Suchergebnisse

Hace 15 años comenzó la transformación de Chicago hacia la urbe más ecológica de la nación americana, hoy en día es una de las metrópolis más verdes y habitables del mundo, debido a la conciencia ambiental de las autoridades, los residentes y empresarios. Con 7 millones de pies cuadrados de techos verdes construidos y/o en proceso, con un extenso sistema de transporte público y un programa de ciclismo, Chicago se ha convertido en un modelo creativo de ambientalización de un paisaje urbano. Los esfuerzos del gobierno local han culminado en el Plan de Acción para el Clima de Chicago (Chicago Climate Action Plan), iniciativa del 2008 que perfilo los desafíos del cambio climático para fomentar la participación de los residentes y visitantes en la reducción del impacto medio ambiental y mejorar la calidad de vida de todos los habitantes de la ciudad. El presente trabajo da a conocer esta iniciativa y sus estrategias. ; 15 years ago began the transformation of Chicago to the greenest city of the American nation, today is one of the greenest and most livable cities in the world, due to the environmental awareness of the authorities, residents and entrepreneurs. With 7 million square feet of green roofs constructed and / or in the process, with an extensive public transport system and a cycling program, Chicago has become a creative model of greening of an urban landscape. The local government efforts have culminated in the Plan of Action for Climate of Chicago (Chicago Climate Action Plan), the 2008 initiative that outlined the challenges of climate change to encourage the participation of residents and visitors in reducing the environmental impact and improve the quality of life for all city residents. This study presents the initiative and strategies.

Climate variability, predictability, and change : an introduction -- Overview : thermal regimes -- Global climate change impact on the midwestern USA--a summer cooling trend -- Historical and projected changes in the length of the frost-free season -- Long-term midwestern USA summer equivalent temperature variability -- Estimating changes in temperature variability in a future climate -- Wisconsin's changing climate : temperature -- Overview : hydrologic regimes -- Did precipitation regimes change during the twentieth century? -- Climate change and streamflow in the upper Mississippi River Basin -- The influence of land cover type on surface hydrology in Michigan -- Wisconsin's changing climate : hydrologic cycle -- Spatial and temporal dimensions of extreme rainfall in the Twin Cities metropolitan area -- Overview : North American atmospheric circulation effects on midwestern USA climate -- Historical trends in near-surface wind speeds -- Variability of wind speed regimes in Minnesota -- Teleconnections and circulation patterns in the midwestern USA -- Regional synoptic classification: a midwestern USA example -- Overview : climate hazards -- Severe storms in the midwestern USA -- Climate sensitivity of Great Lakes-generated weather systems -- Severe weather hazards in the Twin Cities metropolitan area -- Where is climate science in the midwestern USA going?

Abstract
This study examines the impact of a changing climate on heat-related mortality in 40 large cities in the United States. A synoptic climatological procedure, the spatial synoptic classification, is used to evaluate present climate–mortality relationships and project how potential climate changes might affect these values. Specifically, the synoptic classification is combined with downscaled future climate projections for the decadal periods of 2020–29, 2045–55, and 2090–99 from a coupled atmospheric–oceanic general circulation model. The results show an increase in excessive heat event (EHE) days and increased heat-attributable mortality across the study cities with the most pronounced increases projected to occur in the Southeast and Northeast. This increase becomes more dramatic toward the end of the twenty-first century as the anticipated impact of climate change intensifies. The health impact associated with different emissions scenarios is also examined. These results suggest that a "business as usual" approach to greenhouse gas emissions mitigation could result in twice as many heat-related deaths by the end of the century than a lower emissions scenario. Finally, a comparison of future estimates of heat-related mortality during EHEs is presented using algorithms developed during two different, although overlapping, time periods, one that includes some recent large-scale significant EHE intervention strategies (1975–2004), and one without (1975–95). The results suggest these public health responses can significantly decrease heat-related mortality.

Regardless of the policies used to mitigate climate change, a positive and relatively high price of carbon will have to be established, with slow convergence across regions, leading to huge rents up to capture, way beyond those that have been fought over in the GATT-based international trading system. The paper explores the political-economy, feasibility and desirability implications of the two main alternatives, a carbon tax and a cap-and-trade (CAT) system. Having the same concerns, CAT systems in the EU and the US have accounted for different outcomes in each case. Likely leakages under foreseeable carbon prices are estimated to be small and not of an order of magnitude justifying the special allowances sought across a wide spectrum of industries.

Climate change impacts on agriculture have become evident, and threaten the achievement of global food security. On the other hand, the agricultural sector itself is a cause of climate change, and if actions are not taken, the sector might impede the achievement of global climate goals. Science-policy engagement efforts are crucial to ensure that scientific findings from agricultural research for development inform actions of governments, private sector, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and international development partners, accelerating progress toward global goals. However, knowledge gaps on what works limit progress. In this paper, we analyzed 34 case studies of science-policy engagement efforts, drawn from six years of agricultural research for development efforts around climate-smart agriculture by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). Based on lessons derived from these case studies, we critically assessed and refined the program theory of the CCAFS program, leading to a revised and improved program theory for science-policy engagement for agriculture research for development under climate change. This program theory offers a pragmatic pathway to enhance credibility, salience and legitimacy of research, which relies on engagement (participatory and demand-driven research processes), evidence (building scientific credibility while adopting an opportunistic and flexible approach) and outreach (effective communication and capacity building).

The worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and greenhouse gases (GHGs) are driving anthropogenic climate change and are leading to global warming. The increase in emissions seen in recent decades represents a significant obstacle to the goal of limiting the global temperature increase to 1.5°C. In fact, estimates suggest that, over the next 31 years, only twice to three times as much CO2 can be emitted as that emitted between 2000 and 2006. This emphasizes the need to decarbonize all sectors in order to rapidly decrease CO2 emissions. However, simply reducing CO2 emissions is no longer considered sufficient to tackle climate change. Climate engineering – the intentional alteration of the climate on a large scale – will likely prove necessary to tackle climate change. Yet, even if technological responses are available for tackling climate change, public acceptance is necessary for their successful deployment. The aim of this thesis was, therefore, to investigate the public's acceptance of both those energy technologies that can contribute to the decarbonization of the electricity system and the most commonly discussed climate engineering technologies. To ensure the effective deployment of technologies, it is crucial to understand the factors that drive their acceptance. Hence, this thesis also considered and compared several predictors of technology acceptance in the context of three different studies. The first study investigated the public's preferences as to what they consider to be the best combination of different energy technologies for the future electricity supply. The results showed that the participants tended to construct energy technology portfolios that included technologies they spontaneously liked. Thus, people's affective reactions (i.e., their experiences of feelings) toward the available energy technologies drove the type of electricity portfolio that they preferred. The identified portfolio preferences were largely in line with the aims of the Swiss energy transition, which focuses on the promotion of domestic renewable energy technologies, such as solar, wind, and biomass power, so as to maintain a low-carbon electricity supply. The second study sought to determine whether the provision of information regarding the impacts of energy technologies through an interactive website (decision support system [DSS]) affects the public's portfolio preferences. The results showed that the level of attention people paid to the information provided was not directly related to their portfolio choices. Rather, people's portfolio choices and the way in which they searched for information were driven by their affective reactions toward the different energy technologies, as well as by their political orientation. This shows that people selectively searched for information and, additionally, it suggest that in doing so they tried to confirm their previously held beliefs regarding energy technologies. This has the potential to further polarize people's views. For this reason, policymakers should carefully consider the use of interactive tools as communication instruments. The third study examined how people's support for climate engineering differs depending on the technology to be deployed. The results indicated the public's support to be the highest for afforestation, while their support was found to be somewhat lower for other measures that remove CO2 from the air. Moreover, the public's support was found to be the lowest for solar radiation management measures that increase the reflectivity of the Earth. People's benefit perception was identified as the main driver of their support for any technology. Thus, attempts to foster public support should focus on communicating the benefits of the different climate engineering technologies. This thesis found evidence that different types of technologies to tackle climate change are accepted by the public. Both the use of renewable energy technologies to maintain a low-carbon electricity system is supported by a majority, as well as the use of certain climate engineering technologies. From the perspective of public acceptance, therefore, it should be possible to simultaneously deploy both types of technologies. To tackle climate change effectively, policymakers should consider the level of public acceptance, for the deployment of technologies. However, further research is needed to determine the extent to which the public prefers to combine the mitigation of CO2 emissions with the use of technologies designed to engineer the climate.

Intro -- Preface -- References -- Contents -- 1 Education for Sustainability: Integrating Climate Change and Energy into Lifelong Learning Initiatives for Small Island Developing States -- Abstract -- Introduction -- Chances and Drivers of ICT-Based Capacity-Building for Higher Education -- Opportunities and Challenges of Massive Open Online Courses -- Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) -- Classification Schemes -- Challenges and Opportunities -- The L3EAP Online Learning Course "Sustainable Energy for SIDS" -- Profile -- E-Tools -- Lessons Learned -- Conclusions and Recommendations -- References -- 2 Distance Learning Will Enable Climate Refugees to Avoid Falling into the Social Risk Trap -- Abstract -- Introduction -- Manifestations of Social Risk Among Climate Refugees -- The Relation Between Climate Refugees and ICT -- The Different e-Learning Generations -- Didactic Material for the Different e-Learning Generations -- The e-Book -- Streaming -- MOOCs -- Conclusion -- References -- 3 Leaving No-One Behind: Improving Climate Change and Entrepreneurship Education in Sub-Saharan Africa Through E-Learning and Innovative Governance Systems -- Abstract -- Introduction -- E-Learning and M-Learning Strategies for SSA -- Eneza Education -- Ruzivo Digital Learning -- Shasha -- Padziwe Digital Library (PDL) -- A Case for Integrating Climate Change Education with Entrepreneurship Education -- Discussion -- Conclusion -- References -- 4 E-Learning as Tool to Feed the World -- Abstract -- Introduction -- Defining Concepts -- Methodology -- Theoretical Framework -- Results -- Discussion -- Conclusion -- References -- 5 Online Communities of Practice Empowering Members to Realize Climate-Smart Agriculture in Developing Countries -- Abstract -- Introduction -- Study Design -- Components of Online Community Learning

AbstractA Web site questionnaire survey in Finland suggested that maps illustrating projected shifts of Köppen climatic zones are an effective visualization tool for disseminating climate change information. The climate classification is based on seasonal cycles of monthly-mean temperature and precipitation, and it divides Europe and its adjacent land areas into tundra, boreal, temperate, and dry climate types. Projections of future changes in the climatic zones were composed using multimodel mean projections based on simulations performed with 19 global climate models. The projections imply that, depending on the greenhouse gas scenarios, about half or possibly even two-thirds of the study domain will be affected by shifts toward a warmer or drier climate type during this century. The projected changes within the next few decades are chiefly located near regions where shifts in the borders of the zones have already occurred during the period 1950–2006. The questionnaire survey indicated that the information regarding the shifting climatic zones as disseminated by the maps was generally interpreted correctly, with the average percentage of correct answers being 86%. Additional examples of the use of the climatic zones to communicate climate change information to the public are included.

Chapter1. Climate Change and the Pacific Islands -- Chapter2. Islands in the Pacific – settings, distribution, classification -- Chapter3 Climate Change Scenarios and Projections for the Pacific.-Chapter4. Comparison of the physical susceptibility of Pacific Islands to risks potentially associated with variability in weather and climate -- Chapter5 Downscaling from Whole Island to an island-coast assessment of coastal landform susceptibility to metocean change in the pacific -- Chapter6. A review of South Pacific tropical cyclones: Impacts of natural climate variability and climate change -- Chapter7. Impacts of Climate Change on Coastal Infrastructure in the Pacific -- Chapter 8 Population distribution in the Pacific islands, proximity to coastal areas, and risks -- Chapter9. Agriculture under a changing climate -- Chapter10. Impacts of climate change on marine resources in the Pacific Island region -- Chapter11. Freshwater availability under climate change -- Chapter12. Climate change and impacts on biodiversity on small islands -- Chapter13. Economic impacts and implications of climate change in the Pacific -- Chapter14. Adaptation to climate change: contemporary challenges and perspectives.

Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest results in reduced biodiversity, habitat loss, climate change, and other destructive impacts. Hence obtaining location information on human activities is essential for scientists and governments working to protect the Amazon rainforest. We propose a novel remote sensing image classification framework that provides us with the key data needed to more effectively manage deforestation and its consequences. We introduce the attention module to separate the features which are extracted from CNN(Convolutional Neural Network) by channel, then further send the separated features to the LSTM(Long-Short Term Memory) network to predict labels sequentially. Moreover, we propose a loss function by calculating the co-occurrence matrix of all labels in the dataset and assigning different weights to each label. Experimental results on the satellite image dataset of the Amazon rainforest show that our model obtains a better F 2 score compared to other methods, which indicates that our model is effective in utilizing label dependencies to improve the performance of multi-label image classification.

Rural households in South Asia's coastal deltas face numerous livelihood challenges, including risks posed by climatic variability and extreme weather events. This study examines major climate risks, farmers' adaptation strategies, and the factors affecting the choice of those strategies using data collected from 630 households in southwestern coastal Bangladesh. Farmers identified cyclones, excessive rain and flooding, and salinity as direct climate risks. Increased crop diseases/pests and livestock diseases were perceived as indirect risks resulting from climatic variability. Farmers used multiple adaptation strategies against those risks such as modifications in farm management, use of savings and borrowing funds from family and neighbors, and periodically reducing household food consumption. Off-farm employment and seeking assistance from governmental as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were also common adaptation strategies. The results show that male-headed households are more likely to change farming practices and reduce consumption compared with female-headed households that conversely tended to take assistance from NGOs as an adaptation strategy. Ownership of land and livestock, as well as farmers' prior exposure to climate change and educational training, also had a significant effect on the choice of adaptation strategy. Therefore, development interventions and policies that aimed at improving resource endowment and training to farmers on climatic risks and their adaptation strategies can help minimize the impact of climatic risks.

This paper presents a framework to prioritize locally suitable climate-smart agricultural (CSA) interventions and implementation suitability assessments with key stakeholders: state and district agriculture departments, extension offices, agriculture research institutions, NGOs and donor agencies, private sector and farmers. Prioritization of appropriate interventions for given contexts is needed to assist relevant stakeholders to make strategic decisions and improve adaptability and efficiency of agriculture production system in the face of climate change and variability. First step includes participatory identification and evaluation of location specific CSA interventions suitable for different crop and cropping system with potential to reduce climatic risks in agriculture. All CSA interventions were evaluated based on their contribution to increase farm productivity and income, building resilience to changing climate and reduction of agricultural emissions. Second step includes evaluation of overall implementation feasibility of selected CSA interventions based on their technical feasibility, cost of implementation, inclusivity and synergy with current government programs. In the third step, potential barriers of CSA technology adoption were assessed linking with availability of resources, farmers knowledge and acceptability, access to agriculture extensions service, market and government support. In the fourth step, incentive mechanisms to promote CSA interventions such as government subsidy, market linkage, provision of loan and capacity building were evaluated with farmers and key stakeholders. Finally, this prioritization framework assessed the role of different organizations such as the government, private sector, non-government organizations, custom hiring centers and community based organizations in promoting CSA interventions at the local level. Results show that this framework provides ample space for local stakeholders to integrate their knowledge and experience on CSA interventions in prioritization and investment planning. Stakeholders prioritized mainly water and nutrient management technologies, agriculture insurance against climatic risks and ICT based weather and agro-advisory services. This framework provides a decision support tool for policy-making in adaptation and mitigation activities in agriculture sector at the local level. This framework can be used by governments, development organizations and the private sector for investment decision-making.

Can climate engineering help provide more time for an ambitious mitigation program? And if so, is a buying time deployment of climate engineering morally acceptable? The work at hand means to thoroughly scrutinize this specific argument of the climate engineering discourse – the buying time argument (BT-argument). The point of departure of this research is the notion that climate engineering (CE) is not inherently morally wrong. The guiding question is: Is there a possible buying time deployment of a climate engineering technology absent any general moral constraints? This question will be answered in several steps: First, a deductively valid version of the BT-argument is established. In particular, this argument implies that deployment of CE is to be finite and should not interfere with mitigation efforts. Containing a placeholder for a specific climate goal and a placeholder denoting a specific CE technology, the argument can only be fully evaluated, if the placeholders are instantiated. By doing so, this thesis aims at providing a comprehensive discussion of two CE technologies, Sulfate Aerosol Injection (SAI) and Bio-energy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS), and sheding some light on the moral aspects of potential CE deployment. The preliminary conclusion states that a finite and strictly purpose bound deployment of SAI might be morally sound, but the boundary conditions for such a deployment must be guaranteed by political efforts. The work at hand also highlights the importance of further research, especially with respect to negative emission ...