under two Shared Socioeconomic Pathways and two Global Circulation Models. We used a systematic conservation planning approach to assess the effectiveness and resilience to climate change of the Romanian Natura 2000 network for saproxylic beetles while identifying areas for prospective protected area expansion to meet EU conservation targets. Our study revealed that under all scenarios and time horizons, the saproxylic beetles may lose over 80% of their suitable habitat and restrict their distribution to higher elevations. According to the conservation prioritization analysis, we found that, when considering 30% of the landscape as being protected, an average of 85% of species distribution is retained within priority areas overlapping the Carpathian Mountains, while for the current protected area coverage (18% of Romania’s terrestrial area), the existing Natura 2000 network does not perform satisfactorily, with only ~ 30% of the saproxylic species distributions falling within the network. Our results corroborate previous findings on saproxylic beetle range shifts and contractions due to climate change. Furthermore, our findings question the effectiveness of the current Natura 2000 network, as it is currently inadequate for protecting these species. To achieve the goals of the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 of protecting at least 30% of the EU’s territory, we advocate the expansion of the Natura 2000 sites to future suitable saproxylic beetle habitats.

Sap Flow Density of the Prevailing Tree Species in a Hemiboreal Forest under Contrasting Meteorological and Growing Conditions

This study aimed to assess the adaptive capacity of the dominant tree species in Lithuania, namely Scots pine, Norway spruce, and silver birch, to current climate conditions based on their changes in transpiration expressed through the tree sap flow intensity. The species-specific responses were investigated at two typical edaphically different forest sites with water-limited and water-saturated soils. Contrasting events like overflow in 2017 and drought in 2019 provided an opportunity to detect the adaptative capacity of the monitored tree species to these meteorological extremes. Norway spruce trees, due to having both the most intense sap flow at the beginning of the growing season and the longest period of active transpiration, demonstrated the highest annual transpiration rate, regardless of the hydrological regime of the site. Their decreased resilience to subsequent biogenic damage caused by pests due to a significant decrease in sap flow density during intense and prolonged droughts may reduce their importance in Lithuanian forestry. Silver birch trees, which demonstrated a reduction in sap flow after a drought following the untimely drop of their leaves and the end of active vegetation, even at the end of a prolonged warm period, can be seen to not have appropriate adaptations to current climate conditions. Scots pine trees are the best adapted to mitigating the recent threats of climate change.

Optimal scheduling of a RES – Electrolyzer aggregator in electricity, hydrogen and green certificates markets

The emerging threat of climate change underscores the necessity for increased investments in renewable energy sources and hydrogen energy to enhance the transition towards a more sustainable and resilient future. This work presents a simple Linear Programming (LP) mathematical framework to ensure the optimal portfolio management and participation of an aggregator owning a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) electrolyzer and renewable energy assets in the electricity, hydrogen and green certificates markets. The objective aims to maximize the aggregator's overall profits by optimally managing green certificates issuance and diminishing the curtailment of the renewable energy production. The proposed approach is applied to an illustrative case study, while additionally a number of scenarios are considered to account for fluctuations in electricity price and wind power production. Furthermore, the impact of expanding electrolyzer's power capacity from the aggregator's side is also investigated. The results obtained illustrate the impact of the above-mentioned scenarios on the optimal operation and profitability of the aggregator.

Capturing the drivers of crop water footprints in Africa and its spatial patterns

Improving water efficiency in the agricultural sector is essential to ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater in a context of increasing water scarcity and human water demand. The water footprint (WF) is an established metric of resource intensity while the drivers steering WF over time remain under-researched. To advance this line of research, this paper assesses the sign and magnitude of macroeconomic, climatic, and agronomic drivers on the agricultural crop WF in 43 countries of the African continent for the period 2002–2016, using econometric panel data techniques and considering potential spatial patterns. The results reveal a significant spatial dependence in the WF across neighbouring countries. Socioeconomic factors are the most important determinant of water productivity, indicating that economic development facilitates a falling water requirement per unit of production. A negative impact of the temperature variation on the WF is also found, while the share of total land dedicated to agriculture tends to increase the crop WF in the continent. These results support designing adequate agricultural and water management policies to achieve sustainable and resilient food systems capable of adapting to anticipated population growth, climate change and other future threats to human health, prosperity and environmental sustainability in Africa.

Prospects and Challenges for Biodiversity in the Anthropogenic-Induced Cold Arid Landscape of Ladakh, India

Ladakh, a high-altitude cold arid region, exhibits conspicuous signs of climate change across its vast landscape. The unique biodiversity of Ladakh faces various challenges due to both exponential anthropogenic activities and the significant threat of climate change to the region's environmental landscape and physiographical variations. The region's unique topography, from high-altitude deserts to soaring Himalayan mountains, makes it a biodiversity hotspot. However, biodiversity is under threat from climate change, infrastructure development, the upward movement of invasive species, and water scarcity due to glacial retreat. There is enough potential to combine traditional ecological knowledge with modern conservation strategies. Climate change, with rising temperatures and glacial retreat, poses a significant threat to Ladakh's biodiversity, particularly that of alpine flora and fauna. Infrastructure development, including roads and hydropower projects, can fragment habitats and dislocate wildlife corridors, leading to reduced genetic diversity. Long-term field observations form the basis for an indepth exploration of prospects and potential threats to the biodiversity of Ladakh's cold arid zone, emphasizing the role of anthropogenic factors in this study.

FORMULATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS: CRUCIAL ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGY

In the recent past, the concern for battling climate change seems to have taken the center stage world over and rightfully so. A plenty of global conventions, treaties and conferences highlighting the significance of ensuring the health of our planet, bear evidence to the fact that the threat of climate change is real and needs to be dealt with collective effort. The largest democracy in the world, India, has been and continues to be an active participant in such endeavors. Even the Constitution of India provides provisions on the subject of environment protection. For instance, Article 51A(g) prescribes the fundamental duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment and have compassion for all living creatures. In order to uphold this spirit of the Constitution along with meeting the international commitments, such environment related legislation as The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and The National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 etc. have been enacted in India from time to time. However, the implementation of such laws has not been very efficient, with lack of citizen engagement being a major reason. This paper makes an attempt to look at this issue through the lens of Psychology. The aim is to highlight the idea that the solution of dealing with climate change lies in adopting an interdisciplinary approach; and that it can produce effective measures if environmental laws are formulated and implemented in accordance with the principles of Psychology that govern behavior change (Psycho-legal perspective).

Probability and severity of climate change threats to natural world heritage sites vary across site specifics and over time

This study contributes a first comparison of current and potential threats to Natural World Heritage Sites from climate change, as assessed by experts, when site and location characteristics (size, year of inscription to the World Heritage list, continent, climate zone and kind of site) are controlled for. The probability of a threat as well as its intensity is analysed. Another novelty lies in the use of data from the IUCN Conservation Outlook Assessment, covering all 245 Natural and Mixed World Heritage Sites across the world for three points in time: 2014, 2017 and 2020. The threat of climate change is broadly defined and includes temperature extremes, rising temperatures, disappearing glaciers, coral bleaching, droughts, desertification, and rising sea levels. Results based on a simultaneous Probit model with random effects show that the probability of actual and potential climate change threats increases over time, but with differences for size, kind of site and location. The probability that a threat is identified is highest for marine and coastal sites, and for those in Latin America, while it is significantly lower for sites on the African continent. Larger sites have a higher probability of being assessed as at risk and the severity of threats is found to be lower for recently inscribed sites. The rate at which the likelihood of a threat assessment increases is consistent for both current and future situations, while the probability of the most severe threat is larger for the current than the future period. A serious threat from climate change is assessed as highest for locations in the tropical monsoon (current period) or the tropical savannah climate (future period). Estimations also show that pure descriptive statistics or bivariate correlations may not correctly identify the risk or the dignity of a threat.

Testing an integrated model of climate change anxiety

Emerging studies have reported that people may experience anxiety when thinking about climate change. Although such an anxiety experience can be a rational response to climate change threats, it can still be a psychological burden to people's daily lives. In this research, we proposed an integrated model of climate change anxiety as a guiding framework to identify relevant psychological factors that predict climate change anxiety. According to this model, anxiety about climate change is related to experience, perception, and appraisal of climate change, processes that are underpinned by experiential, cognitive, and sociocultural factors. Furthermore, previous studies have operationalized climate change anxiety either by affect-based responses (i.e., anxiety-related feelings) or symptom-based responses (i.e., anxiety-related impairments), but it is unclear whether the two types of responses are conceptually and empirically similar or distinct. We thus examined how the three sets of factors relate to these responses and how they relate to outcome correlates simultaneously. We tested our framework in two pre-registered studies conducted in the US (Study 1) and China (Study 2). Both studies involved representative samples of US and Chinese adults regarding gender and age. Results of the partial least square-structural equation modeling revealed supporting evidence for the role of experiential, cognitive, and sociocultural factors, although some patterns were inconsistent with our pre-registered hypotheses. Importantly, we observed that the two types of climate change anxiety showed both similar and different correlation patterns with the predictors (e.g., efficacy beliefs, values) and outcome variables (e.g., pro-environmental behavior, life satisfaction). Our findings provide initial evidence for the usefulness of the integrated model as a guiding framework for understanding climate change anxiety and the need to differentiate different types of climate change anxiety responses.

Dampak Perubahan Iklim terhadap Penurunan Pendapatan Petani

Climate change due to global warming is inevitable and will have a broad impact on many aspects of life. Changes in rainfall patterns, increased frequency of extreme weather events, and rising temperatures and sea levels are serious impacts of climate change that affect the agricultural sector. For Indonesia, the threat of climate change has serious implications for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. In Indonesia, changes in rainfall due to climate change disrupt water supply to various sectors, including agriculture. This is evident from the fact that the area of land that was previously suitable for rice cultivation decreased by 20% between 1990 and 2009. Changes in rainfall patterns that result in the transition of the dry season and rainy season make current rice cultivation patterns no longer suitable as they used to be.

Unraveling farmers' interrelated adaptation and mitigation adoption decisions under perceived climate change risks

Climate change poses a risk to agricultural activity. Understanding farmers' behaviors is increasingly important for managing climate risks and improving their adaptive capacity. This study aims to identify the key risk-related drivers influencing several adaptation and mitigation strategies by adopting various Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies to reduce climate change vulnerability. We investigate the interrelated nature of the adoption of CSA technologies related to soil fertility, soil conservation, agroforestry, agro-advisory apps, and alternative coffee farming practices. To explore the role of the perceived risks related to CSA technology adoption, we constructed an extended model that combines protection motivation theory, perceived farmers' adoption risks and social and demographic determinants. We collected empirical data from 519 coffee farmers in Costa Rica and analyzed the data through a multivariate probit technique. The analysis reveals how the influence of perceived climate risks severity, perceived vulnerability, response efficacy, self-efficacy, and perceived cost changes according to the CSA technology. As for the perceived adoption risks, we show that the adoption likelihood of CSA technologies focused on mitigation decreases with increasing perceived adoption risk. Other determinants, such as the number of coffee buyers and the farmers' membership in an organization, steer the adoption of soil fertility practices, agroforestry, and agro-advisory mobile apps. Main theoretical implications include the integration of the CSA adoption risk-related perceptions to the protection motivation theory, since it reflects on farmers' fear of potential losses or additional costs associated with implementing these practices. The finding gives a nuanced explanation of farmers' decisions under pressing climate change threats. Practical implications for increasing CSA adoption are that CSA promotion programs must consider that farmers see CSA technologies as interrelated in their adoption decisions, meaning that more fruitful synergies could be promoted by acknowledging the bundled adoption of multiple CSA technologies. Thus, promoting a mix of CSA technologies and practices is essential for achieving resilience while increasing productivity.

The effects of communicating climate change threat: mobilizing anger and authoritarian affect displacement

ABSTRACT Research on climate change communication has made important contributions to our understanding of how to effectively inform and mobilize the public for climate action and yet open questions remain, not least because existing results are at times inconclusive or incomplete. The climate crisis poses an existential threat. But what effect does communicating that threat have? To what degree can communicating the threat invoke anger and how does anger interact with individual values predispositions? In this study, we conducted a survey experiment (N = 570) to better understand effects of communicating climate change threat. We find that exposure to climate change threat makes people angrier, and anger makes them more willing to act on climate change mitigation, confirming previous findings. However, our study adds a novel insight, the findings do not apply to people with authoritarian predispositions. They display lower levels of anger and willingness to act, while exposure to climate change threat results in increased authoritarian attitudes. This suggests that climate change threat can lead to affect displacement in people with authoritarian predispositions, where anger (typically directed at those in power, who have failed to tackle climate change) is redirected at non-conforming groups.

What proteomics has taught us about honey bee (Apis mellifera) health and disease.

The Western honey bee, Apis mellifera, is currently navigating a gauntlet of environmental pressures, including the persistent threat of parasites, pathogens, and climate change - all of which compromise the vitality of honey bee colonies. The repercussions of their declining health extend beyond the immediate concerns of apiarists, potentially imposing economic burdens on society through diminished agricultural productivity. Hence, there is an imperative to devise innovative monitoring techniques for assessing the health of honey bee populations. Proteomics, recognized for its proficiency in biomarker identification and protein-protein interactions, is poised to play a pivotal role in this regard. It offers a promising avenue for monitoring and enhancing the resilience of honey bee colonies, thereby contributing to the stability of global food supplies. This review delves into the recent proteomic studies of A. mellifera, highlighting specific proteins of interest and envisioning the potential of proteomics to improve sustainable beekeeping practices amidst the challenges of a changing planet.

Empowering Employees’ Environmental Citizenship Behaviour: Insights From Small and Medium‐sized Enterprises in Climate‐Threatened Tourism Destinations

This study addresses a gap in understanding how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can effectively inspire their employees to adopt voluntary environmental behaviours, specifically aimed at mitigating climate change impacts on climate-threatened tourism destinations. Through smart PLS-SEM analysis of 437 valid responses from SME employees, an extended theoretical framework is developed, encompassing factors such as environmental Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), sustainable intelligence, environmental empathy, environmental engagement, affective place attachment, and environmental citizenship behaviours. Findings reveal the direct relationship between enterprises’ environmental CSR practices and employees’ environmental citizenship behaviour. Mediating roles of empathy, engagement, and place attachment are identified in predicting employees’ voluntary pro-environmental behaviours in mitigating climate change impacts on destinations. The study also highlights the moderation effect of employees' occupations on the relationship between environmental engagement and pro-nature conservation behaviour. Implications are drawn for empowering SME employees’ environmental citizenship behaviour and promoting sustainable co-management of vulnerable tourism destinations facing climate change threats.

The role of perceived powerlessness and other barriers to climate action

AbstractThe impacts of anthropogenic climate change are rapidly worsening, but current efforts to mitigate this crisis are insufficient. Therefore, it is critically important to understand how to motivate more individuals to take action to protect against future climate change impacts. This study examines the individual‐level factors that predict motivations to act, as well as potential barriers to action in a sample of Canadian adults. Participants completed a questionnaire that assessed a) demographics; b) climate change knowledge, opinions, and scepticism; and c) psychological factors that may impede action. The responses were analyzed to determine the factors that explain whether individuals would change their actions in light of climate change and to what extent climate change considerations impact their actions. Predictors of action included how informed individuals were about climate change, perceived severity of its effects, perceived urgency to act, and climate change scepticism. The strongest predictor was perceived powerlessness; individuals who felt a sense of powerlessness were less likely to change their actions and reported that the threat of climate change had less influence over their behaviours. Powerlessness in turn was associated with age and political affiliation. Implications of these findings, and possible solutions to overcome the barrier of perceived powerlessness, are discussed.

The Influence of Environmental Factors on a Photovoltaic Panel–PVsyst Simulation

Renewable energy sources and the CO2 emissions in the atmosphere are predicted to play a very important role in attaining the climate neutrality by the half of this century. The rapid depletion of fossil fuel reserves and the looming threat of climate change have intensified the global pursuit of renewable energy sources as a viable alternative. The positive aspect of using renewable energy sources is that this kind of resources can easily supply the worlds energy needs. Despite the fact that we cannot capture all this energy, harnessing less than 0.02 % would be enough to cover all the necessary energy needs. Obstacles to expanding solar power generation involve the substantial cost of manufacturing solar cells and the dependency on weather conditions. The efficiency and performance of photovoltaic panels are inherently tied to environmental variables, prominently including climate factors. This article investigates the intricate relationship between climatic conditions and photovoltaic panel yields, offering crucial insights for optimizing the solar energy generations. It has been analysed the impact of environmental factors such as ambient temperature, wind speed and air humidity above the yield of photovoltaic panels. For each environmental factor, the variable conditions were simulated to highlight their correlation with positive or negative effect they have on the yield of a photovoltaic panel. By perusing this material, readers can develop a comprehensive grasp of how the environment conditions can influence the production of electricity using the photoelectric effect. Leveraging empirical data and simulation models using the PVsyst software, the analysis discerns regional variations and seasonal fluctuations in photovoltaic panels yields according to diverse climatic factors regimes.

Climate Change Threats to Stone Cultural Heritage: State of the Art of Quantitative Damage Functions and New Challenges for a Sustainable Future

Climate change effects are a warning of the planetary crises threatening our collective future. This is a topic largely considered in the context of the environmental crisis, but we are now aware that climate change represents an increasingly alarming threat also in terms of the conservation of cultural heritage sites. Cultural heritage preservation should aim to an active environmental and societal strategy built on a renewed ethics of responsibility on long-term effects. This work provides a review of the current state of the art on the damage functions used for assessing the impacts of climate change on stone heritage surfaces. Within this framework, it introduces new concepts such as (i) the Loss of Details (LoD), in terms of the readability reduction of decorative elements and, subsequently, (ii) the Future Cultural Value (FCV), as the capacity of a cultural heritage to transmit its cultural message in its future appearance. The valorization of the historical legacy is a win–win solution to fix new planning tools and to achieve multiple goals oriented to a sustainable development for future generations. From this point of view, plaster cast galleries and museums play a crucial role in preserving cultural identity since they report a careful documentation of the original artifacts and monuments over the time.

Attention to climate change and eco-friendly financial-asset prices: A quantile ARDL approach

In recent years, heightened global attention to climate change threats has spurred a rising tide of investors towards eco-conscious investment alternatives, reflecting a persistent urgency to align financial activities with sustainability objectives. This paper examines the potential role of people's attention to climate change concerns in explaining the price dynamics of various environmentally friendly financial assets, including solar energy stocks, clean energy stocks, sustainable stocks, low-carbon footprint stocks, and green bonds. The sample period is from January 03, 2014 to March 08, 2024. The principal component analysis is used to construct a proxy indicator for climate change-related attention, while the quantile ARDL approach is adopted to assess the relevance of this attention not only across short- and long-term horizons but also amidst normal, bearish, and bullish market conditions. The results reveal that eco-friendly financial assets are sensitive to public focus on climate change in the short run. The observed sensitivity, nonetheless, tends to fade away over the long term. For most assets examined, the magnitude of this sensitivity is not symmetric across quantiles; rather, it appears to vary depending on the prevailing market states. Our findings bear important implications for both investors and policymakers.

Private Woodland Owner Perceptions of Threat and Efficacy Shape Management Responses for Climate Change Adaptation

Abstract Private woodland owners (PWOs) face an increasing number of considerations for climate change adaptation and mitigation activities in their forest management. Evidence suggests there may be a disconnect between PWOs’ climate change perceptions and behaviors, which can limit implementation. We conducted seventeen semistructured interviews in Maine to develop a typological framework of PWOs based on their perceptions of climate-induced threats and efficacy. Our results produced three types of PWOs: the steady-as-they-go landowner (low perceived threat), the science-driven landowner (high perceived threat; high efficacy), and the seeking-support landowner (high perceived threat; low efficacy). Although all three types of PWOs regularly implemented resistance and resilience practices, their attitudes toward transition practices (i.e., assisted migration) diverged based on their perceptions of threat and efficacy. This typological framework can be used when targeting communications to PWOs regarding the overlap between climate adaptive management and traditional best management practices. Study Implications: PWOs in our study recognized climate-related impacts while implementing diverse forest management practices to meet both climate-related and non-climate-related objectives. The divergent attitudes toward transition practices exhibited by our three PWO types highlight the notion that adaptive practices can be both intentional and incidental. Our findings suggest that outreach efforts should understand PWO perceptions of climate change threats and their feelings of efficacy in responding to such threats. When combined with knowledge about the overlap between traditional best management practices and new climate-adaptive strategies, extension and outreach efforts can tailor their messaging to fit the appropriate audience.

Tinkering While the Arctic Marine Environment Totters: Governance and the Triple Polar Crisis$

After describing how the marine environment is tottering in the face of the triple environmental crisis, this article explores the limited governance progressions at the global and regional levels in addressing the threats of pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss in the especially vulnerable Arctic. For pollution, key limitations include slow and arduous processes to add chemicals for control under the Stockholm and Rotterdam Conventions and reliance at the regional level on a fragmented array of pollution studies and projects but without specific region-wide legally binding pollution standards. For climate change, the world is not on track to meet the Paris Agreement’s temperature targets which is especially problematic for the Arctic cryosphere while the Arctic Council has largely been limited to providing general statements of concern and aspirational calls for enhanced climate mitigation and adaptation actions. For marine biodiversity losses, a pan-Arctic network of marine protected areas has yet to be developed and various implementation challenges surround the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean including the need to ensure adequate financial, human resource and technical support. The paper concludes by highlighting some promising future governance directions. They include: the conclusion of a global treaty on plastic pollution; implementation of a new Global Framework on Chemicals – For a Planet Free of Harm from Chemicals and Waste; expected further clarifications from international tribunals on State responsibilities to address climate change; and regional implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the new agreement under the UN Convention on Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction.

Identification of Major Threats of Climate Change, Hazards, and Anthropogenic Activities on Biodiversity Conservation in the Buxa Tiger Reserve, India.

The Himalayan forests are facing a range of threats, which are making conservation efforts challenging. Using a mixed-method approach, this study investigated the threats to biodiversity conservation in Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR), a fragile ecosystem in the Eastern Himalayan foothills. The study found that between 1990 and 2021, BTR experienced rising summer temperatures and decreasing annual precipitation, contributing to forest dryness, water scarcity, and forest fires. Natural disasters such as floods, flash floods, earthquakes, and landslides also caused significant damage to wildlife habitats. Changes in land use and land cover, including encroachment, infrastructure development, fuelwood collection, and grazing practices, were also identified as significant drivers of ecosystem alteration. Besides, hunting and poaching also emerged as threats to wildlife populations in the reserve. By employing the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), the study determined that land use change, infrastructure development, climate change, livestock grazing, and fuelwood collection pose significant threats to flora conservation outcomes in BTR, while infrastructure development, climate change, livestock grazing, and forest fires are the primary threats to wildlife conservation outcomes in the reserve. The study recommends the regulation of land use practices, promotion of sustainable livelihoods for local communities, effective conservation strategies, and public awareness and education programs to promote the value of biodiversity conservation.