Climate Issues Research Articles

Introduction: What Scholars Know (and Need to Know) about the Politics of Climate Change

Climate change is fundamentally a political problem; it is not merely a technical or economic challenge but rather an arena for sharp conflicts over the distribution of gains and losses and the associated ethical challenges. However, as Keohane (2015), Javeline (2014), and Green and Hale (2017) noted in PS: Political Science & Politics and Perspectives on Politics, research on climate change has not been traditionally central to mainstream political science. Field journals including Global Environmental Politics and Environmental Politics have made important contributions in this regard, and leading university presses have published important books on climate issues. However, the neglect of climate politics by mainstream journals is surprising—although we note the recent Perspective on Politics symposium on Green Political Science—because political scientists have devoted considerable attention to studying environmental politics at the community (Ostrom 1990), national (Kelemen and Vogel 2010), and international (Young 1994) levels. Indeed, there is robust literature on the management of common pool resources, national styles of environmental regulation, and environmental social movements, as well as global environmental regimes. Yet, the topic of climate change—an important subject in the study of environmental politics—too often has been neglected by mainstream political science.

Promoting preservice teachers’ global citizenship and contextualised NOS views through role-play activities integrated into place-based SSI instruction on climate issues

ABSTRACT This mixed-methods study explored changes in preservice teachers' (PSTs) understanding of the nature of science (NOS) and their values as global citizens after a place-based intervention augmented with role-play activities concerning climate change. The study further probed how these values manifested during role-play improvisations, where participants adopted the roles of global citizens. Conducted in Turkey with 20 PSTs, it integrated local field trips and role-play scenarios focused on climate change. We led PSTs on excursions to locales such as hydroelectric power plants, enabling interactions with the environment and local individuals, and facilitating role-play on climate-related issues. Within these scenarios, we employed a contextualized NOS approach to foster a comprehensive grasp of the NOS. Data was collected using the 'Character and Values as Global Citizens Assessment' scale, interviews, and video-recorded role-plays. Results indicated that the place-based SSI intervention enhanced PSTs' perspectives on NOS and cultivated their global citizen values. The values demonstrated in role-play improvisations shifted based on the scenarios. Consequent to these findings, the study recommends purposefully designing role-play scenarios targeting specific value domains for enhancement. It recommends involving students in local issues and using NOS-enriched role-play scenarios to bolster their values, and NOS understanding and diversify their argumentative perspectives.

Beyond boundaries. Exploring new post pandemic housing models through the reformulation of collective spaces

The outbreak of the pandemic COVID-19 has profoundly impacted the world where we live in. Especially in the urban and architectural fields, it has posed the necessity to define new housing models, capable of responding to both ambitions and needs of the upcoming post-pandemic society. In particular, two different types of necessities have risen: social issues (the necessity of more spaces for recreation, working, exercising, ...) and environmental issues (the reduction of flood risk, urban heat islands, air pollution, ...). The argument of this paper is that it is possible to overcome this apparent dualism of targets only through the reformulation of the conventional “living” paradigm, and, specifically, through the extension of the latter beyond the (physical and conceptual) “walls” that traditionally define the idea of housing. For this purpose, the outdoor space, conceived as not a mere addition but as a structural component of the living environment, has been identified as the main field of investigation. The effects of the pandemic situation, indeed, have exacerbated the traditional contraposition between private, semi-private and public realms. However, it is exactly through the exploration of this “friction” that it is possible to generate alternative design pathways for the reconceptualization of the conventional housing models towards a social and more sustainable perspective. For this reason, taking as a case study the Albanian city of Lezhë and the surrounding region, the paper reflects on the connection between the ground floor spaces of local dwellings and the outdoor areas around them. In particular, two different space typologies have been considered: the “in-between” space, resulting from the aggregation logics driven by the different historical settlements models; and the “residential/outdoor space interface” between private buildings and the adjoining common areas (streets, squares, parks, etc.). For each of these two categories, the paper tries to establish potential design principles, strategies and tools which can embrace the twofold necessity of creating spaces where to integrate the new recreational, social or working activities which have been making their way into the post-pandemic idea of living, but also to give possible answers to the forementioned impending climate issues. In this way, the ultimate goal is to explore how new housing models based on blurring the traditional demarcation between private and public through the reformulation on the outdoor space idea may not only improve liveability and physical and psychological health of individuals, but also entail wider-scale effects, becoming a beacon to ultimately increase identity, social inclusivity, and climate resilience of local communities.

Identification of optimal sites for the deployment of wave energy converters: the importance of a technology-centred approach

Driven by climate issues and geopolitical uncertainties, Europe faces the need to transform its energy supply dramatically and quickly. Various renewable technologies are proposed as a medium- to long-term solution for an environmentally and economically sustainable energy mix: among the available solutions, wave energy converters (WECs) are attracting growing interest due to the large untapped wave energy potential in European seas. In this context, the choice of optimal locations for the use of wave energy is fundamental to limit the technological gap with other fully developed conversion technologies, and to ensure competitive energy costs. In this paper, we compare different possible strategies to identify suitable sites for the installation of WECs, namely the one based on pure analysis of the wave energy resource, and that considering the productivity of the device in different sea states, i.e., its power matrix. Using the performance matrices of notional WECs, particularly an Oscillating Surge Wave Energy Converter (OSWEC) and a Heaving Point Absorber (HPA), we estimate optimal locations on the Italian coasts and highlight the advantages and disadvantages of the two approaches. The analysis shows the importance of a technology-based approach for the spatial planning of future wave power plants and highlights significant differences compared to the approach that can be used for the preliminary identification of sites for wind farms and, especially, for photovoltaic plants. We use the obtained results to introduce the MORE-EST platform, a novel web-based tool for straightforward estimation of wave resources and WECs productivity in European seas. The proposed platform is able to integrate information on wave resource assessment, bathymetry, marine space use and technological features, and represents a tool aimed at researchers, WECs developers, and policy makers.

Is environmental sustainability training fundamental to healthcare leadership? State of the art with health students and health leaders

This paper addresses the relevance of climate change and environmental learning in health professional training. Recent publications have shown the importance of understanding sustainability and environmental issues in healthcare management. Indeed, after years of underestimation, medical and public health professionals today acknowledge that the environment has a strong effect on human health. Conducted between April and June 2021, a quantitative study among 3,384 French medical and health students shows that the need for training on energy and climate issues is urgent and crucial. The findings are consistent with the international literature. The contrast is sharp between students’ expectations about environmental skills and the reality of the available course offer. Learning about energy, climate and environment is currently not a priority in the curriculum of healthcare professionals, including managers. Sustainability, however, clearly appears as a ‘must’ among the essentials in healthcare leadership. What these findings suggest is that healthcare managers can no longer afford to ignore environmental sustainability as an essential skills domain in their long-term capacity to contribute to the necessary healthcare environmental adaptation, mitigation and resilience.

Unravelling the Norwegian meat reduction controversy: navigating contested sustainabilities and the role of meat

Controversy surrounds research reports that promote reduced meat consumption in Norway. By studying these controversies in the media, we ask why meat reduction is polarised seemingly between environmental and agricultural, urban and rural voices. We show how a ‘conventional’ definition of meat reduction in a self-regulating market tends to disconnect consumption habits from agricultural policies. The result is a paradox: Norwegians are urged to eat less meat, but farmers must produce more to stay afloat. In this conventional frame, meat reduction is seen by rural and farmer voices as a further exaggeration of agricultural decline, depopulation and centralisation. To unravel this controversy, we contrast this with a critical ‘post-productivist’ view of conventional agriculture and volume-centred farm subsidies since the 1950s. We show how a different, more interactive understanding of consumption as interrelated with Norwegian food policies, production and distribution emerges, highlighting a path through the controversy. By reimagining a change from subsidies for production volume to production methods, climate, health, environmental and rural issues are brought into conversation with each other. While largely remaining a marginal voice in a heavily polarised debate, we show how alternative notions of meat reduction can help us move past meat reduction controversies. The article stresses that the two concepts of meat reduction are characterised by distinct notions of consumption, suggesting that the popular understanding of what consumption is can be a barrier to, or a part of, a meat-reduced future.

A real-time operational carbon emission prediction method for the early design stage of residential units based on a convolutional neural network: A case study in Beijing, China

Buildings are currently responsible for 39% of global energy related carbon emissions. Thus, carbon reduction in the construction industry is crucial to global climate issues. This study contributes a real-time operational carbon emission prediction method for the early design stage of residential units based on a convolutional neural network (CNN). The CNN model was trained based on a dataset with 2000 real residential units focusing on typical cases in northern China, particularly in Beijing, which is a significant energy consumption area. The R2 values of the operational-stage heating and electricity carbon emissions in the validation dataset reached between 0.91 and 0.98. The trained model based on this method can provide the real-time prediction of the carbon emission potential of proposed residential units to buttress architects to make scientific design decisions. The model was then validated on new cases that varied in the total area, rooms, orientation, window locations, and window sizes. The performance of the CNN model is verified by comparing the results with the output of an EnergyPlus model. While the variation trends of the output results of the two methods are found to be consistent, the CNN model results still have certain deviations from those of the EnergyPlus model. Consequently, the proposed method can reflect the variation of operational-stage carbon emissions due to the change of the floor layouts of residential units, and has a faster speed and higher convenience than the simulation-based method.

Preface

The 2023 2nd International Seminar on Earth Science and Technology (ISEST 2023) was hosted by the Faculty of Earth Sciences and Technology, Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), Indonesia. The seminar organized by the Executive Committees from Bandung, Indonesia. ISEST 2023 was successfully held in the form of a hybrid conference on March 7th – 8th, 2023. In the modern era, the interest of earth science and technology discipline has shifted following the urge in achieving a more sustainable future. The world is encouraging the future generation to take the present decision into consideration in the hope of maintaining the existence of natural resources, while combating the climate issue. ISEST 2023 served as an international forum, which continued disseminating innovative ideas, discussions, and academic exchanges among researchers. It aimed to integrate sustainability into the field of earth science and technology. The generous support for ISEST 2023 is provided by the Faculty of Earth Sciences and Technology, Institut Teknologi Bandung.ISEST has been a trademark of the Faculty of Earth Sciences and Technology, Institut Teknologi Bandung, since 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we could only hold our first scientific conference fully online back in December 2021. So, it is such an honor to take part in bringing the academic and scientific atmosphere back to our community in the form of a hybrid conference this year.The theme of this year’s conference is “Advancing Earth sciences, embracing technology”. We, as the only faculty in Indonesia that integrates multi-layered and interdisciplinary Earth sciences, would like to encourage our community to share their most recent scientific discovery and technological advancements. Our topics, ranging from atmospheric sciences, oceanic sciences, solid Earth sciences, and interdisciplinary geosciences, are chosen based on the wide discipline we would like to cover from each of our scientific community. We hope that our conference could be the source of wider knowledge sharing and networking between universities, research agencies, and governmental institutions.Within this conference, we cater more than 16 parallel sessions, with keynote and invited speakers from Indonesia, Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, and South Korea. Most of the papers and posters presented in the conference would be submitted to the IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Sciences. We hope that the publication will truly advance Earth sciences in each of our disciplines while embracing the continuously developing technology.Gabriella Alodia, Ph.D.Chairperson of the 2nd ISESTList of 2nd International Seminar on Earth Science and Technology (ISEST) Executive Committee are available in this pdf.

Climate Change and Ecologically Vulnerable Farming in Punjab: Some Highlights

The economic and technological growth in the last quarter of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century resulted in a drastic change in the climate (extreme weather conditions for the sustainability of human life on the earth). The updated report of CoP-25 (meeting of Parties), which was held on 3rd December 2019 in Madrid (Spain) used the term “climate emergency” instead of “climate change”. It was a warning for all the developing and developed countries, which depended heavily upon agriculture. The present study highlights some of the global climatic issues which affected the anthropological development in Punjab. This state has been regarded as the backbone of the Indian economy and is also known as the food basket of India. The cropping pattern is changing from diversification to specialisation. The farmers of the Punjab region focus only on rice-wheat cropping patterns. The major factors of resource depletion, particularly in Punjab, are land and water. The problem of food security and environmental degradation is increasing day by day.

The Principles of International Environmental Protection and Global Obligations: An Analysis Based on the Legal Context

There is now a worldwide collective obligation, a reality, to acknowledge environmental challenges. The paper discusses and analyses the principles of international environmental laws and how those are applied in international conventions and treaties, and the effectiveness and weaknesses of those laws. This discussion mainly focuses on the principles’ backdrop, what they mean, and how they have been adopted in international environmental law. Furthermore, the paper focuses on the outcomes of formulating the principles and enforcement of the legal framework. It analyses their prospect to strengthen the legal framework to achieve the objective of these principles. Besides, some recommendations have been made to strengthen these legal frameworks. It shows why it is essential to form efficient environmental platforms in present climate issues and how all nations can be brought under a common platform where they can take decisions regarding the safeguard amid the evolving environmental situations.

A Review of Climate Issues in the Context of Traditional and non-traditional Security Theories

A Review of Climate Issues in the Context of Traditional and non-traditional Security Theories

An In(III)-MOF based on pore engineering for efficient capture SF6 from SF6/N2 mixture

Efficient capture of greenhouse gases (SF6 and CO2) is crucial for addressing global climate issues and is highly challenging. Reasonably designing MOFs with expected functions based on pore engineering can help solve the problem. In the present work, a trinuclear cluster based In(III)-MOF (HBU-21) was designed and synthesized, which shows a three-dimensional (3D) network. The BET specific surface area reaches 381.44 m2⋅g-1. Importantly, the appropriate pore size (6.14 Å) is very suitable for selective capture of SF6 from SF6/N2 mixture. The higher IAST selectivity was obtained (SF6/N2, v/v 10:90, 184.05; 1:99, 88.87). In addition, HBU-21 also shows high uptakes of C2H2 and CO2, the capacities achieve 45.21 cm3⋅g−1 and 24.36 cm3⋅g−1 at 298 K 100 kPa, respectively. Theoretical simulations results indicate that the open metal site (OMS) should be responsible for the different adsorption behavior. To further validate its potential application value, recycling experiments were further implemented. The maximum adsorption capacity of SF6 remains basically unchanged after three rounds of adsorption and desorption tests. The results provide certain reference for rational designing MOFs based on pore engineering.

Spatial and Temporal Variability Characteristics of Future Carbon Stocks in Anhui Province under Different SSP Scenarios Based on PLUS and InVEST Models

With the rapid development of the social economy, human activities have had a severe impact on the environment. The global climate issue caused by CO2 emissions has attracted the attention of various countries around the world, and reducing CO2 emissions is urgent. This article simulates the changes in carbon storage in Anhui Province from 2030 to 2070 based on SSP1-2.5, SSP2-4.5, and SSP5-5.8 scenarios. First, based on the land use data of Anhui Province in 2010, the PLUS model was used to simulate the land use data of 2015, and the accuracy of the simulation results was verified against real data. Then, the land use data of Anhui Province were simulated in the future period from 2030 to 2070 under different SSP scenarios. Finally, based on the InVEST model, the spatiotemporal changes in future carbon storage were calculated. The research showed that, during the period of 2030 to 2070, the spatial distribution of carbon storage in Anhui Province under three scenario simulations generally showed a distribution pattern of high carbon storage in the north and south, and low carbon storage in the central region. Under the SSP1-2.6 scenario, Anhui Province’s carbon storage decreased by 0.33 million tons, a decrease of 0.029%. Under the SSP2-4.5 scenario, carbon storage increased by 0.25 million tons, an increase of 0.021%. Under the SSP5-8.5 scenario, carbon storage decreased by 1.54 million tons, a decrease of 0.133%. The reasons for the changes in carbon storage were related to the areas of arable land, forest land, and grassland. This study can provide a reference for future low-carbon land use planning.

Clientelism of the Idea of Young Voters in Creating Substantial Democracy in the 2024 General Election

As a tactical step away from the concept of democracy, general elections in Indonesia are always faced with the practice of political clientelism.These problems are certainly a warning of the death of substantial democracy. Amid these threats, the 2024 general election has a different vote map from previous periods, where the proportion of young voters exceeds 50% of the national vote. This study aims to see the potential role that young voters can play in the 2024 general election to create substantial democracy. This article is a literature study through collecting library data, reading, recording, and processing research materials. In general, this article finds that young voters have a fairly high level of concern for environmental and climate issues after the issue of corruption. In particular, this article shows that climate and environmental issues can become a political narrative that encourages the creation of substantial democracy in the 2024 general election. In the pattern of political clientelism, the 2024 general election can form substantial democracy through the propositions of young voters and their interests, which will form a political narrative based on ideas.

Comparative Model Study of Global Temperature Forecasting Based on the ARIMA-OLS Model

Global warming is the most important climate issue for mankind today. Predicting the direction of future global temperature change is particularly important to develop relevant response strategies. To reasonably predict the future pace of global warming, this paper firstly collects global monthly average temperature data from Berkeley Earth, covering major land areas around the world and monthly sea surface temperatures from 2012 to 2022, to ensure wide spatial coverage and high data integrity. Based on the data's cyclical and stable growth characteristics, a time series model and a simple regression model are established. Then, temperature forecasts for 2050 and 2100 are generated using the ARIMA model and simple regression model separately. Results reveal that both models predict months when the average temperature exceeds 20 degrees Celsius in 2050 and 2100. However, only the simple regression model predicts that the average annual temperature will surpass 20 degrees Celsius in 2100. Considering the trend of global warming, this paper supports the superior predictive capability of the simple regression model. The paper contributes to climate analysis, providing valuable insights for understanding future temperature trends and guiding further research in this field.

Energy justice in heat metering: Findings from a Danish experiment of metering and distribution in residential apartment buildings

According to EU regulations on heat metering, households should be metered individually and pay accordingly. However, in apartment blocks, heating is often provided for the whole building, and different ways of distributing costs are used. In Denmark, an investigation has been carried out into new ways of distributing costs, using indoor climate measurements of temperature, CO2 and humidity. Incorporating these three types of measurements in payment distribution can create an incentive to encourage residents to pursue a healthier indoor climate with lower energy consumption. This paper reports on qualitative interviews with residents as well as housing staff taking part in the experiment, relating empirical findings to questions of justice and ethics raised in the literature. Analysis reveals differing levels of understanding among residents concerning metering systems and rationales, including in relation to cost distribution and questions of justice. The experiment was carried out in social housing blocks where some residents could be categorised as vulnerable in terms of limited income and specific heating needs. Furthermore, issues of global climate and justice from an intergenerational perspective are also considered. This paper therefore draws on wider discussions about energy justice and vulnerability related to types of heat metering, and shows how these issues are interlinked with the socio-material context and the interplay with socio-technical constructions of comfort norms. The relevance of country-specific insights are thus demonstrated at a European level and beyond.

Understanding European Union Climate Change Governance through Political Parties Euromanifesto

This study offers a novelty specifying climate change as the legislation results in the European Parliament (EP) as an indicator of the consistency of political groups in realising their Euromanifestos. The article aims to investigate precisely the prospects and future of climate change policies in the EU post the 2019 general election. This study adopted qualitative legal research methods by studying the Euromanifestos of political groups in the European Union that competed in the 2019 European elections. Environmental issues, particularly climate change, were a significant focus in the study of these manifestos. Based on data from Euromanifesto, this study selected five EU Regulations as indicators of realising such political promises. In addition, the record of legislation and the results of voting during the establishment of the regulation was also applied as a data source in this study. In general, the cohesion between political groups in the EP is excellent. Based on a manifesto study, there are three essential findings; namely, most political groups in the EP make environmental issues, especially climate change, a politicised issue in elections. The second finding is that there are specific intersections between political groups, so it has implications for making the issue of climate change a common interest, and the results of the vote showed that a majority of Member of European Parliament members supported the establishment of the regulation. Finally, the solidarity of the EP political group cohesion in establishing regulations related to climate change is the last finding in this research.

On Climate Writing in The Water Knife

Contemporary American writer Paolo Bacigalupi bases his literary imagination on the real world. In The Water Knife, he makes the abstract and grandiose process of climate change tangible and palpable, and constructs a picture of the drought-ravaged American Midwest in the near-future, providing a rich narrative field for the discussion of global climate change. Through the representation and impact of climate issues presented in the novel, the paper analyzes the special manifestations and symbolic and metaphorical significance of climate writing from the historical dimension, ecological dimension and ethical dimension, with the hope of promoting people’s deeper understanding of and attention to climate change, integrating macro climate change with micro human survival experience and giving full play to the imaginative, cognitive, aesthetic, critical, educational and behavioral functions of climate change fiction, so as to enable people to better assume their responsibilities of environmental ethics, and provide useful reference for coping with climate variability and bridging ecological texture.

Review of common hydrogen storage tanks and current manufacturing methods for aluminium alloy tank liners

With the growing concern about climate issues and the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions, hydrogen has attracted increasing attention as a clean and renewable vehicle energy source. However, the storage of flammable hydrogen gas is a major challenge, and it restricts the commercialisation of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). This paper provides a comprehensive review of common on-board hydrogen storage tanks, possible failure mechanisms and typical manufacturing methods as well as their future development trends. There are generally five types of hydrogen tanks according to different materials used, with only Type III (metallic liner wrapped with composite) and Type IV (polymeric liner wrapped with composite) tanks being used for vehicles. The metallic liner of Type III tank is generally made from aluminium alloys and the associated common manufacturing methods such as roll forming, deep drawing and ironing, and backward extrusion are reviewed and compared. In particular, backward extrusion is a method that can produce near net-shape cylindrical liners without the requirement of welding, and its tool designs and the microstructural evolution of aluminium alloys during the process are analysed. With the improvement and innovation on extrusion tool designs, the extrusion force, which is one of the most demanding issues in the process, can be reduced significantly. As a result, larger liners can be produced using currently available equipment at a lower cost.

Research on performance monitoring of binary nano modified concrete based on temperature variation

The use of concrete is widespread, but it poses challenges due to its high consumption of Earth's raw resources and difficulties in recycling and reclamation. Today, the pressing climate issues, including global warming and the emergence of a complex climate, continue to test cement-based polymers in the civil engineering industry. As a result, there is a growing demand for higher performance, renewable resources, and reduced carbon dioxide production, leading to a shift in the traditional industrial revolution. Composite nano concrete has emerged as an effective solution to address the challenges related to concrete mechanics and durability, aligning with the principles of sustainable development goals. The research focuses on utilizing composite nano-modified concrete to enhance the life cycle of structures. This nano-modified concrete incorporates Nano-SiO₂ (NS) and Nano-CaCO3 (NC) particles to create a new composite nano-concrete structure called NSC concrete. The research paper explores different dosages of composite nano concrete, specifically 2.5 %, 3.0 %, and 3.5 %, denoted as NSC25, NSC30, and NSC35, respectively. It examines the performance of the composite nano concrete under various temperature conditions, including 25 °C, 200 °C, 400 °C, and 600 °C, to simulate real-world scenarios and evaluate its value-based applications. The article analyzes multiple aspects, including mechanical properties, durability, visual appearance, and economic benefits of composite nano concrete. It also assesses NSC concrete's temperature dissipation capacity and insulation level and investigates the interfacial transition zone influenced by nanoparticles and temperature. The results indicate that the new composite nano concrete retains substantial enhancements in mechanical properties, with a maximum increase of 1.22 % in splitting strength and up to 45.69 % improvement in flexural strength at a temperature of 600 °C. Additionally, it demonstrates commendable durability and economic efficiency