Suchergebnisse

The Iberian Peninsula is located at the intersection between the subtropical and temperate climate zones and the paleoclimate records from this region are key to elucidate the varying humidity and changing dominance of atmospheric circulation patterns in the Mediterranean-North African region in the past. Here we present a quantitative hydroclimate reconstruction for the last ca. 200 kyr from southern Iberian Peninsula based on pollen data from the Padul lake sediment record. We use the newly developed Scale-normalized Significant Zero crossing (SnSiZer) method to detect not only the statistically significant precipitation changes but also to estimate the relative magnitude of these oscillations in our reconstruction. We identify six statistically significant main humid phases, termed West Mediterranean Humid Periods (WMHP 1–6). These humid periods correlate with other West/ Central Mediterranean paleohydrological records, suggesting that similar climatic factors affected different areas of the Mediterranean. In addition, the WMPHs are roughly coeval with the African Humid Periods (AHPs) during high seasonality, suggesting the same North Atlantic ocean-atmospheric dynamics and orbital forcing as main drivers of both areas. In contrast, during low seasonality periods, the West Mediterranean still appears to be affected by the westerlies and the local Mediterranean rainfall systems with moderate-to-high precipitation, whereas West Africa was characterized by droughts. ; Academy of Finland (GRASS) 1316702 ; European Research Council (YMPACT) 788616 ; Spanish Government CGL2013-47038-R CGL2015-69160-R CGL2017-85415-R ; Junta de Andalucia European Commission P-20-00059 B-RNM-144-UGR18 ; Junta de Andalucia RNM-190 ; Gobierno de Aragon E02-20R ; German Research Foundation (DFG) FOR2358

The Special Program for African Agricultural Research (SPAAR) was established in 1985 by a group of donors as a forum for collaborating on programs to strengthen African agricultural research. SPAAR's initial efforts did not have the desired impact on agricultural research systems. Therefore, in May 1990, the SPAAR membership decided to adopt a new approach, based on regional frameworks for action (FFA). This paper details the FFA to strengthen agricultural research in seventeen countries of the humid and sub-humid zones of West and Central Africa. The FFA emphasizes institutional reforms and sustainable funding, and suggests more efficient modalities for regional collaboration that focuses the talents and the resources of all coalition partners. (DÜI-Hff)

According to Engberg, "Humidity is that in-between state. It is the storm pending. The bulging part of weather, all moist and dense, and hanging in a kind of limbo state of being. Like a large droplet of water, it suspends, tremulous in the moment before bursting or evaporating off." This article explores the interior architecture of humidity. In particular, it draws from an experience of humidity in Darwin, Australia, in early October 2001 before the monsoon season. The article examines how this specific climatic condition produces an architecture independent of building. With humidity, the mechanics of enclosure are independent of what is conventionally understood as architecture as, in humid contexts, "the dialectics of inside and outside multiply with countless diversified nuances." The article also examines notions of enclosure and intimacy, and considers the architectures of the shadow and of air-conditioning in humid climates. Kristeva's notion of abjection informs this discussion.

This paper analyses how macro-economic and agricultural policies, market
fluctuations and demographic changes affected forests in the Humid Forest
Zone of Cameroon in four periods between 1967 and 1997. For each period
it examines how these variables influenced cocoa, coffee, food, and agroindustrial
crop production and area, and logging. It concludes that government
policies, market fluctuations and demographic changes all had a
strong impact on forests. Pressure on forests increased after structural adjustment
policies were initiated in the mid-1980s. Malthusian reasoning alone
cannot explain the level of deforestation and forest degradation in Cameroon.