Climate Sensitivity Research Articles

Different patterns of inter-annual variability in mean vessel area and tree-ring widths of beech from provenance trials in Slovenia and Hungary

Key messageStudied beech provenances showed different patterns of inter-annual variability in mean vessel area and ring widths, indicating influence of intraspecific variability and diverse environment on hydraulic conductivity and carbon storage potential.International provenance trials of ecologically and economically important tree species are crucial to deciphering the influence of environmental factors and intraspecific variability on tree growth and performance under climate change to guide assisted gene flow and assisted migration of tree provenances and species. In this context, we compared inter-annual trends in tree-ring widths (carbon sequestration potential) and vessel characteristics (conductivity optimisation) of four beech provenances in two international provenance trials, one in Slovenia (Kamenski hrib, a core beech growing site) and one in Hungary (Bucsuta, a marginal beech site) in 2009–2019. We found different patterns of inter-annual variability in mean vessel area and tree-ring widths among provenances and sites, pointing to diverse genetic background and environmental influence on these two wood-anatomical traits. The average values of the vessel area varied less between provenances at Kamenski hrib than at Bucsuta. Weather conditions differently affected tree-ring width and mean vessel area. Furthermore, the length of the period of response of vessel area to the analysed weather conditions differed in summer and winter periods. The differences in the mean vessel area within the tree ring were more pronounced in the weather-wise extreme years, regardless of the provenance. Consistent with previous studies, we confirmed that site conditions affect the climate sensitivity of trees, which is more pronounced at marginal sites or in extreme years. The findings on how different environmental conditions affect the radial growth of young beech trees of different origin are very important for future forest management.

Global warming alters Himalayan alpine shrub growth dynamics and climate sensitivity

Global climate change is having significant effects on plant growth patterns and mountain plants can be particularly vulnerable to accelerated warming. Rising temperatures are releasing plants from cold limitation, such as at high elevations and latitudes, but can also induce drought limitation, as documented for trees from lower elevations and latitudes. Here we test these predictions using a unique natural experiment with Himalayan alpine shrub Rhododendron anthopogon and its growth responses to changing climate over a large portion of its latitudinal and elevational ranges, including steep precipitation and temperature gradients. We determined growth dynamics during the last three decades, representing period of accelerated warming, using annual radial growth increments for nine populations growing on both wet and warm southern localities and drier and cold northern localities in the Himalayas along elevation gradients encompassing the lower and upper species range limits. A significant growth increase over past decades was observed after controlling for confounding effect of shrub age and microsites. However, the magnitude of increase varied among populations. Particularly, populations situated in the lower elevation of the northernmost (cold and dry) locality exhibited most substantial growth enhancement. The relationship between growth variability and climate varied among populations, with the populations from the coldest location displaying the strongest responsiveness to increasing minimum temperatures during July. Minimum temperatures of April and August were the most important factor limiting the growth across most populations. Potential warming-induced drought limitation had no significant impact on growth variation in any part of the species geographic range. Overall, our findings indicate that plant growth is continuously increasing in recent decades and growth-climate relationships are not consistent across populations, with populations from the coldest and wettest localities showing stronger responses. The observed patterns suggest that dwarf-shrubs benefit from ongoing warming, leading to increased shrubification of high elevation alpine ecosystems.

The palaeoclimatic potential of recent oak tree-ring width chronologies from Southwest Ukraine

Better insights into spatio-temporal climate signals are needed to understand more clearly the applicability to palaeoclimatic analysis and dendrochronological dating of the long tree-ring oak chronologies currently being compiled in Eastern Europe. This study investigates the climate sensitivity of two recent oak tree-ring width (TRW) chronologies from Transcarpathian and Ciscarpathian Ukraine and their coherence with 35 oak chronologies from Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, and Hungary. The new Transcarpathian chronology consists of 247 TRW series of living trees from 13 sites covering the period 1836–2020, while the new Ciscarpathian chronology consists of 215 TRW series from 13 sites and spans the period 1775–2020. Despite the strong similarity between these two chronologies, their responses to climate differ significantly. Growing-season precipitation and particularly drought (three-month SPEI index) were found to be the primary drivers of oak growth on the border between the Carpathians and the northeastern Pannonian Basin. Spatial correlations of the Transcarpathian chronology show particularly high explained variability in the April-August SPEI index, roughly between 18.5–28.5°E and 45–52°N. In the Ciscarpathian, June precipitation primarily influenced oak radial growth but the spatial correlation was quite low. While the Transcarpathian TRW chronology was strongly correlated with eastern Slovakian and northwestern Romanian chronologies, the Ciscarpathian chronology revealed very low correlations with surrounding chronologies. This study indicates the great dendroarchaeological and palaeoclimatic potential of the Transcarpathian chronology and points to the need to analyse additional living trees from the Ciscarpathian region to understand the spatial variability of oak growth and its climate signal better.

Impacts of Climate Change on Ecological Water Use in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Region in China

The Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region in China is experiencing a serious ecological water scarcity problem in the context of climate warming and drying. There is an urgent need for practical adaptation measures to cope with the adverse impacts of climate change and provide a scientific basis for urban water supply planning, water resource management, and policy formulation. Urban ecological water can maintain the structure and function of urban ecosystems, both as an environmental element and as a resource. Current research lacks quantitative analysis of the impact of regional meteorological factors on ecological water use at the small and medium scales. Based on the meteorological data and statistical data of water resources in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region, this paper analyzed the trend of climate change and established an ecological climatic water model using gray correlation analysis, polynomial simulation, and singular spectrum analysis to predict the ecological water consumption. And, we assessed the climatic sensitivity of ecological water use and estimated the future ecological climatic water use in the BTH region based on four climate scenarios’ data. The results showed that the average multi-year temperature was 13.2 °C with a clear upward trend from 1991 to 2020 in the BTH region. The multi-year average precipitation was 517.1 mm, with a clear shift in the period of abundance and desiccation. Ecological climatic water modeling showed that a 1 °C increase in temperature will increase ecological water use by 0.73 × 108 m3~1.09 × 108 m3 in the BTH region; for a 100 mm increase in precipitation, ecological water use will decrease by 0.49 × 108 m3~0.88 × 108 m3; under the four climate scenarios of SSP1–2.6, SSP2–4.5, SSP3–7.0, and SSP5–8.5, the regional ecological climatic water use will be 5.14 × 108 m3, 6.64 × 108 m3, 7.82 × 108 m3, and 9.06 × 108 m3 in 2035, respectively; and in 2050, the ecological climatic water use will be 8.16 × 108 m3, 9.75 × 108 m3, 10.71 × 108 m3, and 12.41 × 108 m3, respectively. The methodology and results of this study will support the quantification of climate change impacts on ecological water use in the BTH region and serve as a theoretical basis for future research on ecological water use adaptation to climate change. This study can provide a basis for the development of the overall planning of urban ecological water supply, and at the same time, it can lay a foundation for the study of measures to adapt to climate change by ecological water use.

Climatic sensitivity of seasonal ice-cover, water temperature and biogeochemical cycling in Lake 239 of the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA), Ontario, Canada

Regional climate plays an important role on in-lake physical and biogeochemical processes and determines the state of water quality and ecology of the lakes. This paper presents the result of a one-dimensional numerical modelling of lake ice cover, water temperature, as well as nutrient and phytoplankton dynamics in Lake 239 (Rawson Lake) located in the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA), Ontario, Canada. Using observed meteorological and inflow/outflow data, the Multi-year Lake simulation model (MyLake) was setup to replicate measured lake water temperature, ice-cover, dissolved organic carbon, particulate and dissolved phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a concentrations over the entire depth of the lake. The sensitivity of the lake to changes in climatic drivers, specifically to changes in surface air temperature and wind speed, was examined by incrementally changing the model input forcing for temperature and wind speed and mapping the resulting changes in the simulated outputs. The results show that lake processes are generally as sensitive to changes in wind speed as they are to changes in air temperature. Simulated changes in lake variables corresponding to projected changes in Global Climate Models (GCMs) under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 emission scenarios reveal a general increase in lake water temperature and the corresponding decrease in lake ice thickness and ice cover duration under the changing climate. While lake water temperature increases at all depths, the shallow epilimnion layer is more sensitive to the changing climate than the deeper hypolimnion layer, reaching mean annual change value of +3.7 °C for RCP 8.5 and the 2090s as compared to the 1990s baseline period. While the simulated change in lake ice thickness reaches −20 cm by 2090s for the RCP 8.5 scenario, the corresponding change in ice-cover duration reaches -47 days. These changes are shown to result in seasonal changes in the biogeochemical cycling over the depth of the lake with projected increases in chlorophyll-a concentration during ice covered season of December to May reaching up to +0.15 mg/m3 for RCP 8.5 and the 2090s followed by a decrease during open water season of June to November reaching −0.15 mg/m3 compared to the 1990s baseline period.

A Comparison of Regional Climate Projections With a Range of Climate Sensitivities

AbstractTo investigate the extent to which differences in regional model projections can be explained by differences in the warming rates of their driving models, we compare projections of temperature and precipitation over the UK from two regional climate ensembles—the EuroCORDEX multi‐model ensemble and UKCP18 perturbed parameter ensemble—along with projections produced by the “parent” GCMs from which boundary conditions were taken. We evaluate the ensembles in terms of their representation of recent climate, then compare the changes simulated between 1981–2010 and 2050–2079. While both ensembles exhibit seasonal biases with similar magnitudes and spatial patterns during the evaluation period, the UKCP18 ensemble exhibits a somewhat stronger change signal in future simulations, due to a combination of higher climate sensitivity of the driving models, variations in the forcings applied, and—in the regional simulations—the inclusion of time‐varying aerosols. In order to reconcile the two sets of projections, we compare two periods corresponding to fixed global warming levels in the driving models, to constrain the variability within and between the ensembles which can be ascribed to differing rates of global warming: the discrepancy between the ensembles is greatly reduced, although some differences in the local response remain, with the UKCP18 runs slightly warmer and drier than the EuroCORDEX runs, particularly in summer. We also highlight potential pitfalls of comparing warming levels with a reference time period, due to uncertainty about the warming that has already occurred in the driving models prior to the reference period.

Climate Sensitivity and Drought Legacy of Tree Growth in Plantation Forests in Northeast China Are Species- and Age-Dependent

The occurrence, frequency, and severity of drought are accelerating due to global warming. Understanding the vulnerability of plantation forests to climate change, particularly to drought events, is critical to revealing the underlying mechanisms of tree resilience, recovery, and acclimation, which are important for plantation management. How the stand age affects the climate sensitivity of tree growth, as well as the direction, magnitude, and duration of the drought legacy, in plantation forests in northeast China is still unclear. In this study, we used MODIS-derived NDVI time series with gridded climate data from 2000 to 2020 to fill this knowledge gap. The selected plantation forests were dominated by four coniferous species: Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi), and Dahurian larch (Larix gmelinii). The results show that the climate sensitivity of tree growth differed among species and age groups. The growth of Korean pine and Scots pine was mostly dependent upon precipitation, while the growth of Japanese larch and Dahurian larch was determined primarily by temperature. Old Japanese larch (21–40 years) and Dahurian larch trees (31–60 years) were more sensitive to temperature and precipitation than young conspecifics, whereas old Korean pine (41–60 years) and Scots pine (31–60 years) were less sensitive to precipitation and temperature than young conspecifics. Furthermore, the legacy of drought lasted one year for Korean pine, Japanese larch, and Dahurian larch and over three years for Scots pine. Old trees were more severely affected by drought, particularly Scots pine and Dahurian larch. The findings of the study can help improve plantation forest management for better adaptation to future climate change.

Potentially astronomically forced climate sensitivity of Lake Pannon during the Tortonian Thermal Maximum (Late Miocene, Vienna Basin, Austria)

Potentially astronomically forced climate sensitivity of Lake Pannon during the Tortonian Thermal Maximum (Late Miocene, Vienna Basin, Austria)

A global synthesis of reported urban tree carbon production rates and approaches

Trees are a prominent feature of urban ecosystems. Urban tree productivity is a key component of urban ecosystem energetics and has been identified as a possible pathway for reducing global greenhouse gas concentrations. Recently, extensive research has been directed to evaluating the carbon dynamics of urban trees in cities throughout the world. Here, we synthesize this research, using results from previous studies from 154 cities to identify the distribution of urban tree productivity globally and the basis for generating urban tree productivity estimates. Reported urban tree productivity shows a strong relationship with estimated tree carbon content and exhibits increases with both temperature and precipitation, with land cover differences influencing the degree of climate sensitivity. Compared with a reference productivity estimate, urban trees showed greatly reduced estimated rates of productivity and the magnitude of reduced productivity was inversely correlated with precipitation but was independent of temperature. Reported rates of productivity across all studies suggest climate restrictions that are more important with less intensively managed land covers. Scaling these results globally suggests a limited opportunity for urban trees to contribute to atmospheric carbon dioxide reductions, especially in the absence of major carbon emission reductions. We found that the majority of results are derived from tree inventories from a single period with rates of productivity estimate through quasi-empirical or allometric models. The majority of studies have been conducted in temperate biomes and North America. These results show that existing urban tree assessments have substantial methodological restrictions and regional biases. Future research of urban tree productivity should look toward improved methods and can use this synthesis as a baseline for comparisons and improvement.

Rapid rising in radiative forcing

The energy balance between the earth (and its atmosphere) absorbing solar radiation and its radiation into space determines the equilibrium temperature of the earth’s surface. The process of the earth and its atmosphere as a whole radiating long-wave electromagnetic waves into space includes the transmission of surface radiation by the atmosphere, absorption, reflection, reverse radiation, and atmospheric radiation to space, etc. When the concentration of greenhouse gases such as CO2 in the atmosphere changes, the absorption of surface radiation by the atmosphere also changes immediately, thereby changing the equilibrium temperature of the atmosphere and the surface. The relationship between equilibrium temperature and atmospheric CO2 content, or so-called the earth’s climate sensitivity, is a focus of climate dynamics research.

Climate Change, Pressures, and Adaptation Capacities of Farmers: Empirical Evidence from Hungary

This paper aims to analyze comprehensively the climate exposure, sensitivity, perception, adaptive capacity, vulnerability, and resilience of the Hungarian agricultural sector, particularly focusing on fruit, vegetable, and grape producers. Four distinct Hungarian case studies were examined, representing different regions with diverse environmental and socioeconomic conditions. The research combined quantitative and qualitative methods, including statistical and GIS analysis of climate, agricultural, and socioeconomic data, as well as field research and semi-structured interviews. The study investigated exposure, sensitivity, perception, and adaptation, leading to the identification of key components and influencing factors. Qualitative research revealed that farms operating in geographically close proximity, in the same regulatory and support environment, can have different adaptive capacities. In the current state of the adaptation process, the extent to which farmers can rely on supportive professional networks and seek out and adopt new practices is crucial. Field experience suggests that without a strong and supportive producer organization (extension network), farmers may prefer to resort to extensification (afforestation) to mitigate production risks. From a development policy perspective, it is worthwhile to present good practices and provide information on possible adaptation techniques through existing local sectoral organizations.

Effectiveness and resilience of BMPs to watershed climate adaptation considering the uncertainty of hydrological model and GCMs

Climate change significantly impacts catchment hydrologic and water quality processes. Best management practices (BMPs) can serve as adaptation strategies to negate the impact of climate change on sediment and total nitrogen (TN) loads. One major controversial issue in climate change adaptation studies is the highly uncertain nature of such changes. Previous studies have rarely focused on the combined impact of the uncertainty in climate change and watershed model parameters, which could be the main sources of uncertainty in climate change adaptation research. In this study, the effectiveness and resilience (defined as continued effectiveness under a changing climate) of BMPs in reducing sediment and TN loads were explored under future climate change in the Shanmei Reservoir watershed (SMW) of Southeast China. Climate change projections provided by 10 general circulation models (GCMs) under the SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0, and SSP5-8.5 scenarios from 2031 to 2060 were applied in the Annualized Agricultural Nonpoint Source (AnnAGNPS) model to evaluate the effectiveness and resilience of 4 BMPs (riparian buffers (RB), no-tillage (NT), fertilization reduction (FR), and parallel terraces (PT)). The ensemble average of 10 GCMs and 10 behavior parameter groups were adopted to reduce the uncertainty resulting from the hydrological model parameters and GCMs. The results indicated that the average annual temperature and precipitation in the SMW will increase in the future. On a seasonal scale, the average temperature during all seasons will increase, and precipitation will decrease in summer and autumn but increase in spring and winter. The annual sediment and TN loads will decrease, but the loads in spring and winter will increase. BMPs could be effective as climate adaptation strategies for reducing sediment and TN loads under future climate conditions, with PT as the most effective option. Structural BMPs were more effective in reducing sediment and TN loads in spring and winter, whereas nonstructural BMPs were more effective in reducing loads in summer and autumn. BMPs were more resilient when future watershed runoff changes were slight or climate sensitivity was reduced, with higher BMP resilience in spring and winter than in summer and autumn. This study aimed to provide systematic references for watersheds through the implementation of BMPs for mitigating the effects of climate change and extending the boundaries of the AnnAGNPS model application.

Tree-ring width and stable isotope analyses of Picea sitchensis from Iceland reveal growth potential under predicted climate change

Sitka spruce has been one of the most planted tree species in Iceland since the mid-twentieth century. Here, we use different dendrochronological methods to identify the controlling climatic factors of its growth and possible changes in their influence over time. We develop annually resolved and absolutely dated measurements of tree-ring width (TRW) from 21 trees and oxygen (δ18O) and carbon (δ13C) stable isotopes from six trees to evaluate growth trends and climate sensitivity in Iceland’s Hallormsstaður National Forest over the past 54 years (1965–2018). Warmer and wetter summers in the last few decades have resulted in significantly increasing radial growth. While TRW and δ13C reflect strong July-August temperature signals, with the highest correlation for July, δ18O is mainly controlled by the temperature in March. The occurrence of negative pointer years in TRW decreases with increasing temperature in July but increases with excessive precipitation in August. Our study shows great continued potential for Sitka spruce cultivation in Iceland.

Causes of Reduced Climate Sensitivity in E3SM From Version 1 to Version 2

AbstractThe effective climate sensitivity in the Department of Energy's Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) has decreased from 5.3 K in version 1 to 4.0 K in version 2. This reduction is mainly due to a weaker positive cloud feedback that leads to a stronger negative radiative feedback. Present‐day atmosphere‐only experiments with uniform 4 K sea surface temperature warming are used to separate the contributions of individual model modifications to the reduced cloud feedback. We find that the reduced cloud feedback is mostly driven by changes over the tropical marine low cloud regime, mainly related to a new trigger function for the deep convection scheme and modifications in the cloud microphysics scheme. The new trigger function helps weaken the low cloud reduction by increasing the cloud water detrainment at low levels from deep convection under warming. Changes to the formula of autoconversion rate from liquid to rain and an introduced minimum cloud droplet number concentration threshold in cloud microphysical calculations help sustain clouds against dissipation by suppressing precipitation generation with warming. In the midlatitudes, the increased Wegener‐Bergeron‐Findeisen (WBF) efficiency strongly reduces present‐day liquid water and leads to a stronger negative cloud optical depth feedback. The reduced trade cumulus cloud feedback in v2 is closer to estimates from recent observational and large‐eddy modeling studies but might not be due to the right physical reasons. The reduced mid‐latitude cloud feedback may be more plausible because more realistic present‐day mixed‐phase clouds are produced through the change in the WBF efficiency.

Constraining the Pattern and Magnitude of Projected Extreme Precipitation Change in a Multimodel Ensemble

Abstract Projections of precipitation extremes over land are crucial for socioeconomic risk assessments, yet model discrepancies limit their application. Here we use a pattern-filtering technique to identify low-frequency changes in individual members of a multimodel ensemble to assess discrepancies across models in the projected pattern and magnitude of change. Specifically, we apply low-frequency component analysis (LFCA) to the intensity and frequency of daily precipitation extremes over land in 21 CMIP-6 models. LFCA brings modest but statistically significant improvements in the agreement between models in the spatial pattern of projected change, particularly in scenarios with weak greenhouse forcing. Moreover, we show that LFCA facilitates a robust identification of the rates at which increasing precipitation extremes scale with global temperature change within individual ensemble members. While these rates approximately match expectations from the Clausius-Clapeyron relation on average across models, individual models exhibit considerable and significant differences. Monte Carlo simulations indicate that these differences contribute to uncertainty in the magnitude of projected change at least as much as differences in the climate sensitivity. Last, we compare these scaling rates with those identified from observational products, demonstrating that virtually all climate models significantly underestimate the rates at which increases in precipitation extremes have scaled with global temperatures historically. Constraining projections with observations therefore amplifies the projected intensification of precipitation extremes as well as reducing the relative error of their distribution.

Assessment of terrestrial ecosystem sensitivity to climate change in arid, semi-arid, sub-humid, and humid regions using EVI, LAI, and SIF products

Arid and humid ecosystems are undergoing significant changes over the past decades due to the warming temperature and frequent occurrence of climate extremes. Quantifying climatic vegetation sensitivity in regions with different climate classifications is crucial for understanding the interaction mechanisms between vegetation and ongoing climate change. However, such knowledge about the spatiotemporal variations of vegetation sensitivity and its climate driving factors in arid and humid regions is still unclear. Based on this consideration, a moving-window-based Vegetation Sensitivity Index (VSI) scheme was applied to Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Leaf Area Index (LAI), and Solar-induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence (GOSIF) data to evaluate the spatiotemporal variations of terrestrial ecosystem in response to climate changes and explore its driving climatic factors from 2003 to 2020. Results indicated that high VSI (>60) was observed for tropical rainforests in humid regions and central Eurasia in semi-arid regions. By contrast, low VSI (<40) was typically observed in arid regions. Spatially, we found VSI exhibited a nonlinear parabolic variation along the gradient of aridity index in the arid and semi-arid regions but generally presented a linear variation with an upward trend in the humid regions. Temporally, VSI showed a significant declining trend over the past two decades but displayed a significantly increasing trend in arid areas. Temperature was the dominant climatic factor to explain the spatial variations of VSI globally, while precipitation mainly dominated the temporal variations of VSI. The dominant climatic factor of VSI varied across different aridity regions as temperature and precipitation were the main climate factor to drive spatiotemporal variations of VSI in humid and arid classifications, respectively. Our results provide unique insights into the vegetation sensitivity in response to ongoing and future climate change in regions with different climate classifications.

Combined effects of mixing ratios and tree size: how do mixed forests respond to climate and drought events?

Although the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functionality (BEF) has been studied comprehensively, how the mixing ratio of tree species in mixed forests affects the response of trees to climate and drought remains an unexplored and rather unknown question. Hence, we established tree-ring chronologies for Pinus tabuliformis Carr. (P) and Quercus variabilis Blume. (Q) mixed forests with different mixing ratios. In the temperate region of China, we investigated three mixing ratios: 90% P and 10% Q (P9Q1), 60% P and 40% Q (P6Q4), and 20% P and 80% Q (P2Q8). We collected tree ring samples using three tree size categories: dominant, intermediate, and suppressed trees. We explored the climate sensitivity of these trees and their drought tolerance indices-resilience (Rs), resistance (Rt), and recovery (Rc) under two drought conditions: short-term drought (1993 drought) and long-term drought (1999-2015 drought). P6Q4 made P. tabuliformis more sensitive to the Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) from the previous year than the other two ratios. The effect of the mixing ratio on drought response was insignificant under short-term drought in both tree species. Rt, Rc, and Rs of P. tabuliformis decreased with an increasing Q. variabilis:P. tabuliformis ratio in long-term drought. Rt, Rc, and Rs of Q. variabilis were the highest in P6Q4. The sensitivity of trees to PDSI varied among classes and was influenced by the mixing ratio. Dominant trees were most sensitive to PDSI in P6Q4 and P2Q8, whereas intermediate and suppressed trees were more sensitive to PDSI in P9Q1. The impact of tree size on drought tolerance indices varied according to drought type and mixing ratio. These findings showed that the mixing ratio has a confounding effect on the drought sensitivity of temperate tree species. Differences in hydrological niches allow Q. variabilis to benefit from mixing with P. tabuliformis. Mixing with optimal proportion of P. tabuliformis maximizes the drought resilience of Q. variabilis. Additionally, weakly competitive species (P. tabuliformis) do not benefit from mixed forests during prolonged water deficits. This result complements previous arguments that species mixing reduces the biological vulnerability of individuals. This study emphasizes the importance of species selection based on the biological and physiological characteristics of tree species in the afforestation of mixed forests. It highlights the critical role of species mixing ratios in the resistance of mixed forest ecosystems to climate change, which may provide a reference for sustainable forest management.

Importance of Strategic Environmental Assessment (Sea) Process and Environmental Health Impact Assessment (Ehia) Process Towards Sustainable Climate Change And Control

Importance of Strategic Environmental Assessment (Sea) Process and Environmental Health Impact Assessment (Ehia) Process Towards Sustainable Climate Change And Control

Rapid rising in radiative forcing

The energy balance between the earth (and its atmosphere) absorbing solar radiation and its radiation into space determines the equilibrium temperature of the earth’s surface. The process of the earth and its atmosphere as a whole radiating long-wave electromagnetic waves into space includes the transmission of surface radiation by the atmosphere, absorption, reflection, reverse radiation, and atmospheric radiation to space, etc. When the concentration of greenhouse gases such as CO2 in the atmosphere changes, the absorption of surface radiation by the atmosphere also changes immediately, thereby changing the equilibrium temperature of the atmosphere and the surface. The relationship between equilibrium temperature and atmospheric CO2 content, or so-called the earth’s climate sensitivity, is a focus of climate dynamics research.

Impacts of ethical climate and ethical sensitivity on caring efficacy.

Caring practice begins with awareness of the suffering of patients in a given context. Understanding the interrelationship between the perceived ethical climate of the clinical environment and the ethical sensitivity and caring efficacy of nurses is crucial for strengthening the caring competency of nurses. This study aimed to examine the associations between the ethical climate of the clinical environment and the ethical sensitivity and caring efficacy of nurses and to investigate the mediating effect of ethical sensitivity on the association between ethical climate and caring efficacy. This was a quantitative study with a cross-sectional descriptive correlational design. The participants completed an online survey that measured the ethical climate, ethical sensitivity and caring efficacy using the Hospital Ethical Climate Survey, Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire-Revised and Caring Efficacy Scale, respectively. The study recruited 293 nurses from two general hospitals that provided acute in-patient and extended care in Hong Kong. Ethical approval was obtained from the ethics committee of the university and the hospitals involved. Written consent was obtained from the participants. Ethical climate was associated with caring efficacy (β = 0.340, p < .001) and ethical sensitivity (β = 0.197, p < .001). After adjusting for ethical climate, ethical sensitivity was associated with caring efficacy (β = 0.860, p < .001). Ethical sensitivity showed a significant mediating effect on the association between ethical climate and caring efficacy (indirect effect = 0.169, 95% confidence interval: 0.097 to 0.261), which accounted for 50% of the total effect. The study reveals the complex and interwoven relationship between contextual and personal factors that affect nurses' caring efficacy from an ethical perspective. It provides insights into the significant roles of ethical climate and ethical sensitivity in strengthening caring efficacy. The results suggest theoretical and clinical implications for professionalisation.