Mitigation Issues Research Articles

Climatisation of agricultural issues in the international agenda through three competing epistemic communities: Climate-smart agriculture, agroecology, and nature-based solutions

While agricultural issues were almost absent from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change adopted in 1992, a window of opportunity opened in favor of their inclusion in the climate agenda during the Conference of the Parties of Durban in 2011. During this period three concepts have emerged in climate agenda-setting: “climate-smart agriculture,” “agroecology,” and “nature-based solutions.” By tracing these three concepts (their origins and scientific and political progressions), we demonstrate that they fostered the “climatisation” of agricultural issues in the late 2000 s. These concepts frame agricultural adaptation and mitigation issues regarding climate change in specific ways. The two concepts of climate-smart agriculture and nature-based solutions are recent, while agroecology is a long-standing term that has recently regained popularity to analyze climate issues. These concepts are promoted by three distinct—and sometimes opposed—epistemic communities and contribute to reviving controversy permeating agricultural debates.

Landscapes Vulnerability on Climate Change in Yogyakarta Province, Indonesia

Whether climate change is real or not, the daily basis phenomena and its evidences should be our concern nowadays. Yogyakarta is one of the provinces that are vulnerable to the impact of climate change in Indonesia. The specific responses to climate change phenomena in Yogyakarta province are indirectly correlated to landscape characteristics. These characteristics are important aspects for the assessment and development of new approaches to address the impacts of climate change. Therefore, this paper presents the status of landscape vulnerability to climate change in Yogyakarta province to consider the issues of mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) was applied to determine the objective of the research. The results of previous studies were reviewed in depth and combined with field observations to build a strong argument before evaluating the matrices and weights in the AHP steps. The result analysis showed that the most vulnerable landscape in Yogyakarta province is the anthropogenic landscape, which is located in Yogyakarta city. Furthermore, the combination of population density and poor sanitation management should be considered as a factor in mitigating and adapting to climate change in Yogyakarta city.

Design and verification of multiple SEU mitigated circuits on SRAM-based FPGA system

This paper addresses the issue of soft error mitigation for Static Random-Access Memory (SRAM)-based Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) system in radiation environment to reduce their malfunction and system failure rates in space missions. Seven representative circuits are designed by using the logical resources of SRAM-based FPGA. The accelerator tests investigate that the clock distribution of the Triple Modular Redundancy (TMR) circuits is vital to achieve a high Single Event Upset (SEU) tolerance. The separated DTMR_NEW circuits are proposed to overcome the weakness of the conventional TMR circuits, and a 25× improvement of SEU tolerance for the separated DTMR_NEW circuits are verified. The statistical estimations are desirable for engineers to assess and enhance the SEU tolerance of their designed systems at earlier stages to reduce the time and development costs.

An Experiment of Determining Buried Channel Using ERP and IP

Geophysical methods became an important technique for engineer since several decades. They have been used to study the engineering problem which has to be solved urgently. Detecting underground water channels is one of the most important issues in prevention and mitigation of water surge hazards in underground engineering. In this research, we use electrical resistivity profiling (ERP) and induced potential (IP) as the guide is proposed. By applying different configurations and varied electrode spacing, the water channel can be analysed by its resistivity and chargeability variation. The ERP method is sensitive to resistive layers which indicates the empty channel while IP can detect the presence of water. This is seen from both synthetic and measured data, where the resistivity of 60 Ω.m approximately implies that the channel is not filled with water, while in the area with moderate chargeability, ranging from 15 to 25 ms, indicates that water exists shrouding the channel. By understanding the known underground channel well, we can expand the study for other engineering problems and as references to apply the method in similar cases, such as the underground cavity which can be very important for infrastructure.

MODEL STUKTURAL BERBASIS SISTIM INFORMASI GEOGRAFIS DALAM PENGELOLAAN WILAYAH PESISIR SECARA BERKELANJUTAN

Geographical Information System-Based Structural Model in Sustainable Management of Coastal Areas which is the background is that the management of the coastal areas of Ambon City and Central Maluku Regency in the last 10-20 years has not been managed properly and sustainably so that various aspects of development do not work well causing various The problems include damage to the coastal physical environment, namely abrasion, erosion, and sedimentation, water damage due to pollution, damage to protective building infrastructure, coastal mitigation issues, declining quality of coastal environmental resources due to the increasing number of residents in coastal areas, causing the development of slum areas. coastal ecosystem. The purpose of the study is to determine the model and strategy for managing coastal areas in Ambon City and Central Maluku District in a sustainable manner. The method used in this research is the descriptive method. Primary data collection was carried out using a questionnaire for respondents from the community, expert respondents, community institutions, and policymakers. The analysis carried out is Sustainability Analysis with Multi Dimension Scale (MDS), geographic information system analysis, SEM structural analysis, Process Hierarchy analysis (AHP). The results of the sustainability analysis with MDS obtained the Multi-Dimensional Sustainability Index value of 50.13% is in the moderately sustainable category. The results of the SEM model analysis on the role of zoning and community roles in sustainable coastal area management is an acceptable “fit model”. The results of the AHP provide an overview of the assessment by policymakers in the implementation of the program, prioritizing the strategy for Management of Sustainable Coastal Area Management Based on Geographic Information Systems with an assessment score of 39.3%, with the largest presentation being “Coastal Area Arrangement in accordance with GIS-Based Zoning Laws” of 13, 6%.

Lifelines and Sinking Ships: Investor Reactions to Divestments During Industry Change

Navigating a period of industry change can be challenging for incumbent firms. In this paper, we consider an important barrier to adaptation – technological commitment – and analyze how investors react to a firm’s departure from its core position. We argue that, over time, cost efficiency concerns and shareholder advocacy potentially moderate the negative impact of commitment to a fading technology on market valuation. Building on the industry change and corporate divestment literatures, we argue that it will be increasingly difficult for incumbents with greater technological commitment to exit from this position even as the transition becomes more inevitable, unless investors formally pressure the firm to do so. We find support for our arguments from an event study of announcements of coal plant retirements by U.S. public electric utilities from 2007 to 2019. Our results contribute to understanding challenges with incumbent adaptation to environmental disruptions, as well as the urgent issue of climate change mitigation.

Evolution of Romania's Economic Structure and Environment Degradation - An Assessment Through LMDI Decomposition Approach.

PurposeThis paper studies the relationships between air pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, N2O) and different diseases (tumors, skin and respiratory) and the factors influencing air pollutant emissions in Romania.MethodsThe methods are Toda-Yamamoto procedure of non-causality Granger test, grey relational analysis and logarithmic mean Divisia index method (LMDI).ResultsAir pollutants intensities dropped significantly over 2008–2017 period due to structural changes. The only economic activity that showed an increase both in volume and intensity of air pollutants, despite a downward trend of farming activities output is agriculture. Technology improvements play a significant role in mitigation of PM2.5 emissions and a moderate role in mitigation of PM10 emissions. For N2O emissions technology used contributed to an increase of N2O intensities.ConclusionHealth policy makers should address the issue of technology improvements and mitigation of agriculture emissions to improve health of individuals and air quality.

HOTS AND E-LEARNING OF DIPLOMA AND UNDERGRADUATE: ILMIZI MODEL FOR ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER MITIGATION EDUCATION DURING NEW NORMAL COVID-19

Innovation in learning is a necessity for environmental learning in 21st century especially during the new normal era of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). One of important skills to address disaster mitigation issue is Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) that can be trained using the Innovation Learning Model for Natural Science and Environmental Learning (ILMIZI) model regarding e-learning. This research aims to measure HOTS and descriptively analyse the e-learning and ILMIZI model. The research method is descriptive with survey as the data collection technique. The total sample size of this research were 176 students divided into 105 diploma students and 71 undergraduate students. The results show a very low HOTS score of students at the diploma (30.98) and undergraduate (32.02) level regarding disaster mitigation concepts. This study also considered the dominant use of Power Point file (41.38%), distractions in e-learning related to phone signals (44.83%), and the study discovered that majority of students feel more independent in learning (62.07%). The descriptive analysis indicates that the ILMIZI model is compatible for use in environmental learning concerning disaster mitigation. It is the finding of this research that student’s HOTS scores are still low;the implementation of e-learning programmes faces some obstacles;and the ILMIZI model is suitable for environmental learning as a means of disaster mitigation. © 2021, Journal of Sustainability Science and Management. All Rights Reserved.

Mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic in India: an in-depth exploration of challenges and opportunities for three vulnerable population groups

PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic is certain to have an unprecedented impact on the global population, but marginalized and vulnerable groups in low-income countries (LICs) are predicted to carry the largest burden. This study focuses on the implications of COVID-19-related measures on three population groups in India, including (1) migrant laborers (of which a majority come from Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), as well as Other Backward Classes (OBCs)), (2) children from low-income families and, (3) refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts a sequential mixed-method research design. A desk-based study of a selection of government reports was undertaken on the COVID-19-related mitigation measures. The desk study was followed by in-depth interviews with purposively recruited high-ranking experts in specific sectors of policy implementation and service delivery across the country.FindingsThe outcomes of this study shed light on (1) the most urgent needs that need to be addressed per population group, (2) the variety of state-level responses as well as best practices observed to deal with mitigation issues and (3) opportunities for quick relief as well as more long-term solutions.Practical implicationsThe COVID-19 pandemic has not only reduced people's means of maintaining a livelihood but has simultaneously revealed some of India's long-standing problems with infrastructure and resource distribution in a range of sectors, including nutrition and health, education, etc. There is an urgent need to construct effective pathways to trace and respond to those people who are desolate, and to learn from – and support – good practices at the grassroot level.Originality/valueThe current study contributes to the discussion on how inclusive public health might be reached.

A framework for the assessment of qualitative and quantitative sustainable development of groundwater system

AbstractThe groundwater mitigation issues and moving toward sustainable quality and quantity conditions of the aquifers are primary water resources management objectives in arid and semi‐arid regions. A framework is required to assess groundwater restoration strategies' impacts on the aquifer's qualitative and quantitative sustainability. In this study, two new indices are introduced to evaluate the state of aquifer sustainability. The aquifer quantity restoration index was determined by using the results of the MODFLOW, considering the differences between the simulated and the desired water levels and the storage volumes for restoration scenarios, and the percentage of obtaining the desired level at the end of the simulated period. The aquifer quality restoration index was defined based on the DRASTIC‐LU aquifer vulnerability and the percentage of the desired total dissolved solids (TDS) goals at the end of the simulated period using the Bayesian networks model. Six restoration groundwater scenarios in 10 years were assessed to examine both proposed indices. Scenarios are comprised of a one to 3.5% reduction in agriculture groundwater withdrawal. The aquifer quantitative restoration index resulting from the MODFLOW simulation indicated that 2.5% of the decrease in groundwater withdrawal satisfied the aquifer's sustainability. Furthermore, the qualitative sustainability index showed that the reduction in groundwater withdrawal has enormous impacts on the aquifer's central area and marginal parts, where the groundwater is dramatically over‐exploited. Indices proposed can be utilized for the assessment of achieving sustainable management in groundwater by restoration scenarios.

Human perturbation on phosphorus cycles in one of China’s most eutrophicated lakes

Lake Dianchi is one of the most phosphorus-polluted lakes in China. Understanding its phosphorus budget and the corresponding limitations for research are fundamental to lake management. We have therefore systematically analyzed publications and publicly available datasets regarding Dianchi P pollution since the year 1960 to explore the anthropogenic perturbation on phosphorus budget dynamics. Results show that current exogenous loading (> 600 tons ⋅ a −1 ) remains significant; inflow rivers and drainage pipes around the lakeshore are the main pathways (accounting for around 80% of loading). Besides shifts in the spatial–temporal pattern of exogenous loading, artificial treatments have also reshaped P removal patterns; consequently, only a small amount of P can be removed through lake outflows (<20%, around 140 tons ⋅ a −1 ). Although a reduction has been observed in exogenous P loading over the past decade, endogenous P loading has significantly increased, of which P flux via sediment release alone approximates more than 180 tons ⋅ a −1 in 2017. Generally, P budget improvements have been due to artificial treatments such as the Niulan River water diversion project, shifting directions on tail water emissions, and sediment dredging projects. However, these treatments also introduce negative consequences and therefore require further caution. The reuse of ”waste P” via treatments has especially become a challenge. To date, exogenous loading via atmospheric dry deposition, wintering birds, water diversion, degradation in geological phosphorus-rich regions and endogenous P cycling fluxes, etc., need further study. Here, suggestions for corresponding research are given. It is suggested that the restoration of spontaneous ”P balance” in the Dianchi system, and the modification of the regional urban development strategy should present issues facing plateau freshwater lakes in SW China which need to be addressed. Moreover, synthesized analyses and machine learning processes are new attempts worth promoting to other lakes where monitoring data is incomplete. • P budget dynamics of Lake Dianchi were calculated based on 254 publications. • Human perturbation has reshaped the spatial–temporal pattern of exogenous loading. • Current P ”balance” can be maintained only with the help of artificial treatments. • Artificial treatments introduce unintended consequences and require further caution. • P mitigation issue in Lake Dianchi epitomize eutrophication concerns in SW China.

Recent Advances in Understanding the Formation and Mitigation of Dendrites in Lithium Metal Batteries

Lithium (Li) metal battery systems are currently gaining significant attention as the most energy-intensive architectures among the various battery architectures being actively examined at present for multiple emergent applications. Although the cathode chemistries in Li metal systems are fairly simple and far less challenging in liquid electrolytes, the metallic chemistry of the anode poses many challenging problems. The dendrite formation and consequent dead Li formation and short circuiting have rendered the practical realization of these promising battery systems extremely hard. Therefore, the issue of dendrite mitigation has recently triggered hectic research efforts by battery scientists around the globe. The major research thrust of this activity has primarily been on gaining deep insights into the dendrite formation using advanced characterization methods. In this review, we seek to understand the Li dendrite formation as an interplay between the solid electrolyte interphase and surface features. We try to understand the dendrite formation as a consequence of the above two parameters via advanced imaging techniques, like X-ray imaging techniques, X-ray computed tomography, atomic force microscopy, and cryo-electron microscopy. Finally, an outlook is presented suggesting the emergent research directions.

Ultrarapid synthesis Ni-Cu bifunctional electrocatalyst by self-etching electrodeposition for high-performance water splitting reaction

Bifunctional catalyst, as a feasible way to produce hydrogen, has been regarded as an effective issue for mitigation of the greenhouse effect, and thus has attracted extensive attention. Inspired by the traditional electrodeposition technology, we report a fast self-etching electrodeposition method to construct copper-incorporated three-dimensional Ni-Cu coated on copper sheets as a superior bifunctional catalyst. During the electrodeposition process, the copper substrate was corroded to form ammonium copper ions by ingenious design of the concentration of electrolyte, including ammonium chloride and sodium chloride. Meanwhile, we observe that the ratio of Ni to Cu could be changed via varying the current density. The optimized hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) overpotentials are 76 mV and 290 mV at 10 mA cm−2, respectively, which outperform the most reported bifunctional electrocatalysts until now. The calculation further demonstrates that the theoretical hydrogen desorption energy and OER overpotential of Ni-Cu are better than those of pure Ni and Cu. The prepared Ni-Cu electrocatalyst exhibits remarkable stability, especially in the HER reaction process stability test up to 50 h. The successful preparation of Ni-Cu electrocatalyst provides more possibility in the traditional electrodeposition synthesis of high performance electrocatalysts.

Interference Mitigation in the Wireless Communication Systems Using Adaptive Filters

In the current fifth generation (5G) wireless communication systems, the interference mitigation issue becomes a major and most important task for improving the performance of such systems due to corded spectrum and increased demands for new applications. Antenna arrays controlled by adaptive algorithms are proved to be a good solution for such problem. However, there are still some practical limitations in implementing such fully adaptive arrays especially when consisting a large number of the controllable elements. Other disadvantages of such arrays include long convergence time of the algorithm and the complexity of the beamforming network. In this paper, an adaptive algorithm is connected to only limited number of the array elements instead of all elements. We found that the elements that located on the center of the array could be chosen as adaptive, while the other elements which have less effect on the array pattern are left without adaptation process. Thus, the proposed array has many advantages with compared to those of the fully adaptive arrays while maintaining the same performance in suppressing the interference signals through null steering. Simulation results show that the effectiveness of the proposed array in generating deep nulls with very short convergence time.

The alternative energy utilization and common regional trade outlook in EU-27: Evidence from common correlated effects

The role of low-carbon energy and trade on the environment has drawn several studies that have looked at issues from different perspectives, thus yielding differing conclusions. Considering the current emphasis on the COP25 conference and the commitment to cut down carbon emissions level, this study also draws strength from the United Nations Sustainable development Goals (UNSDGs) that comprises of positive strides for access to clean and responsible energy consumption (SDGs 7, 12) and climate change mitigation issues (SDG-13). To this end, this study is a timely outlook that underpins the case of the European Union (EU) countries as well as the root cause of anthropogenic activities on clean trajectory of global environment. Hence, we investigate the connection between alternative and sustainable energy source, trade, income and emissions in 27 selected European Union economies by utilizing data covering the period 1990–2017 on an annual frequency. We used second-generation panel model estimators to analyze the relationship between the variables in the long-run. Specifically, the long run results from the MG (Mean Group), AMG (Augmented Mean Group), and CCEMG (Common Correlated Effects Mean Group) estimators reveal that sustainable and alternative energy sources have a negative significant impact on pollutant emissions while trade and income have a positive impact on carbon emissions except that the impact of trade is insignificant. Although the positive impact of openness in trade on carbon emission is insignificant, the positive impact suggests that the free-trade policy that is currently in place in the EU should further incorporate sustainable development goals (SDGs) to avoid the outsourcing of carbon emissions among the member countries. Causality tests reveal a feedback hypothesis between renewable energy, income, trade, and carbon emanations. The investigation proposes expanded utilization of sustainable power source to mitigate carbon emissions in the European Union.

The Right to Seek Asylum of ‘Climate Refugees’

Although the issue of climate change mitigation and adaptation is fortunately evermore widely discussed, the problems facing ‘climate refugees’ only appears sporadically in the discussions adding to the current confusion. Taking recent and forecasted trends into account, the UN declares that states have serious moral obligations to provide humanitarian protection to all those displaced. The question which the international community and international lawyers face is whether states have more than just a moral obligation to provide protection. In this paper I will assess whether or not there are any roots in the various sources of international law – such as conventional law, customary international law, or the fundamental principles of international law – for the legal definition of ‘climate refugees’.

Social Vulnerability Assessment for Landslide Hazards in Malaysia: A Systematic Review Study

Landslides represent one of the world’s most dangerous and widespread risks, annually causing thousands of deaths and billions of dollars worth of damage. Building on and around hilly areas in many regions has increased, and it poses a severe threat to the physical infrastructure and people living within such zones. Quantitative assessment of social vulnerability in Malaysia is worrying because it has been given less attention than hazard-related studies. Therefore, this study’s objective is to find out the indicators used for social vulnerability assessment in the context of a landslide in Malaysia. The analysis is critical for understanding the measures of social vulnerability, given that the incorporation of climate change and disaster risk mitigation issues in urban planning and management are considered priorities in ensuring a stable population growth and avoiding economic disruption. A systematic study on the Scopus and Web of Science repositories was conducted based on the PRISMA Report analysis method. This article concluded that there are six important indicators of social vulnerability in the context of landslide in Malaysia.

Students’ Knowledge of Climate Change, Mitigation and Adaptation in the Context of Constructive Hope

Humanity is living in a climate emergency where climate change should be significantly mitigated; additionally, greater efforts should be made to adapt to it. To date, relatively little research has been carried out on young people’s skills in terms of them mitigating and, in particular, adapting to the changes caused by climate change. The complex climate change issues of mitigation and adaptation are conceptually difficult for children because climate change is not directly evidenced in their daily lives. This study focuses on looking at mitigation and adaptation from the perspective of children. Meaning-making coping strategies enable the maintenance of constructive hope regarding climate change. In the present study, elementary and secondary students (n = 950) responded to an online questionnaire. Statistical methods were used to gather data on how students’ general knowledge of climate change and their mitigation and adaptation knowledge predicted their constructive hope regarding climate change. This study reveals that the students had a relatively high level of constructive hope and that general climate change knowledge predicted students’ constructive hope well.

Media Framing of Climate Change Action in Carbon Locked-in Developing Countries: Adaptation or Mitigation?

ABSTRACT As the public draws most of its information on scientific issues from the media, studies of media coverage of climate change have proliferated. Here, we analyze whether newspapers in developing countries frame climate action as an adaptation or mitigation issue. Mitigation refers to activities to reduce or prevent carbon emissions whereas adaptation refers to activities to adjust economic and social systems to the effects of climate change. To this end, we conduct a comparative quantitative analysis of climate change news framing in newspapers from two carbon locked-in developing countries: Nigeria and Turkey. Our first research question is whether newspapers in the two countries frame climate change as a mitigation or adaptation issue. Our second research question is whether there is a relationship between the use of foreign sources and the use of a mitigation frame. We find more adaptation framing in Nigerian newspapers whereas adaptation and mitigation frames are more evenly seen in Turkish newspapers. We also find that the use of foreign sources in news with a climate action frame is negatively correlated with the use of an adaptation frame in our sample. Our findings improve understanding of the factors shaping climate change communication in developing countries.

A survey of prototype and experiment for UAV communications

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) communications have attracted significant attention from both academia and industry. To facilitate the large-scale usage of UAVs for various applications in practice, we provide a comprehensive survey on the prototype and experiment for UAV communications. To this end, we first provide an overview on the general architecture of the prototype and experiment for UAV communications, and then present experimental verification for air-to-ground channel models and UAV energy consumption models. Next, we discuss measurement experiments on two promising paradigms of UAV communications, namely cellular-connected UAVs and UAV-enabled aerial communication platforms. For the former, we focus on the feasibility study and address the interference mitigation issue. For UAV-enabled aerial communication platforms, we present three scenarios, namely UAV-enabled aerial base stations, UAV-enabled aerial relays and UAV-enabled aerial data collection/dissemination. Finally, we point out some promising future directions for prototype and experimental measurements of UAV communications.