Extreme Climatic Conditions Research Articles

Modeling Climate Change Effects on Genetic Diversity of an Endangered Horse Breed Using Canonical Correlations.

The historical increase in the occurrence of extreme weather events in Spain during the last thirty years makes it a perfect location for the evaluation of climate change. Modeling the effects of climate change on domestic animals' genetic diversity may help to anticipate challenging situations. However, animal populations' short life cycle and patent lack of historical information during extended periods of time drastically compromise the evaluation of climate change effects. Locally adapted breeds' gene pool is the base for their improved resilience and plasticity in response to climate change's extreme climatic conditions. The preservation of these domestic resources offers selection alternatives to breeders who seek such improved adaptability. The Spanish endangered autochthonous Hispano-Arabian horse breed is perfectly adapted to the conditions of the territory where it was created, developed, and widespread worldwide. The possibility to trace genetic diversity in the Hispano-Arabian breed back around seven decades and its global ubiquity make this breed an idoneous reference subject to act as a model for other international populations. Climate change's shaping effects on the genetic diversity of the Hispano-Arabian horse breed's historical population were monitored from 1950 to 2019 and evaluated. Wind speed, gust speed, or barometric pressure have greater repercussions than extreme temperatures on genetic diversity. Extreme climate conditions, rather than average modifications of climate, may push breeders/owners to implement effective strategies in the short to medium term, but the effect will be plausible in the long term due to breed sustainability and enhanced capacity of response to extreme climate events. When extreme climatic conditions occur, breeders opt for mating highly diverse unrelated individuals, avoiding the production of a large number of offspring. People in charge of domestic population conservation act as catalyzers of the regulatory changes occurring during breeds' climate change adaptive process and may identify genes conferring their animals with greater adaptability but still maintaining enhanced performance. This model assists in determining how owners of endangered domestic populations should plan their breeding strategies, seeking the obtention of animals more resilient and adapted to climate-extreme conditions. This efficient alternative is focused on the obtention of increased profitability from this population and in turn ensuring their sustainability.

Changing wind-generated waves in the Red Sea during 64 years

This study analyzes the wind-generated wave climate conditions in the Red Sea. A 64-year (1959–2022) wave hindcast is developed using the spectral wave model WAVEWATCH III forced with ERA5 wind fields. The study addresses the climatologies of the significant wave height (Hs), mean period (Tm), and wave power (P) parameters, as well as the wind-sea and swell distributions throughout the basin. Special interest has been paid on assessing the extreme climate conditions. Additionally, the climate variability at seasonal and inter-annual scales, and the long-term trends are analyzed. The relationship between the Red Sea wave climate and the large-scale teleconnection climate patterns is investigated. The model is calibrated for wind-wave growth and validated against buoy and altimeter measurements revealing higher performance than previous datasets. The root mean square errors of Hs and Tm are reduced by 25% and 37%, respectively. Results show that wind-seas dominate in the northern and southernmost Red Sea regions. We also detect that the 100-year return period of Hs reaches ∼5 m in the central basin. Furthermore, regional annual and seasonal variations of the wave climate show strong correlations with the circulation patterns described by the North Atlantic Oscillation at the northern Red Sea and both the Dipole Mode Index and El-Niño Southern Oscillation at the southern Red Sea. Finally, contrasting behaviours of negative and positive trends occur at the southern and northern regions, respectively, for Hs, and P with a contrary behavior for Tm. Trends under both mean and extreme conditions are mild, reaching 3 cm/decade, 0.016 s/decade, and 0.3 kW/m/decade for Hs, Tm, and P, respectively, in the northern basin in winter.

Climate Migration in Post-Apocalyptic Narratives on the Mainstream Screen

Through the perspective of ‘catastrophising thought’, this work undertakes a comparative analysis of five post-apocalyptic films dealing with climate migration: Waterworld, Snowpiercer, Interstellar, Mad Max: Fury Road and Mortal Engines in order to identify recurring themes within their dystopian societies. These narratives share an apocalyptic literary approach, intertwining biblical elements to draw a subjectivity that enables us to see the end of our known world order simultaneously as a new beginning. In the plots, technological development is related to the disrespect of ecological harmony and, therefore, extreme climate conditions. The changes in the films’ narratives lead to a new kind of spirituality and a new concept of home. This article concludes by evaluating how these findings relate to the real, contemporary world.

Analysis of Climate Variable and Fisherman Perception on Climate Change Divers in Negombo Lagoon Area


 
 
 Climate change has undoubtedly become one of the most contentious issues in the international environmental debates and has escalated the impacts on fishery industries and fishing communities globally. This study was conducted to quantify the variations in climate variables, and coastal vegetation that may affect the fisheries industry due to climate change over past three decades in the Negombo lagoon area. Further, the knowledge and awareness of fisheries and associated communities on climate change was investigate. To understand the dynamics of the precipitation and temperature, monthly data for 30 years (1989-2022) were collected from the Department of Meteorology and 19 Module Bio-climatic Variables (MBV) were calculated to determine the climatologycal variation. The change in the coastal vegetation was analyzed using the Landsat 8 satellite using ArcGIS 10.8. A questionnaire survey and a focus group discussion were carried out as assess the knowledge, awareness and impact of climate change in the fisheries community (n=80). The mean annual and minimum and maximum precipitation ranged from 118.6 mm-268.6 and 0.6 mm - 826.6 mm. The mean, maximum, and minimum temperatures varied from 28.8o C- 32.3o C, 33o C-34o C and 29o C-30o C. Out of 19 MBV variables, 9 variables had increasing trends while 3 variables had decreasing trend. The change percentage of coastal vegetation cover from 1992-2002, 2002-2012, 2012-2022 was observed as 35.71%, 4.99% and 6.13%. As per the peoples‘ knowledge of climate change, it was highlighted that around 50% of respondents does not have a proper idea on what is climate change (40% of respondents stated that the variation of precipitation and wind is the climate change drivers; Further, 40% of respondents attested that land use change with time has accelerated climate change while 30% of respondents mentioned that lack of coastal awareness and restoration programs is the second main reason for accelerated climate change that affect the fishery industry). The outcomes of the focus group discussion revealed that fishing activities are heavily affected by climate change drivers, and some engage in alternative jobs in extreme climatic conditions to feed their families. Finally, fishery communities highlighted the need for the government and other responsible authorities to take necessary actions to adapt and strengthen the resilience to climate change. This study corroborates the timely and topical obligation for sustainable fisheries management action planning for the Negombo area.
 Keywords: Climate change, Coastal mangrove vegetation-precipitation-temperature change, Fisheries communities, Knowledge, Awareness, Negombo
 
 

Spatiotemporal Variation in Extreme Climate in the Yellow River Basin and its Impacts on Vegetation Coverage

Global warming and extreme climate events (ECEs) have grown more frequent, and it is essential to investigate the influences of ECEs on vegetation in the Yellow River Basin (YRB) and other environmentally fragile areas. This study was based on data from 86 meteorological stations in the YRB for the period 2000–2020. Twenty-five extreme climate indices (ECIs) were chosen, encompassing four dimensions: extreme value, intensity, duration, and frequency. The trend analysis approach was used to examine the spatiotemporal characteristics of extreme climate conditions. Additionally, geographical detectors and Pearson correlation analysis methods were employed to quantitatively assess the influence of ECEs on the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). The Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) method was adopted to analyze the regression of twenty-five ECIs. The findings revealed the following: (1) Over the last 21 years, there has been a distinct rise in both the extreme precipitation indices (EPIs) and the extreme temperature indices (ETIs). (2) The spatial distribution of the NDVI throughout the year displayed the characteristic of being high in the south and low in the north. The annual NDVI demonstrated a noteworthy increase at a rate of 0.055/decade, with the enhancement encompassing an extensive area of 87.33%. (3) The investigation revealed that EPIs, including PRCPTOT, R10mm, CWD, R95p, and CDD, had explanatory values surpassing 0.4. This implied that the intensity, frequency, and duration of extreme precipitation played pivotal roles in steering vegetation alterations in the YRB. (4) The correlation between the EPIs and vegetation was greater than the ETIs. Grassland meadows exhibited greater sensitivity to precipitation than woody plants. The EPIs (excluding CDD and SDII) and the ETIs (TXn) displayed a substantial positive correlation with the NDVI in regions hosting grasslands, broadleaf forests, and shrubs. Desert vegetation and cultivated plants were less affected by ECEs. This study underscores the importance of the interplay between extreme climate and vegetation in the YRB. Additionally, it provides a scientific basis for formulating environmental safeguarding strategies.

The Great Gobi A Strictly Protected Area: Characterization of Soil Bacterial Communities from Four Oases.

Understanding how microbial communities survive in extreme environmental pressure is critical for interpreting ecological patterns and microbial diversity. Great Gobi A Strictly Protected Area represents an intriguing model for studying the bacterial community since it is a protected and intact wild area of the Mongolian desert. In this work, the composition of a bacterial community of the soil from four oases was characterized by extracting total DNA and sequencing through the Illumina NovaSeq platform. In addition, the soil's chemical and physical properties were determined, and their influence on shaping the microbial communities was evaluated. The results showed a high variability of bacterial composition among oases. Moreover, combining specific chemical and physical parameters significantly shapes the bacterial community among oases. Data obtained suggested that the oases were highly variable in physiochemical parameters and bacterial communities despite the similar extreme climate conditions. Moreover, core functional microbiome were constituted by aerobic chemoheterotrophy and chemoheterotrophy, mainly contributed by the most abundant bacteria, such as Actinobacteriota, Pseudomonadota, and Firmicutes. This result supposes a metabolic flexibility for sustaining life in deserts. Furthermore, as the inhabitants of the extreme regions are likely to produce new chemical compounds, isolation of key taxa is thus encouraged.

Factors of organization Northern settlements

The problem of the life cycle of cities located in extreme climatic conditions of the North is studied. For the first time it is stated that the northern settlements have to be split-off into a separate category speaking about the concept of the city life cycle. It is emphasized, that there is the fundamental difference between the territories of extreme climatic conditions of the North and regions in the south. The subject of the study is represented by factors that influence on the appearance of the northern city and the duration of its life cycle. In the course of the study, three main factors were identified: 1. Features of the physical and geographical conditions of the area, 2. Possible functional purposes of the main vectors of the city's development, 3. Substance of the population. The groups of parameters that regulate the variability and the main essence of each of the proposed factors are also described. First of all the research methods involve the analysis of the references and the approaches of defining the concept of city life cycle. Further, by induction method, the factors influencing the city life cycle duration and the appearance of the northern city are formulated. The result of the study is to demonstrate the approach of the formation of the typological appearance of northern settlements. A factor-by-factor analysis is proposed – sequential analysis of the main factors determining the nature of the settlement (climate, functional vector of development, population), and then the choice of architectural, spatial and planning characteristics of the settlement (such as: solving the issue of interaction with the climate; mutual location of functional zones; estimated life of the building; the principle of territory development; interaction with the environment). It is emphasized that the northern city life cycle depends on these factors. The prospect of further research boils down to the formation of a matrix of possible typologies of the northern city, depending on the extremes of climatic conditions, the presence of vectors of functional development, the composition of the population, as well as its architectural and urban appearance.

Advances, gaps and way forward in provision of climate services over the Greater Horn of Africa

The Greater Horn of Africa is prone to extreme climatic conditions, thus, making climate services increasingly important in supporting decision-making processes across a range of climate sensitive sectors. This study aims to provide a comprehensive review of the recent advances, gaps and challenges in the provision of climate services over the region, for each of the components of the Global Framework for Climate Services. The study explores various milestones that have been achieved toward climate service delivery. The achievements include improvement of station network coverage, and enhancing the capacity of member states to utilize various tools in data analysis and generate routine climate products. The advancement in science, and availability of High-Performance Computing has made it possible for forecast information to be provided from nowcasting to seasonal timescales. Moreover, operationalizing of the objective forecasting method for monthly and seasonal forecasts has made it possible to translate tercile forecasts for applications models. Additionally, innovative approaches to user engagement through co-production, communication channels, user-friendly interfaces, and dissemination of climate information have also been developed. Despite the significant progress that has been made in the provision of climate services, there are still many challenges and gaps that need to be overcome in order to ensure that these services are effectively meeting the needs of users. The research of the science underpinning climate variability, capacity building and stakeholder engagement, as well as improved data management and quality control processes are some of the gaps that exist over the region. Additionally, communication and dissemination of climate information, including timely warnings and risk communication, require improvement to reach diverse user groups effectively. Addressing these challenges will require strengthened partnerships, increased investment in capacity building, enhanced collaboration between the climate information producers and stakeholders, and the development of user-friendly climate products. Bridging these gaps will foster greater resilience to climate-related hazards and disasters in the Greater Horn of Africa and support sustainable development in the region.

Local food resilience in an effort to anticipate extreme climate in small islands of the Bird’s Head Papua

Food security and community resilience in small islands are very vulnerable to extreme climatic conditions that pass the northern shoreline of the Bird’s Head Papua. Therefore, an effort to find out what the community uses local food types in food resilience and security in times of extreme climate in the small islands of the Bird’s Head Papua. The benefit index (BI) will be used to identify local food resilience with survey and field observation using purposive sampling interviews with the local community in small islands. Development of the research laid out the highest BI value of staple foods was sukun (Artocarpus altilis), which reported 98%, thereafter to banana (Musa sp.) at 94%, sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) at 90%, taro (Colocasia esculenta) 89%, and cassava (Manihot esculenta) 87%. Vegetable crops with the highest BI value were gedi leaves (Abelmoschus Manihot) 90% and papaya leaves (Carica papaya) 85%, next off sweet potato leaves (Ipomoea batatas) 55%, cassava leaves (Manihot esculenta) 50% and pumpkin leaves (Cucurbita sp.) 45%. The highest BI values in fruit crops are mango (Mangifera indica) 70%, papaya (Carica papaya) 65%, banana (Musa sp.) 60%, and soursop (Annona muricata) 50%.

Analisis Sikap Petani Padi Terhadap Atribut Pupuk Subsidi Di Kabupaten Jember

<em>Development in the agricultural sector in the context of supporting national food security is the main concern of the government. In this case the government has issued a policy to strengthen food security and anticipate extreme climate conditions that could disrupt national food production, namely by providing direct assistance policies in the form of distribution of subsidized fertilizers through farmer groups. The agricultural policy is contained in regulations and the Decree of the Minister of Agriculture No. 106/Kpts/SR.130/2/2004 regarding subsidized fertilizer policies. The policy states that the reason for providing subsidized fertilizers is in the context of realizing a national food security program through increasing production of agricultural commodities. Farmers immediately respond either in purchasing or using subsidized fertilizers directly or indirectly. Based on this, this study aims to analyze what factors influence rice farmers' decisions to buy subsidized fertilizers in Jember Regency. Location determination using purposive sampling method, and the data used is primary data with interview techniques using a questionnaire. The analytical method used is by using Logistic Regression Analysis. The sampling method used is multistage sampling with certain considerations, namely incidental sampling. The results of logistic regression analysis showed that the independent variables had an influence on the dependent variable (the decision to buy subsidized fertilizer) in this study, namely income (X<sub>3</sub>), price of subsidized urea fertilizer (X<sub>6</sub>), and place of purchase (D<sub>9</sub>). While the variables Age (X<sub>1</sub>), Education (X2), Number of Family Members (X4), Land Area (X<sub>5</sub>), Price of Non-Subsidized Urea Fertilizer (X<sub>7</sub>), Access to Information (D<sub>8</sub>), Fertilizer Availability (D<sub>10</sub>) have no effect on the variable dependent (decision to buy subsidized fertilizer). The results of the analysis also show that the Nagelkerke R Square value is 0.533 or it can mean that the variability of the dependent variable can be explained by the variability of the independent variables of 53.3% and the remaining 46.7% is explained by the diversity of other variables outside the model. The conclusions of the research results are: 1) Factors that partially have a significant influence on farmers' decisions in buying subsidized fertilizer in Jember Regency based on the Wald test with a confidence level of 90% are income, price of subsidized urea fertilizer and place of purchase. Meanwhile, the factors that partially have an insignificant effect based on the Wald test are age, education, number of family members, land area, price of non-subsidized urea fertilizer, access to information and availability of fertilizer.</em><br /><strong><em>Keyword</em></strong><em>s: Attitude, Rice Farmer, Logistic Regression Analysis</em>

Modeling root zone water and salt transport using matric flux potential based root water uptake distribution

It is important to delineate the root water uptake (RWU) response to salt and water stress for assessing future water availability under extreme climatic conditions. The process of RWU in salt-affected soils is highly complex and not well understood. The present study proposed a matric flux potential based non-linear RWU model capable of calculating reduced RWU in water and salt stressed conditions. The study incorporates a sensitivity analysis of the model's parameters. For the inverse estimation of these parameters, an objective function has been formulated, utilizing data derived from the highly sensitive model's response. The proposed objective function provides unique estimates for these parameters. Using this objective function in an optimization process, the model is calibrated with observed data obtained from a soil column lysimeter experiment conducted on berseem crop (Trifolium alexandrium). The parameters are optimized through the coupling of the model with a genetic algorithm-based optimizer tool. Simulated data for soil moisture, electrical conductivity, and percolation are then compared to observed data. The simulated model's responses are found to be closely aligns with the experimentally observed values. The RWU under four irrigation of different salinity levels is simulated. The results highlight a reduction in RWU compensation under high-salinity irrigation treatment.

Dams and their safety under the extreme climate conditions: study of dams on Godavari River

Dams and their safety under the extreme climate conditions: study of dams on Godavari River

Evidence of huge evaporite mine clusters under extreme arid climatic conditions of Cretaceous to Paleogene in South China: Example of the Huichang large salt deposit

Large amounts of evaporites are distributed throughout all epochs of the Phanerozoic eon, which is closely related to important tectonic activities and extremely arid paleoclimates in specific geological periods. During the Cretaceous-Paleogene period, the Earth's climate was always arid, providing unique conditions for evaporite formation. The large number of evaporites in South China Block is an important part of the puzzle in the study of massive global evaporite deposition. The Huichang typical salt deposit is in the Upper Cretaceous Zhoutian Formation in the Huichang Basin, where the rock salt are interbedded with argillaceous rocks, constituting a rhythmical deposit. Halite was dominant among the saline minerals, followed by gypsum. The homogenization temperatures of halite inclusions ranged from 11.1 ℃ to 24.7 ℃, with a concentration of 15.1–22.2 ℃ and an average of 17.9 ℃. The δEu and δCe of the argillaceous rock studied ranged from 0.84 to 1.14 and 0.96–1.06, respectively, which combined with V/(V + Ni), V/Cr, Ni/Co, and U/Th indicators reflect that the environmental of the sedimentary water body has a weak Redox property. The spore-pollen assemblage is dominated by gymnosperms (Classopollis annulatu and Classopollis minimus) and fern spores (Schizaeoisporites kulandyensis), representing an arid environment in the early stage, and the increase in hygrophilous Taxodiaceaepollenites hiatus in the later stage indicates a shift from an arid to a humid climate. The Milankovitch Earth orbital periods of 401, 93–138, 38–45, 24–27, and 14 kyr were identified by the multiple rhythmic deposition of the rock salt and argillaceous rocks, indicating that the deposition was controlled by climate change, which was driven by the long-and-short eccentricity, obliquity, and precession cycle of the Earth orbit. In addition, the differences in the thickness and alternating frequency of the upper, lower, and middle sediments in the 'Huichang Gypsum-salt Section' also indicated that the intensity and duration of regional tectonic activities and the supply of material sources are important factors that control rock salt deposition. The strong subduction of the paleo-Pacific plate into the Eurasian plate caused the paleogeographic pattern of high in the east and low in the west, in the South China Block during the Cretaceous period, forming a large number of 'high mountain and deep basin' tectonic groups. Under the conditions of an extremely arid climate, combined with the coupling effect of regional tectonic activities and material sources, a large evaporite mineral concentration area was formed in South China, with the Huichang salt basin as a typical representative.

Microbial impact on initial soil formation in arid and semiarid environments under simulated climate change.

The microbiota is attributed to be important for initial soil formation under extreme climate conditions, but experimental evidence for its relevance is scarce. To fill this gap, we investigated the impact of in situ microbial communities and their interrelationship with biocrust and plants compared to abiotic controls on soil formation in initial arid and semiarid soils. Additionally, we assessed the response of bacterial communities to climate change. Topsoil and subsoil samples from arid and semiarid sites in the Chilean Coastal Cordillera were incubated for 16 weeks under diurnal temperature and moisture variations to simulate humid climate conditions as part of a climate change scenario. Our findings indicate that microorganism-plant interaction intensified aggregate formation and stabilized soil structure, facilitating initial soil formation. Interestingly, microorganisms alone or in conjunction with biocrust showed no discernible patterns compared to abiotic controls, potentially due to water-masking effects. Arid soils displayed reduced bacterial diversity and developed a new community structure dominated by Proteobacteria, Actinobacteriota, and Planctomycetota, while semiarid soils maintained a consistently dominant community of Acidobacteriota and Proteobacteria. This highlighted a sensitive and specialized bacterial community in arid soils, while semiarid soils exhibited a more complex and stable community. We conclude that microorganism-plant interaction has measurable impacts on initial soil formation in arid and semiarid regions on short time scales under climate change. Additionally, we propose that soil and climate legacies are decisive for the present soil microbial community structure and interactions, future soil development, and microbial responses.

Optimized tillage can enhance crop tolerance to extreme weather events: Evidence from field experiments and meta-analysis

The frequency of droughts and floods has increased due to climate change and human activities, leading to adverse impacts on agricultural production. Conventional tillage exacerbates the vulnerability of crops to extreme weather. Optimized tillage practices can maintain crop yield stability by increasing soil water-holding capacity during dry seasons and improving crop lodging resistance during heavy rainfall events. The effects of tillage practice under different rainfall types on the productivity of summer maize were studied by combining a five-year field experiment and a meta-analysis. The study tested four tillage treatments: conventional tillage (CT), no-tillage (NT), ridge cultivation with no-tillage (RNT), and winter wheat conventional tillage followed by summer maize no-tillage (NC). Normal rainfall years (2018, 2019 and 2021), a wet year (2020), and a drought year (2022) were experienced during the experiment. Compared to CT, NC significantly increased available soil water storage during the dry season by an average of 19.7 % (P < 0.05). NC and RNT had lower lodging rates during the wet year than CT, and over the five years, NC had a higher average maize yield (9.8 t ha−1) than RNT, while RNT had a higher yield during the wet year (10.7 t ha−1). NC also had significantly higher yield stability than CT. Furthermore, NC and RNT had higher rainwater use efficiencies (RUE) (23.9 and 23.0 kg ha−1 mm−1, respectively) than NT and CT (22.9 and 21.6 kg ha−1 mm−1, respectively). A meta-analysis showed that the crop yield under combined tillage (COT) was significantly higher than CT and NT by 6.7 % and 7.1 %, respectively, confirming the reliability and universality of the field experiment results. Overall, NC rotation is recommended as the best tillage system for sustainable crop production under semi-arid conditions, while RNT can be used in areas with abundant rainfall and prone to flooding. Our research findings offer evidence-based insights into management strategies that can enhance agricultural ecosystem resilience and production stability under extreme climate conditions.

Hydrological records can be used to reconstruct the resilience of watersheds to climatic extremes

Hydrologic resilience modeling is used in public watershed management to assess watershed ability to supply life-supporting ecoservices under extreme climatic and environmental conditions. Literature surveys criticize resilience models for failing to capture watershed dynamics and undergo adequate testing. Both shortcomings compromise their ability to provide management options reliably protecting water security under real-world conditions. We formulate an empirical protocol to establish real-world correspondence. The protocol applies empirical nonlinear dynamics to reconstruct hydrologic dynamics from watershed records, and analyze the response of reconstructed dynamics to extreme regional climatic conditions. We devise an AI-based early-warning system to forecast (out-of-sample) reconstructed hydrologic resilience dynamics. Application to the La Tejería (Spain) experimental watershed finds it to be a low dimensional nonlinear deterministic dynamic system responding to internal stressors by irregularly oscillating along a watershed attractor. Reconstructed and forecasted hydrologic resilience behavior faithfully captures monthly wet-cold/dry-warm weather patterns characterizing the Mediterranean region.

Dynamic changes in bacterial communities in three species of corals during the 2017 bleaching event in subtropical Hong Kong waters

Bacteria play important roles in coral health, yet little is known about the dynamics of coral-associated bacterial communities during coral bleaching. Here, we reported the dynamic changes of bacterial communities in three scleractinian corals (Montipora peltiformis, Pavona decussata and Platygyra carnosa) during and after bleaching through amplicon sequencing. Our results revealed that the bacterial composition and dominant bacteria varied among the three coral species. The higher susceptibility of M. peltiformis to bleaching corresponded to a lower bacterial community diversity, and the dominant Synechococcus shifted in abundance during the bleaching and coral recovery phases. The resilient P. decussata and P. carnosa had higher bacterial diversity and a more similar bacterial composition between the healthy and bleached conditions. Overall, our study reveals the dynamic changes in coral-associated microbial diversity under different conditions, contributing to explaining the differential susceptibility of corals to extreme climate conditions.

Оценка уровня развития инфраструктурно-финансового потенциала агропродовольственных систем регионов Дальневосточного федерального округа

The leading factor in the balanced development of agro-food systems and the formation of favorable opportunities for the full-fledged food supply of the population is the infrastructural and financial potential, which determines the parameters of physical and economic accessibility of food in the regions. In a market economy, the state requires increased attention and increased support for the development of all areas of regional agri-food systems. This is especially true for the Far Eastern regions, whose agricultural sector operates in conditions of extreme climate, high cost of energy resources, high energy and labor intensity with an extremely underdeveloped transport and logistics infrastructure and a weak investment and financial component. A method of integrated assessment of the infrastructural and financial potential of agri-food systems (APS) is proposed and its interpretation is given in the context of regions. The most favorable conditions for the development of APS were formed in the regions of the first group (with satisfactory soil and climatic conditions), average –- in the regions of the second group (with extreme conditions), less favorable – in the regions of the third group (with very extreme conditions). The relatively high infrastructural and financial potential is in the Primorsky Territory, where the network of roads and railways is much better developed, the financial and investment performance of agribusiness is more prosperous. The development of infrastructure significantly determines the ability of regions to provide food to the population, especially those products that have to be imported due to the lack of local production. The necessity of developing comprehensive state measures to increase the level of infrastructure and financial and investment potentials for the balanced development of agro-food systems in the regions of the Far Eastern Federal District was confirmed and the main directions for solving the identified problems were proposed.

Пути интенсификации развития необжитых регионов Российской Федерации

The uninhabited regions development in the Russian Federation, located in remote and hard-to-reach areas of Siberia and the Far East, where up to 90 % of the estimated resources of especially valuable (strategic) raw materials have been explored, is an important scientific and practical problem. Energy supply of territories in extreme climate conditions, including the Arctic shelf, will ensure the new logistics solutions implementation in the field of exporting ore raw materials to the world market by cheap water transport. The object of the study is the uninhabited regions of the Russian Federation. The purpose of the study is to present a thesis expert assessment of the draft general strategy for the intensification of the development of the Eastern regions of Russia, taking into account the current level of technology and its development. Research objectives are as follows: making an expert assessment of the draft general strategy for the intensification of the development of the Eastern regions of Russia, based on information from speeches by outstanding scientists, professors, members of the Russian Academy of Sciences V. B. Ivanov, P. P. Poluektov, A. A. Vertman, V. Zh. Arens; identifying promising areas for the implementation of the development strategy of uninhabited regions of the Russian Federation on the basis of various types of nuclear power plants. The methodology and methods of the study consist in applying a comparative approach to the implementation of domestic and foreign solutions in the uninhabited regions’ development. The article outlines the technical and economic considerations, made by V. B. Ivanov, P. P. Poluektov, A. A. Vertman, V. Zh. Arens. The general system strategy for the uninhabited regions’ development of the Russian Federation on the basis of nuclear power plants of various types is briefly considered: floating nuclear power plants located on offshore non-self-propelled extreme barges; underground nuclear power plants based on mastered reactors of submarines of the Navy, which can be built in typical horizontal tunnels; mini-river-based nuclear power plants. The underground location of the mini-NPP allows for the safe operation of nuclear power sources. Expert assessments have shown that the project to intensify the Eastern regions development in Russia can now be successfully implemented.

Influence of the atmosphere on the spread of laser radiation

The article is devoted to the problem of protecting information from being read by an optoelectronic channel by studying the influence of atmospheric parameters on the spread of laser radiation. The paper considers key aspects of radiation attenuation due to scattering and absorption by air gases and aerosol particles. It is shown that the efficiency of the probing laser beam depends on extreme climatic conditions, and due to scattering and absorption, the power of the laser beam will decrease as it spreads through the atmosphere. Taking into account the peculiarities of the passage of a laser beam through the atmosphere and the influence of various types of interference on the probing signal, it is possible to predict its attenuation and blocking, namely, for reading confidential speech information, lasers with radiation located in the parts of the atmospheric spectrum occupied by wide windows of transparency should be taken for the appropriate weather conditions; to protect information from being read by an optoelectronic channel, it is necessary to use parameters of the external environment that prevent direct access of the laser beam to the object of information. The presented author's vision of research into the influence of the atmosphere on the spread of laser radiation will allow us to apply the results, ideas, and proposals summarized in this article to solve current problems in the field of information protection.