Realised added value in dynamical downscaling of Australian climate change

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 4675-4692 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Di Virgilio ◽  
Jason P. Evans ◽  
Alejandro Di Luca ◽  
Michael R. Grose ◽  
Vanessa Round ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Dynamical Downscaling ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Australian Climate

Regional Dynamical Downscaling

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filippo Giorgi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Dynamical Downscaling ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Climate Information ◽  
Atmospheric Models ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Climate Change Research ◽  
Climate Downscaling

Dynamical downscaling has been used for about 30 years to produce high-resolution climate information for studies of regional climate processes and for the production of climate information usable for vulnerability, impact assessment and adaptation studies. Three dynamical downscaling tools are available in the literature: high-resolution global atmospheric models (HIRGCMs), variable resolution global atmospheric models (VARGCMs), and regional climate models (RCMs). These techniques share their basic principles, but have different underlying assumptions, advantages and limitations. They have undergone a tremendous growth in the last decades, especially RCMs, to the point that they are considered fundamental tools in climate change research. Major intercomparison programs have been implemented over the years, culminating in the Coordinated Regional climate Downscaling EXperiment (CORDEX), an international program aimed at producing fine scale regional climate information based on multi-model and multi-technique approaches. These intercomparison projects have lead to an increasing understanding of fundamental issues in climate downscaling and in the potential of downscaling techniques to provide actionable climate change information. Yet some open issues remain, most notably that of the added value of downscaling, which are the focus of substantial current research. One of the primary future directions in dynamical downscaling is the development of fully coupled regional earth system models including multiple components, such as the atmosphere, the oceans, the biosphere and the chemosphere. Within this context, dynamical downscaling models offer optimal testbeds to incorporate the human component in a fully interactive way. Another main future research direction is the transition to models running at convection-permitting scales, order of 1–3 km, for climate applications. This is a major modeling step which will require substantial development in research and infrastructure, and will allow the description of local scale processes and phenomena within the climate change context. Especially in view of these future directions, climate downscaling will increasingly constitute a fundamental interface between the climate modeling and end-user communities in support of climate service activities.

Understanding the Outcomes of Climate Change Campaigns in the Australian Environmental Movement

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Robyn Gulliver ◽  
Kelly S. Fielding ◽  
Winnifred Louis
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Environmental Advocacy ◽  
Personal Support ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Collective Response ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Advocacy Network ◽  
Australian Climate

Climate change is a global problem requiring a collective response. Grassroots advocacy has been an important element in propelling this collective response, often through the mechanism of campaigns. However, it is not clear whether the climate change campaigns organized by the environmental advocacy groups are successful in achieving their goals, nor the degree to which other benefits may accrue to groups who run them. To investigate this further, we report a case study of the Australian climate change advocacy sector. Three methods were used to gather data to inform this case study: content analysis of climate change organizations’ websites, analysis of website text relating to campaign outcomes, and interviews with climate change campaigners. Findings demonstrate that climate change advocacy is diverse and achieving substantial successes such as the development of climate change-related legislation and divestment commitments from a range of organizations. The data also highlights additional benefits of campaigning such as gaining access to political power and increasing groups’ financial and volunteer resources. The successful outcomes of campaigns were influenced by the ability of groups to sustain strong personal support networks, use skills and resources available across the wider environmental advocacy network, and form consensus around shared strategic values. Communicating the successes of climate change advocacy could help mobilize collective action to address climate change. As such, this case study of the Australian climate change movement is relevant for both academics focusing on social movements and collective action and advocacy-focused practitioners, philanthropists, and non-governmental organizations.

scholarly journals Selenium Biofortification of Soybean Seeds Influences Physiological Responses of Seedlings to Osmotic Stress

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1498
Author(s):  
Lucija Galić ◽  
Marija Špoljarević ◽  
Elizabeta Jakovac ◽  
Boris Ravnjak ◽  
Tihana Teklić ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Osmotic Stress ◽  
Higher Plants ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Physiological Activity ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Growth And Yield ◽  
Total Phenolic ◽  
Lipid Peroxidation Product ◽  
Antioxidant Power

Climate change poses a serious threat to agricultural production. Water deficit in agricultural soils is one of the consequences of climate change that has a negative impact on crop growth and yield. Selenium (Se) is known to be involved in plant defense against biotic and abiotic stress through metabolic, structural, and physiological activity in higher plants. The aim of this study was to investigate the physiological response of Se-biofortified soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) seedlings under osmotic stress. For this research, we used biofortified soybean grain obtained after foliar Se biofortification in 2020. The experiment was conducted in a growth chamber with two cultivars (Lucija and Sonja) grown on filter paper in three replicates. The experiment was carried out with two watering treatments: distilled water (PEG-0) and 2.5% polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG-2.5) on Se-biofortified seeds (Se) and nonbiofortified seeds (wSe). Contents of lipid peroxidation product (LP), free proline (PRO), total phenolic content (TP), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and ascorbic acid (AA) were analyzed in 7-days-old seedlings. Significant differences were detected in the Se content of soybean grains between the two cultivars. A milder reaction to PEG-2.5 was observed in cultivar Lucija in both Se and wSe treatments, which might represent the mitigating effects of Se on osmotic stress in this cultivar. Contrarily, in cultivar Sonja, Se adversely affected all analyzed traits in the PEG-2.5 treatment. Ultimately, Se is a pro-oxidant in Sonja, whereas it represents an anti-oxidant in Lucija. In conclusion, different soybean cultivars show contrasting physiological reactions to both osmotic stress and Se. However, the activation of antioxidant pathways in Sonja can also be interpreted as added value in soybean seedlings as a functional food.

scholarly journals Geoinformation Technologies in Support of Environmental Hazards Monitoring under Climate Change: An Extensive Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 94
Author(s):  
Andreas Tsatsaris ◽  
Kleomenis Kalogeropoulos ◽  
Nikolaos Stathopoulos ◽  
Panagiota Louka ◽  
Konstantinos Tsanakas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Monitoring ◽  
Environmental Hazards ◽  
Geographic Information ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Spatial Data Analysis ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Geospatial Technologies ◽  
Main Challenge ◽  
The Impact

Human activities and climate change constitute the contemporary catalyst for natural processes and their impacts, i.e., geo-environmental hazards. Globally, natural catastrophic phenomena and hazards, such as drought, soil erosion, quantitative and qualitative degradation of groundwater, frost, flooding, sea level rise, etc., are intensified by anthropogenic factors. Thus, they present rapid increase in intensity, frequency of occurrence, spatial density, and significant spread of the areas of occurrence. The impact of these phenomena is devastating to human life and to global economies, private holdings, infrastructure, etc., while in a wider context it has a very negative effect on the social, environmental, and economic status of the affected region. Geospatial technologies including Geographic Information Systems, Remote Sensing—Earth Observation as well as related spatial data analysis tools, models, databases, contribute nowadays significantly in predicting, preventing, researching, addressing, rehabilitating, and managing these phenomena and their effects. This review attempts to mark the most devastating geo-hazards from the view of environmental monitoring, covering the state of the art in the use of geospatial technologies in that respect. It also defines the main challenge of this new era which is nothing more than the fictitious exploitation of the information produced by the environmental monitoring so that the necessary policies are taken in the direction of a sustainable future. The review highlights the potential and increasing added value of geographic information as a means to support environmental monitoring in the face of climate change. The growth in geographic information seems to be rapidly accelerated due to the technological and scientific developments that will continue with exponential progress in the years to come. Nonetheless, as it is also highlighted in this review continuous monitoring of the environment is subject to an interdisciplinary approach and contains an amount of actions that cover both the development of natural phenomena and their catastrophic effects mostly due to climate change.

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