An Oceanography Conservation View of Central America: Caribbean Wealth, Pacific Wilderness, Plunder and Mismanagement Meets Seafloor Mining, Deep-Sea Drilling, Climate Change, and Human Population Explosion in the EEZs and Beyond

2015 ◽  
pp. 135-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Falk Huettmann
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Central America ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Population Explosion

Dissolved oxygen and temperature best predict deep-sea fish community structure in the Gulf of California with climate change implications

2020 ◽  
Vol 637 ◽  
pp. 159-180
Author(s):  
ND Gallo ◽  
M Beckwith ◽  
CL Wei ◽  
LA Levin ◽  
L Kuhnz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Community Structure ◽  
Community Composition ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Gulf Of California ◽  
Fish Community ◽  
Demersal Fish ◽  
Fish Community Structure ◽  
Explained Variance

Natural gradient systems can be used to examine the vulnerability of deep-sea communities to climate change. The Gulf of California presents an ideal system for examining relationships between faunal patterns and environmental conditions of deep-sea communities because deep-sea conditions change from warm and oxygen-rich in the north to cold and severely hypoxic in the south. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) remotely operated vehicle (ROV) ‘Doc Ricketts’ was used to conduct seafloor video transects at depths of ~200-1400 m in the northern, central, and southern Gulf. The community composition, density, and diversity of demersal fish assemblages were compared to environmental conditions. We tested the hypothesis that climate-relevant variables (temperature, oxygen, and primary production) have more explanatory power than static variables (latitude, depth, and benthic substrate) in explaining variation in fish community structure. Temperature best explained variance in density, while oxygen best explained variance in diversity and community composition. Both density and diversity declined with decreasing oxygen, but diversity declined at a higher oxygen threshold (~7 µmol kg-1). Remarkably, high-density fish communities were observed living under suboxic conditions (<5 µmol kg-1). Using an Earth systems global climate model forced under an RCP8.5 scenario, we found that by 2081-2100, the entire Gulf of California seafloor is expected to experience a mean temperature increase of 1.08 ± 1.07°C and modest deoxygenation. The projected changes in temperature and oxygen are expected to be accompanied by reduced diversity and related changes in deep-sea demersal fish communities.

Five new deep-sea species of nudibranchs (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia: Cladobranchia) from the Northeast Pacific

Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4526 (4) ◽  
pp. 401 ◽  
Author(s):  
ÁNGEL VALDÉS ◽  
LONNY LUNDSTEN ◽  
NERIDA G. WILSON
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
New Species ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Undescribed Species ◽  
Invertebrate Community ◽  
Nuclear Markers ◽  
Mitochondrial Coi ◽  
Northeast Pacific ◽  
Northeastern Pacific ◽  
System Information

Increased exploration of northeastern Pacific deep-sea habitats has revealed a diverse and often poorly-known invertebrate community, including a number of undescribed species of nudibranchs studied herein. We used morphology to distinguish several new species from their congeners, and generated data where possible for mitochondrial (COI, 16S) and nuclear markers (H3) to place them in a phylogenetic context. We described here Tritonia nigritigris sp. nov., Dendronotus claguei sp. nov., Ziminella vrijenhoeki sp. nov., Cuthona methana sp. nov., Aeolidia libitinaria sp. nov. and redescribed Zeusia herculea (Bergh, 1894). Another species of Tritonia is described but not named due to the absence of reproductive system information. Although there are difficulties in collection from deep-sea habitats, only two of our new species are known from single specimens. As with many other deep-sea regions, we expect the number of new species from this region to increase with further exploration. Because the deep regions of the northeast Pacific are particularly vulnerable to the effects of decreasing oxygenation due to climate change, we consider that documenting this fauna has some level of urgency. 

scholarly journals Regional modeling of climate change impacts on smallholder agriculture and ecosystems in Central America

2016 ◽  
Vol 141 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Hannah ◽  
Camila I. Donatti ◽  
Celia A. Harvey ◽  
Eric Alfaro ◽  
Daniel Andres Rodriguez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Central America ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Regional Modeling ◽  
Smallholder Agriculture

scholarly journals Development of downscaled Climate Change Scenarios for Central America. Lessons learned and next steps

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Tamayo ◽  
Ernesto Rodriguez-Camino ◽  
Sara Covaleda
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Central America ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Hydrological Services ◽  
Different Sources

&lt;p&gt;The intersectoral workshop held in December 2016 among the Ibero-American networks on water (CODIA), climate change (RIOCC) and meteorology (CIMHET) identified the need to dispose of downscaled climate change scenarios for Central America. Such scenarios would be developed by National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHS) in the region, based on a common methodology, allowing the assessment of climate change impacts on water resources and extreme hydro-meteorological events.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;One final outcome of the project has been a freely accessible web viewer, installed on the Centro Clima webpage (https://centroclima.org/escenarios-cambio-climatico/), managed by CRRH-SICA, where all information generated during the project is available for consultation and data downloading by the different sectors of users.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;A key element in this project has been to integrate many downscaled projections based on different methods (dynamical and statistical), totalizing 45 different projections, and aiming at estimating the uncertainty coming from different sources in the best possible way.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Another essential element has been the strong involvement of the different user sectors through national workshops, first, at the beginning of the project for the identification and definition of viewer features the project, and then for the presentation of results and planning of its use by prioritized sectors.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In a second phase of the project, a regional working group made up of experts from the NMHSs will be in charge of viewer maintenance and upgrade, including new sectoral parameters, developed in collaboration with interested users, and computation and addition of new downscaled projections from CMIP 6 in collaboration with AEMET.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Finally, following the request of CIMHET, the possibility of replicating this project for other areas of Ibero-America is being evaluated.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Land in Central America will become less suitable for coffee cultivation under climate change

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonel Lara-Estrada ◽  
Livia Rasche ◽  
Uwe A. Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Central America ◽  
Relative Concentration ◽  
Land Suitability ◽  
Land Evaluation ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Coffee Production ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Coffee Cultivation

AbstractCoffee cultivation in Central America provides goods and services at local, national, and international levels. Climate change is likely to affect the magnitude and continuity of these benefits by reducing the land suitability for coffee cultivation. To quantify the impacts of climate change on land suitability, we use the Bayesian network model Agroecological Land Evaluation for Coffea arabica L. (ALECA) and estimate the land suitability for coffee production in 2000, 2050, and 2080 under three climate change scenarios based on relative concentration pathways (RCPs) 2.6, 4.5, and 8.5. Results indicate that even under the less severe climate scenarios, over half of the current coffee area in Central America will experience a decline in its land suitability for coffee production, from excellent or good to moderate and marginal, and that the change will not happen in the more distant future of 2080, but by 2050. Under RCP 8.5, most coffee areas become of marginal and moderate suitability. The findings show that the continuity of coffee cultivation in a large portion of coffee areas in Central America is under threat and that farmers and policy-makers should develop adaptation portfolios for their farms and regions in a timely manner.

scholarly journals GHG emissions in KG-CO2 / M2 generated by a House Type INFONAVIT

2019 ◽  
pp. 10-23
Author(s):  
Humberto Aceves-Gutierrez ◽  
Oscar López-Chávez ◽  
Santa Magdalena Mercado-Ibarra ◽  
Cesar Alejandro Contreras-Quintanar
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Urban Growth ◽  
Greenhouse Effect ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Iso 14040 ◽  
Fundamental Factor ◽  
The Earth

Climate change is one of the main current problems, it concerns the entire human population since its effects are worldwide, especially now we have seen its consequences, according to Menghi (2007), the average global temperatures grew by more than 0.5 ° C in the last century, and the glaciers are disappearing from the earth. The greenhouse effect generated mainly by the gases of the same name (GHG), is the fundamental factor of climate change. Construction is one of the ways in which the human being contaminates in a constant way this due to urban growth and the demand for infrastructure that this generates. This research has the purpose of determining the KG-CO2 / M2 generated by a 44 m2 house of interest type INFONAVIT using the Life Cycle methodology (ACV) of the products or materials, established in ISO 14040, employee an inventory of KG-CO2 emissions from building materials, obtained from various bibliographic sources and databases and using the work volumes required to build the house. The results obtained of 161.57 Kg-CO2 / M2.

scholarly journals Losing Hope? The Environmental Crisis Today

ANVIL ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin J. Hodson
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
General Public ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Environmental Problems ◽  
The State ◽  
Environmental Crisis ◽  
State Of The Environment ◽  
Global Water

Abstract Environmentalists and scientists who study the environment often give a pretty bleak picture of the future. Surveys of secular views on the environment suggest that the general public in the developed West are concerned about the state of the environment. After considering all of the environmental problems that are causing scientists to worry, this paper then concentrates on four: climate change; biodiversity loss; global water supply; and the increase in our human population. Finally we will see what scientists have to say about hope in a time of environmental crisis

Effects of climate change on the spread of zika virus: a public health threat

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hina Asad ◽  
David O. Carpenter
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
South America ◽  
Zika Virus ◽  
Human Disease ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Viral Disease ◽  
Health Concerns ◽  
Public Health Threat ◽  
Vector Borne

Abstract Zika is a vector-borne viral disease transmitted to humans primarily by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. The increased climate instability has contributed to the emergence of infections carried by mosquitoes like dengue, chikungunya and zika. While infection with the zika virus is not new, the recent epidemic of microcephaly in Brazil and other countries in South America resulting from the infection of pregnant women with the zika virus raise a number of serious public health concerns. These include the question of how climate change affects the range of zika vectors, what can we do to shorten the length of mosquito season, how and why the symptoms of zika infection have changed and what can be done to reduce the burden of human disease from this infection? Another important question that needs to be answered is what are the factors that caused the zika virus to leave the non-human primates and/or other mammals and invade the human population?

An Interdisciplinary Exploration of the Climate Change Issue and Implications for Teaching STEM Through Inquiry

2018 ◽  
pp. 1008-1030
Author(s):  
Michael J. Urban ◽  
Elaine Marker ◽  
David A. Falvo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
Time Constraints ◽  
Teaching With Technology ◽  
Climate Change Issue ◽  
Inquiry Approach ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Education Today ◽  
And Mathematics

The importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, and teaching through an inquiry approach, are critical facets in education today. The purpose of this chapter is to share useful observations and recommendations about teaching STEM through inquiry for practicing teachers. Three cases are used to collect data about participant interactions with an interdisciplinary activity related to climate change, human population growth, and atmospheric pollution (e.g., greenhouse gases and smog). Fifty-five participants, most of whom were pre-service teachers, completed a technology-rich activity, post-test assessment, and survey about the experience. The findings discussed include research results, the perspectives of the facilitating instructor, and recommendations for teaching technology-laden investigations through an inquiry approach. In general, the challenges related to teaching with technology and time constraints were found to be significant limiting factors in the success of inquiry-based teaching in STEM.

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