Improve Climate Change Resilience Research Articles

Improving climate change resilience knowledge through a gaming approach: Application to marine submersion in the city of Punaauia, Tahiti

French Polynesia is a French overseas territory extremely vulnerable to climate risks. However, local risk management strategies focus on crisis management to the detriment of long-term resilience strategies, without integrating the pre-crisis, crisis and post-crisis periods. Through a decision support process, a serious game, intended for local residents, has been developed within a risk and resilience observatory. The objectives of this serious game are multiple: to increase knowledge of risks and resilience in local communities; to develop an understanding of the systemic complexity of resilient risk management; to develop an entertaining and educational tool. This prototype has been developed and tested in French Polynesia. This prototype allowed the players to create links between their sensitive experiences and their theoretical knowledge, allowing them to associate these two dimensions for a better understanding, acceptance and adoption of complex notions, concepts and processes.

Reversal in the drought stress response of the Scots pine forest ecosystem: Local soil water regime as a key to improving climate change resilience

In a changing climate, forest ecosystems have become increasingly vulnerable to continuously exacerbating heat and associated drought conditions. Climate stress resilience is governed by a complex interplay of global, regional, and local factors, with hydrological conditions being among the key players. We studied a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forest ecosystem located near the southern edge of the boreal ecotone, which is particularly subjected to frequent and prolonged droughts. By comparing the dendrochronological series of pines growing in apparently contrasting hydrological conditions ranging from the waterlogged peat bog area to the dry soil at the surrounding elevations, we investigated how the soil water regime affects the climate response and drought stress resilience of the forest ecosystem. We found that in the dry land area, a significant fraction of the trees were replaced after two major climate extremes: prolonged drought and extremely low winter temperatures. The latter has also been followed by a three- to ten-fold growth reduction of the trees that survived in the next year, whereas no similar effect has been observed in the peat bog area. Multi-scale detrended partial cross-correlation analysis (DPCCA) indicated that tree-ring width (TRW) was negatively correlated with spring and summer temperatures and positively correlated with the Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) for the same year. For the elevated dry land area, the above effect extends to interannual scales, indicating that prolonged heatwaves and associated droughts are among the factors that limit tree growth. In marked contrast, in the waterlogged peat bog area, a reversed tendency was observed, with prolonged dry periods as well as warmer springs and summers over several consecutive years, leading to increasing tree growth with a one- to three-year time lag. Altogether, our results indicate that the pessimal conditions of a warming climate could become favorable through the preservation of the soil water regime.

Biochar in agriculture – A systematic review of 26 global meta‐analyses

AbstractBiochar is obtained by pyrolyzing biomass and is, by definition, applied in a way that avoids its rapid oxidation to CO2. Its use in agriculture includes animal feeding, manure treatment (e.g. as additive for bedding, composting, storage or anaerobic digestion), fertilizer component or direct soil application. Because the feedstock carbon is photosynthetically fixed CO2 from the atmosphere, producing and applying biochar is essentially a carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technology, which has a high‐technology readiness level. However, for swift implementation of pyrogenic carbon capture and storage (PyCCS), biochar use in agriculture needs to deliver co‐benefits, for example, by improving crop yields and ecosystem services and/or by improving climate change resilience by ameliorating key soil properties. Agronomic biochar research is a rapidly evolving field of research moving from less than 100 publications in 2010 to more than 15,000 by the end of 2020. Here, we summarize 26 rigorously selected meta‐analyses published since 2016 that investigated a multitude of soil properties and agronomic performance parameters impacted by biochar application, for example, effects on yield, root biomass, water use efficiency, microbial activity, soil organic carbon and greenhouse gas emissions. All 26 meta‐analyses show compelling evidence of the overall beneficial effect of biochar for all investigated agronomic parameters. One of the remaining challenges is the standardization of basic biochar analysis, still lacking in many studies. Incomplete biochar characterization increases uncertainty because adverse effects of individual studies included in the meta‐analyses might be related to low‐quality biochars, which would not qualify for certification and subsequent use (e.g. high content of contaminants, high salinity, incomplete pyrolysis, etc.). In summary, our systematic review suggests that biochar use in agriculture has the potential to combine CDR with significant agronomic and/or environmental co‐benefits.

Identifying the regional disparities of ecosystem services from a supply-demand perspective

Ecosystem services (ES) play a vital role in sustaining human society's operations. Integrated ES assessment is the foundation for effective ES management. Most previous studies focused on the supply side of ES with fewer concerns on ES demand. Taking the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) as an example, this study analyzed the dynamics of ES from both supply and demand perspectives. The ES supplies of three critical ESs (water yield, carbon fixation, and food provision) have increased from 2000 to 2018, while soil conservation decreased. Water yield, carbon fixation, and soil conservation had positive and negative correlations with precipitation and artificial land area, and there were synergies among the three ESs. In contrast, food provision had no significant correlations with the above two factors and ESs. In 2018, most cities were short of carbon fixation service, and about one-third of municipalities needed more water yield and food provision. There was a distinct spatial mismatch between ES supply and demand. The east region of YRD was the hot spot for each ES's demand. Four suggestions were proposed to improve regional ES management, including enhancing integrated ES assessment, improving climate change resilience, strengthen land-use management, and establishing mechanisms to balance ES supply and demand. Our research indicates the necessity of incorporating ES demand into ES assessment.

Improving Climate Change Resilience in Global South Cities Through South-South Climate Finance

Climate change is likely to exacerbate inequality and poverty in Global South cities despite the presence of international agreements and conventions to enhance sustainable development such as the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Moreover, replicating Global North development models in the Global South might not be sufficient to address the climate change and development aspirations in the context of Asia; hence, Global North innovation capabilities might not be sufficient to address Global South climate change challenges. This paper provides an inductive analysis of the innovations and policies that could facilitate improved climate change mitigation and adaptation in the context of developing Asian cities. The paper concludes that innovative climate change policies should utilise emerging climate finance mechanisms such as South-South climate finance modalities to promote community science/citizen science and social innovation rather than building hard infrastructure as this could improve the governance and distribution of resources in cities.

Climate Change Situation in Kenya and Measures Towards Adaptive Management in the Water Sector

Climate change is a growing challenge to socio-economic development and sustainable environmental management worldwide. Developing countries with low adaptive capacity and high vulnerability to the phenomena are affected severely. This study assessed the climate change situation in a developing country, its effects on the water sector and adaptive responses to improve climate change resilience using Kenya as a case study. Findings showed that Kenya is experiencing temperature and rainfall rises currently, and future projections showed an even worse situation. Climate variability and change however differed based on time and space. Highlighted effects on the water sector included fluctuations in its quantities and deterioration of its quality. Adaptive responses such as infrastructural modifications of water body environments, forecasting using models to predict climate change uncertainties and disseminating early warnings are discussed. Their success relies on strong policy and institutions to steer their implementation in Kenya.

A quantitative analysis of interstitial spaces to improve climate change resilience in Southern African cities

ABSTRACT Globally urbanization is accelerating, especially within developing countries. This often results in vulnerable urban conditions with limited adaptive capacity to respond to climate change-induced hazards. In response, employing innovative solutions that lever existing unused and underutilized interstitial spaces within the urban fabric for climate change adaptation and mitigation purposes are needed. Essential to this strategy is a better understanding of the quantity and type of potentially available interstitial space. Using a mixed-method approach, this paper analysed the spatial and material condition of unused and underutilized interstitial spaces within a Southern African city. This study organizes these interstitial spaces according to programme, zoning, access, spatial definition, microclimatic characteristics and material use. It undertakes a quantitative assessment identifying seven specific interstitial space types, found in the total study area. Underutilized parking spaces and rooftop spaces are identified as the most prevalent space types with significant climate change adaptation and mitigation potential if appropriately retrofitted. Retrofitting these spaces are relatively effortless, and can ultimately improve the climate change resilience of these cities.

Methods for simulating climate scenarios with improved spatiotemporal specificity and less uncertainty

Abstract The General Circulation Models and Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) datasets used for the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) painted future opportunities and challenges afforded by climate change with broad strokes. The model outputs incorporate substantial uncertainty due to the relatively coarse spatial scales and the complexity of the processes incorporated in these models and as a consequence, it is difficult to predict future trends and infrastructure needs in large countries like China at local and regional scales over the next century. The work reported in this article describes several statistical transfer functions that were used to downscale CMIP5 climate predictions in China. The original and new downscaled CMIP5 predictions are compared with observations from 735 meteorological stations scattered across China for the period 2006–2015 to show the various improvements achieved with downscaling. Comparing the three RCP scenarios (2.6, 4.5 and 8.5) during the period 2006–2015 with observations from 735 meteorological stations indicates that MAEs of mean annual temperature were 1.9 °C for China on average and that the actual temperature was under-estimated at 87% of the meteorological stations under all three scenarios. After the downscaling process using a High Accuracy Surface Modeling (HASM)-based method, the MAEs for mean annual temperature under the three scenarios were reduced to 0.62 °C for China on average. The MAEs of annual mean precipitation were 317.29, 315.24 and 315.49 mm under the RCP2.6, RCP4.5, and RCP8.5 scenarios, respectively for China on average and the actual precipitation was over-estimated by all three scenarios at approximately 75% of the meteorological stations. The HASM-based downscaling process meant that the MAEs for the three scenarios were reduced to 80–85 mm for China on average. The downscaled predictions are used to show how temperature and precipitation are likely to vary by region in China from 2011 to 2100. The downscaled results suggest that most of China will become warmer and wetter on average under all three scenarios over the next 30 years and provide improved information to guide the investments and actions that will be needed to improve climate change resilience across China's varied landscapes in the 21st century.

Modeling spatial climate change landuse adaptation with multi-objective genetic algorithms to improve resilience for rice yield and species richness and to mitigate disaster risk

As climate change is ongoing, many studies have recently focused on adaptation to climate change from a spatial perspective. However little is known about how changing the spatial composition of landuse could improve climate change resilience. Consideration of climate change impacts when spatially allocating landuse could be a useful and fundamental long term adaptation strategy, particularly for regional planning. Here, we identify climate adaptation scenarios based on existing extents of three landuse classes using multi-objective genetic algorithms for a 9982 km2 region with 3.5 million inhabitants in South Korea. We selected five objectives for adaptation based on predicted climate change impacts and regional economic conditions: minimization of disaster damage and existing landuse conversion, maximization of rice yield, protection of high species richness areas, and economic value. We generated 17 Pareto landuse scenarios by six weighted combinations of the adaptation objectives. Most scenarios, although varying in magnitude, showed better performance than the current spatial landuse composition for all adaptation objectives, suggesting that some alteration of current landuse patterns could increase overall climate resilience. Given the flexible structure of the optimization model, we expect that regional stakeholders could efficiently generate other scenarios by adjusting model parameters (weighting combinations) or replacing input data (impact maps), and selecting a scenario depending on preference or a number of problem-related factors.

Climate change in Upper East Region of Ghana; challenges existing in farming practices and new mitigation policies

Abstract Countries and international organizations are making conscious effort to address climate change threat to humanity. Rising fossil fuel burning and land use changes to meet human demands continuously emit large quantities of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere thus causing climate change. The research used Talensi District as a case study to determine factors influencing farmers’ adaptation response and the actual practices used to avert climate change impact. A total of 225 small-scale farmers were sampled for survey and 100 key informants were used in focus group discussions. Utilizing the logistic regression model, the study indicated that education, transportation, inputs cost and extension services were the factors with high tendency of undermining farmers’ ability to adapt to climate change. In addition, Weighted Average Index used to measure weather extremes revealed that drought and temperature had the highest level of occurrence. Climate change adaptation practices assessed in the study showed that change in planting date, improved crops varieties and land rotation were the most preferred practices. The study concluded that farmers resilience could be enhanced if governments and concerned organizations intensify adaptation campaigns, increase access to weather information, and train farmers on adaptable practices including, timely planting and alternative sources of livelihood. In addition, intensifying government support for agriculture including input subsidies, and provision of irrigation facilities were also good interventions to improve climate change resilience.

Climate Change Adaptation and Agricultural Development in Central Africa Republic-Evidence of North-West

Farmers' perceptions ethno-weather climate change in the North-west of Central African local knowledge is based on experiences to explain and understand the recent climate change. These farmers' knowledge on climate change has been capitalized using the tools and techniques of socio-anthropological investigations (interview, questionnaire and focus group). The results show that over 80% of people have noted strong sunlight which is in fact the way to express higher temperatures. Facts suggestive manifestations of climate change including reducing the number of days of rain and the duration of the rainy season, early arrival and late withdrawal of the harmattan, the disappearance of animal and plant species and seasons announcing the disruption of the cropping calendar. These climatic perturbations lead the peasantry to develop strategies to adapt to endogenous consequences of the observed changes. Perceptions ethno-conventional meteorological data observed face can help analyze the real impacts of climate change in the North-western of Central African. A total of 225 small-scale farmers were sampled for survey and 100 key informants were used in focus group discussions. The logistic regression model used in the study indicated that education, transportation, income, inputs cost and extension services were the factors with high tendency of undermining farmers’ ability to adapt to climate change. In addition, Weighted Average Index used to measure weather extremes established that drought and temperature had the highest level of occurrence. Change in planting date, improved crops varieties, mixed cropping, and land rotation was the most preferred practices. The study concluded that farmer’s resilience could be enhanced if governments and concern organizations intensify adaptation campaigns and train farmers on adaptable practices including, use of improved seeds, subsidies, increasing Agriculture Extension Agents and provision of irrigation facilities were also good interventions to improve climate change resilience.

Application of genomics-assisted breeding for generation of climate resilient crops: progress and prospects.

Climate change affects agricultural productivity worldwide. Increased prices of food commodities are the initial indication of drastic edible yield loss, which is expected to increase further due to global warming. This situation has compelled plant scientists to develop climate change-resilient crops, which can withstand broad-spectrum stresses such as drought, heat, cold, salinity, flood, submergence and pests, thus helping to deliver increased productivity. Genomics appears to be a promising tool for deciphering the stress responsiveness of crop species with adaptation traits or in wild relatives toward identifying underlying genes, alleles or quantitative trait loci. Molecular breeding approaches have proven helpful in enhancing the stress adaptation of crop plants, and recent advances in high-throughput sequencing and phenotyping platforms have transformed molecular breeding to genomics-assisted breeding (GAB). In view of this, the present review elaborates the progress and prospects of GAB for improving climate change resilience in crops, which is likely to play an ever increasing role in the effort to ensure global food security.