Loss and damage in the global stocktake

High spatial resolution carbon dioxide (CO2) flux inversion systems are needed to support the global stocktake required by the Paris Agreement and to complement the bottom-up emission inventories. Based on the work of Zhang, a regional CO2 flux inversion system capable of assimilating the column-averaged dry air mole fractions of CO2 (XCO2) retrieved from Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) observations had been developed. To evaluate the system, under the constraints of the initial state and boundary conditions extracted from the CarbonTracker 2017 product (CT2017), the annual CO2 flux over the contiguous United States in 2016 was inverted (1.08 Pg C yr−1) and compared with the corresponding posterior CO2 fluxes extracted from OCO-2 model intercomparison project (OCO-2 MIP) (mean: 0.76 Pg C yr−1, standard deviation: 0.29 Pg C yr−1, 9 models in total) and CT2017 (1.19 Pg C yr−1). The uncertainty of the inverted CO2 flux was reduced by 14.71% compared to the prior flux. The annual mean XCO2 estimated by the inversion system was 403.67 ppm, which was 0.11 ppm smaller than the result (403.78 ppm) simulated by a parallel experiment without assimilating the OCO-2 retrievals and closer to the result of CT2017 (403.29 ppm). Independent CO2 flux and concentration measurements from towers, aircraft, and Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) were used to evaluate the results. Mean bias error (MBE) between the inverted CO2 flux and flux measurements was 0.73 g C m−2 d−1, was reduced by 22.34% and 28.43% compared to those of the prior flux and CT2017, respectively. MBEs between the CO2 concentrations estimated by the inversion system and concentration measurements from TCCON, towers, and aircraft were reduced by 52.78%, 96.45%, and 75%, respectively, compared to those of the parallel experiment. The experiment proved that CO2 emission hotspots indicated by the inverted annual CO2 flux with a relatively high spatial resolution of 50 km consisted well with the locations of most major metropolitan/urban areas in the contiguous United States, which demonstrated the potential of combing satellite observations with high spatial resolution CO2 flux inversion system in supporting the global stocktake.

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Loss and damage from climate change and implicit assumptions of sustainable development

Climatic Change ◽

10.1007/s10584-021-02970-z ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 164 (1-2) ◽

Author(s):

Chad S. Boda ◽

Turaj Faran ◽

Murray Scown ◽

Kelly Dorkenoo ◽

Brian C. Chaffin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Sustainable Development ◽

Policy Implications ◽

Systematic Analysis ◽

Integrative Framework ◽

Mitigation And Adaptation ◽

Policy Domain ◽

Loss And Damage ◽

Development Approach ◽

Research And Policy

AbstractLoss and damage from climate change, recognized as a unique research and policy domain through the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) in 2013, has drawn increasing attention among climate scientists and policy makers. Labelled by some as the “third pillar” of the international climate regime—along with mitigation and adaptation—it has been suggested that loss and damage has the potential to catalyze important synergies with other international agendas, particularly sustainable development. However, the specific approaches to sustainable development that inform loss and damage research and how these approaches influence research outcomes and policy recommendations remain largely unexplored. We offer a systematic analysis of the assumptions of sustainable development that underpins loss and damage scholarship through a comprehensive review of peer-reviewed research on loss and damage. We demonstrate that the use of specific metrics, decision criteria, and policy prescriptions by loss and damage researchers and practitioners implies an unwitting adherence to different underlying theories of sustainable development, which in turn impact how loss and damage is conceptualized and applied. In addition to research and policy implications, our review suggests that assumptions about the aims of sustainable development determine how loss and damage is conceptualized, measured, and governed, and the human development approach currently represents the most advanced perspective on sustainable development and thus loss and damage. This review supports sustainable development as a coherent, comprehensive, and integrative framework for guiding further conceptual and empirical development of loss and damage scholarship.

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Cloud icing by mineral dust and impacts to aviation safety

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-85566-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Slobodan Nickovic ◽

Bojan Cvetkovic ◽

Slavko Petković ◽

Vassilis Amiridis ◽

Goran Pejanović ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mineral Dust ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Ice Nucleation ◽

Aircraft Accidents ◽

Ice Nuclei ◽

Loss And Damage ◽

Cloud Ice ◽

Convective Weather ◽

First Time ◽

Engine Power

AbstractIce particles in high-altitude cold clouds can obstruct aircraft functioning. Over the last 20 years, there have been more than 150 recorded cases with engine power-loss and damage caused by tiny cloud ice crystals, which are difficult to detect with aircraft radars. Herein, we examine two aircraft accidents for which icing linked to convective weather conditions has been officially reported as the most likely reason for catastrophic consequences. We analyze whether desert mineral dust, known to be very efficient ice nuclei and present along both aircraft routes, could further augment the icing process. Using numerical simulations performed by a coupled atmosphere-dust model with an included parameterization for ice nucleation triggered by dust aerosols, we show that the predicted ice particle number sharply increases at approximate locations and times of accidents where desert dust was brought by convective circulation to the upper troposphere. We propose a new icing parameter which, unlike existing icing indices, for the first time includes in its calculation the predicted dust concentration. This study opens up the opportunity to use integrated atmospheric-dust forecasts as warnings for ice formation enhanced by mineral dust presence.

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Genealogy’s Assumptions about Written Records and Originality

Genealogy ◽

10.3390/genealogy5010021 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 21

Author(s):

Stephen B. Hatton

Keyword(s):

Political Power ◽

Social Perspectives ◽

The Past ◽

Loss And Damage ◽

Critical Interpretation ◽

Written Sources ◽

Bureaucratic Organizations

This article probes characteristics of writing relevant to assumptions genealogical practitioners make about written sources they use as evidence. Those infrequently examined assumptions include the assumption that writing represents past reality, that truth univocally denotes correspondence between writing’s discourse and an event or act that occurred in the past, and that writing is transparent in its reference and, therefore, not in need of critical interpretation relating to such things as reflecting political power and cultural and social perspectives. Many genealogical records are produced by bureaucratic organizations that follow practices and processes related to writing that are not aligned with the uncritical use of those records by genealogists. There is a gap between writing and what it signifies. Writing is unstable, and its evolving material technologies make it susceptible to loss and damage. The article also overviews some potential issues with assuming that the originality of records implies greater reliability.

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