Geoarchaeology of Holocene oasis formation, hydro-agricultural management and climate change in Masafi, southeast Arabia (UAE)

2019 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Purdue ◽  
Julien Charbonnier ◽  
Emmanuelle Régagnon ◽  
Carine Calastrenc ◽  
Thomas Sagory ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Agricultural Management ◽  
Environmental Data ◽  
Soil Resources ◽  
Humid Area ◽  
Dynamic Links

AbstractOases are subject to decreasing resources and changing human activities. Fully aware of their rich heritage, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have undertaken work to preserve and revitalize these oases. However, there is a clear lack of understanding of the dynamic links between climate change, hydraulic and agricultural management, and socioeconomic activities. To clarify these links, our team conducted a systematic geoarchaeological, geophysical, spatial, and chronological study of the Masafi oasis, UAE. Results indicate the existence of a natural humid area as early as the late Pleistocene (~18 cal ka BP). These conditions persist during the early-mid Holocene with drainage activation and soil development (~12–6.3 ka). During the late Holocene, after the emergence of the “artificial” oasis around ~3250 cal yr BP, cycles of intense management suggesting water availability (~3250–2380 cal yr BP; 550 cal yr BP) alternate with episodes of fluvial detritism (~2380–1870 cal yr BP; >550 cal yr BP) and scattered evidence of farming activities with complex hydroclimatic signatures (~2300–550 cal yr BP). These results, together with regional environmental data, indicate that water and soil resources were available and exploited strategically throughout the Holocene despite adverse climatic conditions, and the oasis of Masafi could have acted as a desertrefugium.

scholarly journals Late Holocene droughts and cave ice harvesting by Ancestral Puebloans

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bogdan P. Onac ◽  
Steven M. Baumann ◽  
Dylan S. Parmenter ◽  
Eric Weaver ◽  
Tiberiu B. Sava
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
New Mexico ◽  
Native Americans ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Ancestral Puebloan ◽  
Ancestral Puebloans ◽  
Marginal Environment

AbstractWater availability for Native Americans in the southwestern United States during periods of prolonged droughts is poorly understood as regional hydroclimate records are scant or contradicting. Here, we show that radiocarbon-dated charcoal recovered from an ice deposit accumulated in Cave 29, western New Mexico, provide unambiguous evidence for five drought events that impacted the Ancestral Puebloan society between ~ AD 150 and 950. The presence of abundant charred material in this cave indicates that they periodically obtained drinking water by using fire to melt cave ice, and sheds light on one of many human–environment interactions in the Southwest in a context when climate change forced growing Ancestral Puebloan populations to exploit water resources in unexpected locations. The melting of cave ice under current climate conditions is both uncovering and threatening a fragile source of paleoenvironmental and archaeological evidence of human adaptations to a seemingly marginal environment.

Plant respiration in a high CO2 world: How will alternative oxidase respond to future atmospheric and climatic conditions?

2014 ◽  
Vol 94 (6) ◽  
pp. 1091-1101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jia Wang ◽  
Melissa Cheung ◽  
Lara Rasooli ◽  
Sasan Amirsadeghi ◽  
Greg C. Vanlerberghe
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Alternative Oxidase ◽  
Climatic Factors ◽  
Plant Mitochondria ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Carbon Gain ◽  
Energy Yield ◽  
Combined Processes ◽  
Plant Respiration

Wang, J., Cheung, M., Rasooli, L., Amirsadeghi, S. and Vanlerberghe, G. C. 2014. Plant respiration in a high CO2 world: How will alternative oxidase respond to future atmospheric and climatic conditions? Can. J. Plant Sci. 94: 1091–1101. Plant mitochondria contain an alternative oxidase (AOX) that reduces the energy yield of respiration. While respiration and photosynthesis are known to interact, the role of AOX in the light remains poorly understood. This gap in our understanding of leaf metabolism extends to future conditions of high CO2 and climate change. While studies indicate that AOX respiration is quite responsive to growth conditions, few studies have examined AOX respiration at high CO2 and little is known regarding the combined impact of changes in both CO2 and other climatic factors such as temperature and water availability. Given its non-energy conserving nature, a fundamental response by AOX to these future conditions could impact the net carbon gain that results from the combined processes of photosynthesis and respiration. Here, we show that leaf AOX protein amount in Nicotiana tabacum is dependent upon growth irradiance and CO2 level, that AOX is subject to biochemical control by intermediates of photorespiration, and that photosynthesis is impacted in transgenic plants lacking AOX. We also review findings that tobacco AOX respiration is responsive to climatic variables (temperature, water availability), thus providing an excellent experimental system to investigate the interplay between AOX, photosynthesis at high CO2, and climate change.

scholarly journals Climate change in the UAE: Modeling air temperature using ARIMA and STI across four bio-climatic zones

F1000Research ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 973
Author(s):  
Taoufik Saleh Ksiksi ◽  
Latifa Saeed Al-Blooshi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Moving Average ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Abu Dhabi ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽  
Climatic Regions ◽  
Box Plots ◽  
Al Ain ◽  
The Impact

Background: Standardizing climate-related indices and models across spatial and temporal scales presents a challenge. Especially when predicting climatic conditions in the era of climate change. The present work aims to assess the use of ARIMA (Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average) modeling approach coupled with STI (Standardized Temperature Index) to predict temperature anomalies across four bio-climatic regions within the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Methods: We used monthly temperature data from NOAA Land-Based Station Data for Abu Dhabi, Al-Ain, Dubai and Sharjah. ARIMA modeling and STI assessment of climatic events were used to predict and study the dynamics of climate of the four zones. The use of such forecasting powers was intended for an ultimate aim to study the impact of climate change on land use and land cover changes. Results: Data were not auto-correlated as shown by the Box-Ljung test. Additionally, the box-plots showed that Abu Dhabi had the highest median temperature. The ARIMA forecasting suggested that Dubai is predicted to have increasing trend of average temperatures until 2030. "Extremely hot" events were highest for Al-Ain (i.e. 9), followed by Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. Dubai had the highest occurrences of "Moderately hot" events, when compared to all other studied zones. Further, events classified as "very cold" were in the order of 20, 10, and 8, for Dubai, Sharjah, and for each of Abu Dhabi and Al-Ain, respectively. Conclusions: The temperature is predicted to increase in Dubai and Sharjah, with each representing a different bio-climatic zone. This was also reflected in the STI assessment of the historical temperature.  "Moderately hot" and "very cold" events for Dubai were the highest as compared to the other studied zones in the UAE. It is therefore believed that ARIMA, coupled with STI, may be a valid approach to forecast temperature and analyse extreme events.

Inter Linkages of Water, Climate, and Agriculture

2020 ◽  
pp. 1258-1286
Author(s):  
Sunil Londhe
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Great Depth ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
The Future ◽  
Primary Determinant ◽  
Food Security And Nutrition ◽  
Earth’S Climate

Climate is the primary determinant of agricultural productivity and evidence shows possibility of shifts in earth's climate. Concern over the potential effects of long-term climatic change on agriculture has been raised over the past decade. Change in the climatic conditions on the globe created threat to the availability water for agriculture production. The present chapter is an attempt to distil what is known about the likely effects of climate change on water availability to agriculture for food security and nutrition in coming decades. Apart from few exceptions, the likely impacts of climate change on agriculture water resources in the future are not understood in any great depth. There are many uncertainties as to how changes in various environmental parameters will interact with the availability of water and further agriculture production. The future consequences of water resources on agriculture are discussed and summarized. Possible mitigation and adaptations to changing water availability for agriculture are also discusses.

Water Markets, Environmental Flows, and Adaptation to Climate Change

2015 ◽  
Vol 01 (03) ◽  
pp. 1550016
Author(s):  
Tiho Ancev
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Optimal Allocation ◽  
Water Rights ◽  
Environmental Water ◽  
Social Benefit ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change

The possibility of climate change and the effects it will have on global and regional hydrology opens up serious questions about how the affected sectors of the economy and the water-dependent environmental assets can best adapt to the new, harsher climatic conditions. One of the possible approaches toward securing environmental water flows is to hold water rights on behalf of the public, and manage those rights for environmental purposes. This type of policy has been in effect in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia, where the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder (CEWH) now has some 20% of all water rights in the basin. Thus far, the use of these water rights has been almost exclusively for environmental purposes, besides the calls for some of the allocations on these water rights to be sold to irrigators. This paper examines whether a change in policy that will allow a more flexible trading behavior of the CEWH so that it can be an active participant in the market for water allocations can help with adaptation to climate change from environmental management perspective, as well as from the perspective of irrigated agriculture industry. This objective is pursued by analyzing the effects of likely hydrological variations under climate change. Key parameters that are taken into account are expected water availability, and the variability in water availability. The discourse is framed within the concept of optimal allocation of water resources so as to maximize overall social benefit from water use. The results indicate that active participation of the CEWH in the water market leads to superior outcomes in terms of both greater overall social benefit, and greater quantity of water being available for environmental purposes under climate change. The key policy implication is that trading rules for CEWH should be relaxed, especially under the projected climate change scenarios.

scholarly journals Aptidão climática da mangueira frente ao clima atual e aos cenários futuros (Climatic aptitude for mango crop under actual and future climate scenarios)

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magna Soelma Beserra de Moura ◽  
Leide Dayane da Silva Oliveira ◽  
Sílvio Roberto Medeiros Evangelista ◽  
Maria Aparecida do Carmo Mouco ◽  
Luciana Sandra Bastos de Souza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Mangifera Indica ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Climate Scenarios ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation

Este trabalho teve como objetivo analisar a aptidão climática para a cultura da manga para o clima atual e cenários futuros do IPCC (Painel Intergovernamental de Mudanças Climáticas) no Brasil. As condições climáticas ideais para a cultura da manga utilizados neste estudo foram padronizadas para o Brasil de acordo com documentos Zoneamento de Riscos Climáticos Agrícola. Para o zoneamento futuro da manga foram utilizados os dados de temperatura do ar e precipitação gerar por PRECIS e modelos ETA-CPTEC para os cenários de altas e baixas emissões de dióxido de carbono do IPCC (Painel Intergovernamental sobre Mudanças Climáticas), para as condições atuais (de base), 2025 e 2055. Foi utilizado sistema de informação geográfica para elaborar os mapas e tabelas. Os resultados indicam que pode haver reduções nas áreas apropriadas para o cultivo de manga no Brasil, considerando-se os modelos climáticos gerados pelo ETA e PRECIS. Assim, o manejo da cultura da manga deve ser adaptado para tornar possível obter produção satisfatória em cenários de baixa disponibilidade hídrica e aumento da temperatura. This work aimed to analyze the climatic aptitude for mango crop to the current climate and future IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) scenarios in Brazil. The optimal climatic conditions for mango crop used in this study were standardized for Brazil according to Agricultural Zoning Climate Risk documents. For the future mango zoning was used the data of air temperature and precipitation generate by PRECIS and ETA-CPTEC models in concern to scenarios of high and low emissions of carbon dioxide of IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), for current conditions (Baseline), 2025 and 2055. It was used geographic information systems to elaborate the maps and tables. The results indicate that there may be reductions in the areas suitable for the cultivation of mango in Brazil, considering the climate models generated by ETA and PRECIS. Thus, the mango crop management should be adapted to make possible obtain satisfactory production under scenarios of lower water availability and increased temperature. Keywords: Mangifera indica L., climate change, agroclimatic zoning.   

LIFE Nadapta: A regional-scale strategy using soil condition assessment for evaluating climate change vulnerability and adaptation of agriculture in Navarre, Spain

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inigo Virto ◽  
Rodrigo Antón ◽  
Fco. Javier Arricibita ◽  
Alberto Ruiz-Sagaseta ◽  
Alberto Enrique ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Soil Condition ◽  
Soil Characteristics ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Agricultural Management ◽  
Soil Parameters ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Economic Sectors ◽  
Organic C

<p>The Life Nadapta project (https://lifenadapta.navarra.es/en/inicio) aims to develop a regional-scale integrated strategy for climate change adaptation in the region of Navarre (Spain). This strategy encompasses the most affected economic sectors, including agriculture. Agriculture is highly dependent on climatic conditions, and therefore especially vulnerable to changes in climate. This vulnerability is dependent, among other factors, on soil characteristics and condition. The interaction of this vulnerability with the exposure of agrosystems to climate change impacts (<em>drivers</em> of change) can explain the expected risks associated to these impacts.</p><p>Understanding the resilience and possibilities of adaptation of agrosystems requires assessing how they can modulate their vulnerability and/or reduce their exposure. Agricultural management, and in particular, soil organic matter management play a key role in this sense.</p><p>In this framework, the project assesses the vulnerability and adaptability of agrosystems in three steps: First, a preliminary diagnosis of soils vulnerability in the territory was conducted, including a division in 12 homogeneous areas and the particular assessment of soil characteristic in each of them. Then, three major strategies of agricultural management aiming to improve the adaptability of agrosystems (namely crop rotations, organic fertilization and conservation agriculture) will be assessed by selecting representative agricultural plots under contrasted management in each of the areas. More than 150 plots will be included in this assessment, that makes a regional network for monitoring. That for, a specific sampling design was developed to effectively reflect the variability and different soil characteristics, and ant the same time, grant homogeneous paired comparisons.  As the three strategies are known to have a potential to increase soil organic C (SOC) stocks, and to modify other soil parameters such as water retention or erodibility, the last phase consists in assessing SOC and other indicators of soil condition, under the light of the projected climate change scenarios and identified impacts in the region.</p><p>Preliminary results show differences in vulnerability for the selected areas, and different responses of SOC and other soil indicators to the strategies tested, depending on the natural characteristics of the soils and the historical land-use in the territory.</p>

Inter Linkages of Water, Climate, and Agriculture

2017 ◽  
pp. 166-194
Author(s):  
Sunil Londhe
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Great Depth ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
The Future ◽  
Primary Determinant ◽  
Food Security And Nutrition ◽  
Earth’S Climate

Climate is the primary determinant of agricultural productivity and evidence shows possibility of shifts in earth's climate. Concern over the potential effects of long-term climatic change on agriculture has been raised over the past decade. Change in the climatic conditions on the globe created threat to the availability water for agriculture production. The present chapter is an attempt to distil what is known about the likely effects of climate change on water availability to agriculture for food security and nutrition in coming decades. Apart from few exceptions, the likely impacts of climate change on agriculture water resources in the future are not understood in any great depth. There are many uncertainties as to how changes in various environmental parameters will interact with the availability of water and further agriculture production. The future consequences of water resources on agriculture are discussed and summarized. Possible mitigation and adaptations to changing water availability for agriculture are also discusses.

Evaluating human responses to ENSO driven climate change during the Holocene in northwest Australia through macrobotanical analyses

The Holocene ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 1728-1740 ◽  
Author(s):  
India Ella Dilkes-Hall ◽  
Jane Balme ◽  
Sue O’Connor ◽  
Emilie Dotte-Sarout
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Food Plants ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Climatic Fluctuations ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Plant Use ◽  
Monsoon Rainforest

The Holocene is recognised as a period through which a number of climatic fluctuations and environmental stresses occur—associated with intensifying El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climatic conditions from c. 5000 years—contemporaneous with technological and social changes in Australian Aboriginal lifeways. In the Kimberley region of northwest Western Australia, human responses to ENSO driven climate change are most evident archaeologically in technological transformations observed in lithic records, with little research on changes in plant use during this time. Using nine archaeological sites across the Kimberley, this paper synthesises previously published macrobotanical data (Carpenter’s Gap 1, Moonggaroonggoo, Mount Behn, and Riwi), reports unpublished data (Brooking Gorge 1, Djuru, and Wandjina rockshelter), and presents results of sites reanalysed for this study (Widgingarri Shelters 1 and 2) to develop a picture of localised and regional patterns of plant use during the Holocene. We conclude that food plants associated with monsoon rainforest environments dominate both mid- and late Holocene macrobotanical records and, although monsoon rainforest likely retreated to some extent because of decreased precipitation during the late Holocene, no human responses associated with ENSO driven climate change occurred in relation to human uses of plants.

scholarly journals Agricultural Water Vulnerability under Climate Change in Cyprus

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Papadopoulou ◽  
Despoina Charchousi ◽  
Katerina Spanoudaki ◽  
Anna Karali ◽  
Konstantinos Varotsos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Water Reservoir ◽  
Regional Climate Models ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Severe Drought ◽  
Agricultural Water

This study focuses on the quantification of climate change (CC) effects on agricultural water availability in Cyprus. Projections of climatic variables, based on Regional Climate Models (RCMs) forced by the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) 4.5 and 8.5, were used as CC driving forces affecting water availability. Groundwater flow models were developed for specific high-interest agricultural areas in Larnaca and Paphos to assess the CC impacts on these groundwater systems, while the Standardized Precipitation–Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) analysis was also adopted, for the first time in Cyprus, to assess future trends of water reservoir storage under the projected climatic conditions. Considering the current cultivation and irrigation practices, a decrease in groundwater level close to 1 m and further inland seawater intrusion in Larnaca aquifers are expected, while in Paphos’ aquifers, the predicted water table fluctuations are not significant. Additionally, SPEI values at the Asprokemos and Kouris dams are correlated with water storage measurements, showing that a SPEI downward trend observed in these reservoirs could set off an alarm to the water authorities with respect to water availability as more severe drought events are expected in the future. The expected pressure on surface waters imposes the need for an improved water management plan that will not depend on the further exploitation of groundwater.

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