Handling Climate Change Research Articles

Climate Change and Everyday Life: Repertoires children use to negotiate a socio-scientific issue

There are only a few studies about how primary school students engage in socio-scientific discussions. This study aims to add to this field of research by focusing on how 9–10-year-olds in Sweden and England handle climate change as a complex environmental socio-scientific issue (SSI), within the context of their own lives and in relation to society at large. It focuses on how different interpretative repertoires were used by the students in discussions to legitimise or question their everyday lifestyles. They discussed four possible options that a government might consider to help reduce carbon dioxide production. Six main repertoires were identified: Everyday life, Self-Interest, Environment, Science and Technology, Society and Justice. The Everyday life repertoire was used when students related their discussion to their everyday lifestyles. Science and technology-related solutions were offered to maintain or improve things, but these were sometimes rather unrealistic. Arguments related to environment and health frequently appeared to have a superior status compared to the others. Findings also highlighted how conflicts between the students were actually productive by bringing in several perspectives to negotiate the solutions. These primary school students were, therefore, able to discuss and negotiate a complex real-world SSI. Students positioned themselves as active contributors to society, using their life experiences and limited knowledge to understand the problems that affected their everyday lives. Honing these skills within a school science community of practice could facilitate primary students' engagement with SSIs and empower them as citizens.

Design and Implementation of a Real-time Radiosonde Location System for Upper-air Observations

A radiosonde is a piece of equipment for analyzing changes in the atmosphere in three dimensions from the ground up to a maximum altitude of 3,500 meters. The radiosonde moves through the upper air at 5 m/s and collects upper-air data, such as atmospheric pressure, temperature, wind direction and wind speed. The upper-air data is used as basic research data for improving weather forecasts and handling climate change. However, handling climate change in real-time is difficult because the collected upper-air data from the radiosondes are transmitted to the World Meteorological Organization after completion of the flights. To resolve this problem, this paper proposes the design and implementation of a real-time radiosonde location and representation system to improve atmospheric analysis of upper-air observations.

Application of GRIiN for climate resilient variety improvement

In the nearly 12,000 years of history of domestication of plants global climate has changed, it is now changing and shall continue to change. Man, ecosystem, plants and crops have been responding to this change through their fitness and survival. Post industrialization change in human activity often accelerated climate change faster than the biological adjustment. This drag in fitness of crops due to climate change is a complex phenomenon and is difficult to address. Genetics of fitness, survival and adaptation in crop plants is a grey area of knowledge. By selecting for stable economic yield across environment plant breeders have overcome the impact of changing weather. Ecological genetics and plant breeding need to focus on better root and water usage efficiency. In this changing context genetic resources are to be seen with renewed interest. Emphasis should also be to collect and document ecotypes of a given specie/variety. These ecotypes may have morphological overlap but may express new traits under varying conditions. Thus, a large global Information base is to be created on ecotypes to simulate and design ideotypes that may perform under a bunch of stress conditions. Innovation centric research in the area of new biology with a focus onepigenetics, microbe - root interaction studies etc may open new knowledge and tools to handle climate change. The present division of crop science into separate silos is proving to be counterproductive and resists the application of GRIiN (Genetics, Resources, Information, Innovation and New Biology) to climate change. Tryst with climate change poses a new opportunity for plant breeders to organize themselves as an inter-science

Knowledge update in adaptive management of forest resources under climate change: a Bayesian simulation approach

We develop a modelling concept that updates knowledge and beliefs about future climate changes, to model a decision-maker’s choice of forest management alternatives, the outcomes of which depend on the climate condition. Applying Bayes’ updating, we show that while the true climate trajectory is initially unknown, it will eventually be revealed as novel information become available. How fast the decision-maker will form firm beliefs about future climate depends on the divergence among climate trajectories, the long-term speed of change, and the short-term climate variability. We simplify climate change outcomes to three possible trajectories of low, medium and high changes. We solve a hypothetical decision-making problem of tree species choice aiming at maximising the land expectation value (LEV) and based on the updated beliefs at each time step. The economic value of an adaptive approach would be positive and higher than a non-adaptive approach if a large change in climate state occurs and may influence forest decisions. Updating knowledge to handle climate change uncertainty is a valuable addition to the study of adaptive forest management in general and the analysis of forest decision-making, in particular for irreversible or costly decisions of long-term impact.

Industrial Biotechnology – The Unique Tool for Big Industry to Handle Climate Change

AbstractThe connection between production of energy and climate change is elucidated. CO2 from burning fossil carbon is the main agent responsible for the hazardous climatic development. The use of this process in energy production has to be vigorously restricted. The gaps have to be filled by conversion of renewable carbon into reduced forms. Big industry shall adopt biotechnology as an enabling technology.

Water-Related Tools for Climate Change Adaptation in the Flemish Region: The Art of Linking Water Quality Standards to Spatial Planning

AbstractThe Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) establishes a framework for integrated water management and functions as a major legal frame for the protection of water bodies in Europe. In the Flemish Region the Directive has been implemented by the Decree of 18 July 2003 on Integral Water Policy. As climate change affects the quality and quantity status of water bodies, the question arises whether the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Flemish implementation legislation are well-suited to handle climate change impacts. Although climate change concerns are not explicitly incorporated in the text of the WFD and the Flemish Decree, this author believes that the main components for an effective adaptation strategy are included in the above mentioned legislation. More in particular, this is achieved by the environmental objectives which have to be elaborated in environmental quality standards (EQS) on the one hand, and the integrated approach on the other hand. Water quality management on the basis of a high level of protection of the aquatic environment is indispensable for adapting to climate change, as ecosystem-based adaptation is most cost-effective. Therefore spatial planning should integrate water quality concerns, as spatial planning may be critical for spatial quality and more specific for the achievement of the environmental objectives. Consequently this contribution focuses on the impact of water quality standards on permit decision-making and spatial planning. In this context some legal instruments anchored in the Flemish legislation on integral water policy will be highlighted, especially the 'watertoets' (translated as the water checkup), which may be useful to facilitate adaptation to climate change.

Is There a Green Factor?

Climate change has far-reaching implications for the global economy and is increasingly being recognized by investors as a long-term investment theme. As more investors take note of companies that are well positioned to handle climate change, a common factor may account, in part, for the share prices of these companies. The authors search for the existence of this common factor, which they call the green equity factor. During the three-year period from May 2005 through May 2008, the authors find that a sample portfolio of renewable energy stocks outperformed the broad, global MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI), as well as a subindex consisting of traditional energy stocks. Their findings persist after adjusting for size, value, and country biases in the sample portfolio. Furthermore, a systematic analysis based on the Barra Global Equity Model supports the existence of a renewable energy risk factor.