Climate Change

Environmental consequences of climate change include increases in temperature as well as frequency, severity, and/or duration of heat waves; heavy precipitation events; intensity and/or duration of drought; intense tropical cyclone activity, and sea level. Adverse health consequences of climate change include heat-related disorders, respiratory disorders, allergic disorders, vector-borne diseases, waterborne and foodborne disease, and injuries related to extreme weather events. Adverse health consequences also include indirect effects of climate change on health related to decreased agriculture yields and food shortages, distress migration, and collective violence. In addition, all of the consequences of climate change can adversely affect the mental health of individuals, communities, and entire nations. The primary ways of addressing climate change are mitigation (policies and actions to stabilize or reduce the emission of greenhouse gases) and adaptation (policies and actions to reduce the impact of climate change). Building popular and political will to address climate change is essential.

Vulnerability to the Health Impacts of Drought in Canada in the Context of Climate Change

The Oxford Handbook of Planning for Climate Change Hazards ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190455811.013.58 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Peter Berry ◽

Anna Yusa ◽

Livia Bizikova

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Traffic Accidents ◽

Spinal Cord Injuries ◽

Heat Waves ◽

Well Being ◽

Health Impacts ◽

Extreme Weather Events ◽

Waterborne Diseases ◽

Vector Borne Diseases ◽

Policies And Programs

Climate change is likely to increase drought globally and regionally, including within Canada, by the end of the century. In recent years, drought has affected communities across Canada and can have significant impacts on individuals. Health risks relate to the exacerbation of food and waterborne diseases, inadequate nutrition, impacts on air quality, vector-borne diseases, illnesses related to the exposure of toxins, mental health effects, and impacts from injuries (e.g., traffic accidents, spinal cord injuries). In Canada, the impacts of drought on human health and well-being are not well understood and monitoring and surveillance of such impacts is limited. In addition, important factors that make people and communities vulnerable to health impacts of drought require more investigation. These factors may differ significantly among the populations (e.g., rural vs urban) and regions (prairies, coastal, and northern). Vulnerability to drought health impacts in Canada due to climate change may be affected by: (1) changes in exposure as droughts increase or combine with other extreme events (wildfires, heat waves) to harm health; (2) changes in adaptive capacity due to impacts on, for example, health services from increasing extreme weather events; and (3) changes in susceptibility related to demographic (e.g., aging, chronic diseases) and socioeconomic trends. Effective measures to increase the resiliency of Canadians to drought health impacts require proactive adaptation efforts that increase knowledge of factors that make people and their communities vulnerable to this hazard, information as to how droughts might increase in the future, and integration of this information into future policies and programs. This paper identifies a set of indicators that may be used to gauge vulnerability to the impacts of drought on health in the context of climate change in Canada to inform adaptation actions.

Urban Heat Islands and Thermal Comfort: A Case Study of Zorrotzaurre Island in Bilbao

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13116106 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (11) ◽

pp. 6106

Author(s):

Irantzu Alvarez ◽

Laura Quesada-Ganuza ◽

Estibaliz Briz ◽

Leire Garmendia

Keyword(s):

Thermal Comfort ◽

Heat Waves ◽

Urban Environments ◽

Urban Heat Islands ◽

Extreme Weather Events ◽

Climate Index ◽

Physiological Equivalent Temperature ◽

Heat Islands ◽

The North ◽

This study assesses the impact of a heat wave on the thermal comfort of an unconstructed area: the North Zone of the Island of Zorrotzaurre (Bilbao, Spain). In this study, the impact of urban planning as proposed in the master plan on thermal comfort is modeled using the ENVI-met program. Likewise, the question of whether the urbanistic proposals are designed to create more resilient urban environments is analyzed in the face of increasingly frequent extreme weather events, especially heat waves. The study is centered on the analysis of temperature variables (air temperature and average radiant temperature) as well as wind speed and relative humidity. This was completed with the parameters of thermal comfort, the physiological equivalent temperature (PET) and the Universal Temperature Climate Index (UTCI) for the hours of the maximum and minimum daily temperatures. The results demonstrated the viability of analyzing thermal comfort through simulations with the ENVI-met program in order to analyze the behavior of urban spaces in various climate scenarios.

Potential Impact of the Current and Future Climate on the Yield, Quality, and Climate Suitability for Tea [Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze]: A Systematic Review

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11040619 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 619

Author(s):

Sadeeka Layomi Jayasinghe ◽

Lalit Kumar

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Future Climate ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Extreme Weather Events ◽

Advantages And Disadvantages ◽

Tea Quality ◽

Climate Suitability ◽

Yield Quality ◽

Even though climate change is having an increasing impact on tea plants, systematic reviews on the impact of climate change on the tea system are scarce. This review was undertaken to assess and synthesize the knowledge around the impacts of current and future climate on yield, quality, and climate suitability for tea; the historical roots and the most influential papers on the aforementioned topics; and the key adaptation and mitigation strategies that are practiced in tea fields. Our findings show that a large number of studies have focused on the impact of climate change on tea quality, followed by tea yield, while a smaller number of studies have concentrated on climate suitability. Three pronounced reference peaks found in Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RYPS) represent the most significant papers associated with the yield, quality, and climate suitability for tea. Tea yield increases with elevated CO2 levels, but this increment could be substantially affected by an increasing temperature. Other climatic factors are uneven rainfall, extreme weather events, and climate-driven abiotic stressors. An altered climate presents both advantages and disadvantages for tea quality due to the uncertainty of the concentrations of biochemicals in tea leaves. Climate change creates losses, gains, and shifts of climate suitability for tea habitats. Further studies are required in order to fill the knowledge gaps identified through the present review, such as an investigation of the interaction between the tea plant and multiple environmental factors that mimic real-world conditions and then studies on its impact on the tea system, as well as the design of ensemble modeling approaches to predict climate suitability for tea. Finally, we outline multifaceted and evidence-based adaptive and mitigation strategies that can be implemented in tea fields to alleviate the undesirable impacts of climate change.

Evaluation of the daily cycle in the simulation of the ClimEx large-ensemble

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-12097 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Anne-Marie Begin

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Estimation Error ◽

Natural Variability ◽

Extreme Weather Events ◽

Large Ensemble ◽

Daily Cycle ◽

Minimum Number ◽

The Mean ◽

Mean Cycle ◽

To estimate the impact of climate change on our society we need to use climate projections based on numerical models. These models make it possible to assess the effects on climate of the increase in greenhouse gases (GHG) as well as natural variability. We know that the global average temperature will increase and that the occurrence, intensity and spatio-temporal distribution of extreme precipitations will change. These extreme weather events cause droughts, floods and other natural disasters that have significant consequences on our life and environment. Precipitation is a key variable in adapting to climate change.&#160;This study focuses on the ClimEx large ensemble, a set of 50 independent simulations created to study the effect of climate change and natural variability on the water network in Quebec. This dataset consists of simulations produced using the Canadian Regional Climate Model version 5 (CRCM5) at 12 km of resolution driven by simulations from the second generation Canadian Earth System Model (CanESM2) global model at 310 km of resolution.&#160;The aim of the project is to evaluate the performance of the ClimEx ensemble in simulating the daily cycle and representing extreme values.&#160; To get there, 30 years of hourly time series for precipitation and 3 hourly for temperature are analyzed. The simulations are compared with the values from the simulation of CRCM5 driven by ERA-Interim reanalysis, the ERA5 reanalysis and Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) stations. An evaluation of the sensitivity of different statistics to the number of members is also performed.&#160;The daily cycle of precipitation from ClimEx shows mainly non-significant correlations with the other datasets and its amplitude is less than the observation datas from ECCC stations. For temperature, the correlation is strong and the amplitude of the cycle is similar to observations. ClimEx provides a fairly good representation of the 95, 97, 99th quantiles for precipitation. For temperature it represents a good distribution of quantiles but with a warm bias in southern Quebec. For precipitation hourly maximum, ClimEx shows values 10 times higher than ERA5.&#160; For temperature, minimum and maximum values may exceed the ERA5 limit by up to 20&#176;C. For precipitation, the minimum number of members for the estimation of the 95 and 99thquantiles and the mean cycle is between 15 and 50 for an estimation error of less than 5%. For the 95, 99th quantiles of temperature, the minimum number of members is between 1 and 17 and for the mean cycle 1 to 2 members are necessary to obtain an estimation error of less than 0.5&#176;C.

Impact of climate change on Human Health related Vector-Borne Diseases in the present scenario of COVID-19 in India

Journal of Entomological Research ◽

10.5958/0974-4576.2020.00105.x ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 44 (4) ◽

pp. 631-638

Author(s):

Naveen S. Singh ◽

Doris Phillips Singh

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Human Health ◽

Vector Borne Diseases ◽

Health Related ◽

Vector Borne

The impact of extreme climatic events on pasture-based dairy systems: a review

Crop and Pasture Science ◽

10.1071/cp16394 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 68 (12) ◽

pp. 1158 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

J. Chang-Fung-Martel ◽

M. T. Harrison ◽

R. Rawnsley ◽

A. P. Smith ◽

H. Meinke

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Heat Stress ◽

Heat Waves ◽

Animal Health ◽

Adaptation Strategies ◽

Pasture Production ◽

Potential Productivity ◽

Extreme Climatic Events ◽

Dairy Systems ◽

Extreme climatic events such as heat waves, extreme rainfall and prolonged dry periods are a significant challenge to the productivity and profitability of dairy systems. Despite projections of more frequent extreme events, increasing temperatures and reduced precipitation, studies on the impact of these extreme climatic events on pasture-based dairy systems remain uncommon. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has estimated Australia to be one of the most negatively impacted regions with additional studies estimating Australian production losses of around 16% in the agricultural sector and 9–19% between the present and 2050 in the south-eastern dairy regions of Australia due to climate change. Here we review the literature on the impact of climate change on pasture-based dairy systems with particular focus on extreme climatic events. We provide an insight into current methods for assessing and quantifying heat stress highlighting the impacts on pastures and animals including the associated potential productivity losses and conclude by outlining potential adaptation strategies for improving the resilience of the whole-farm systems to climate change. Adapting milking routines, calving systems and the introduction of heat stress tolerant dairy cow breeds are some proposed strategies. Changes in pasture production would also include alternative pasture species better adapted to climate extremes such as heat waves and prolonged periods of water deficit. In order to develop effective adaptation strategies we also need to focus on issues such as water availability, animal health and associated energy costs.

Affrontare il cambiamento climatico è una ‘missione possibile’

Giornale di Clinica Nefrologica e Dialisi ◽

10.33393/gcnd.2020.2206 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 32 (1) ◽

pp. 154-160

Author(s):

Roberto Buizza

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Greenhouse Gases ◽

Heat Waves ◽

Extreme Weather Events ◽

Health Issues ◽

Ice Melting ◽

Greenhouse Gases Emissions ◽

The Earth ◽

Weather Events ◽

Change Impact

Climate change is real, and we, humans, are responsible for it. Its impact is already evident, both on the Earth system (global warming, sea-level rise, sea-ice melting, more intense and frequent extreme weather events such as heat waves and fires) and on people (famines, health issues, migrations, political tensions and conflicts). We need immediate and concrete mitigation actions aiming to reduce greenhouse gases emissions, and adaptation actions to be able to cope with the increasing changing climate. We have to reach zero-net greenhouse gases emissions as soon as possible, by reducing emissions by at least 5% a year, starting from now. Otherwise the climate change impact will become more and more severe: it will induce more injustice, and it will have a major impact on people health. We have the resources and the technologies to deal with it: we must have the courage to change and transform and deal with it. Addressing climate change is not impossible: to the contrary, it is a ‘possible mission’.

IABSE Symposium, Guimarães 2019: Towards a Resilient Built Environment Risk and Asset Management ◽

Evaluating the effect of climate change on snow load on structures

10.2749/guimaraes.2019.0666 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Pietro Croce ◽

Paolo Formichi ◽

Filippo Landi ◽

Francesca Marsili

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Climate Models ◽

Regional Climate ◽

Climate Extremes ◽

Regional Climate Models ◽

Extreme Weather Events ◽

Uncertainty Range ◽

Greenhouse Gasses ◽

Weather Events ◽

As consequence of global warming extreme weather events might become more frequent and severe across the globe. The evaluation of the impact of climate change on extremes is then a crucial issue for the resilience of infrastructures and buildings and is a key challenge for adaptation planning. In this paper, a suitable procedure for the estimation of future trends of climatic actions is presented starting from the output of regional climate models and taking into account the uncertainty in the model itself. In particular, the influence of climate change on ground snow loads is discussed in detail and the typical uncertainty range is determined applying an innovative algorithm for weather generation. Considering different greenhouse gasses emission scenarios, some results are presented for the Italian Mediterranean region proving the ability of the method to define factors of change for climate extremes also allowing a sound estimate of the uncertainty range associated with different models.

Impact of Climate Change on Rural Livelihood: A Case Study of Central Rajasthan

Journal of Climate Change ◽

10.3233/jcc210022 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (4) ◽

pp. 19-27

Author(s):

Saifuddin Soz ◽

Dhananjay Mankar

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Extreme Weather Events ◽

Household Level ◽

The People ◽

Weather Events ◽

Rural Livelihood ◽

The Pacific ◽

Climate change is already bringing tremendous influence on people’s lives, particularly the underprivileged. It’s already visible in a variety of ways. In recent decades, Asia and the Pacific have seen consistent warming trends as well as more frequent and powerful extreme weather events such as droughts, cyclones, floods, and hailstorms. This study was done in Ajmer District of Rajasthan, to find out the climate variation in the last 10 years. The study describes the effects due to climate change on the livelihoods of the people, so a descriptive research design was used for the study to find out the impact of climate change on rural livelihood in central Rajasthan. The study is based on a large representative of sample, quantitative data was collected to gain an idea of the impact on the livelihoods due to climate change at the household level. It shows the negative impact of climate change on rural livelihood which forced the people to change their livelihood directly or indirectly. It was found that climate change had an impact on people’s lives and people do understand the variation in climate change in terms of changes in the weather, unseasonal rain, and drought.

Climate change impacts on viticulture in Italy

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-3112 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Laura Massano ◽

Giorgia Fosser ◽

Marco Gaetani

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Horizontal Resolution ◽

Wine Industry ◽

Added Value ◽

Extreme Weather Events ◽

Wine Production ◽

Bioclimatic Indices ◽

Impact Studies ◽

In Italy the wine industry is an economic asset representing the 8% of the annual turnover of the Food & Beverage sector, according to Unicredit Industry Book 2019. Viticulture is strongly influenced by weather and climate, and winegrowers in Europe have already experienced the impact of climate change in terms of more frequent drought periods, warmer and longer growing seasons and an increased frequency of weather extremes. These changes impact on both yield production and wine quality.Our study aims to understand the impact of climate change on wine production, to estimate the risks associated with climate factors and to suggest appropriate adaptation measurement. The weather variables that most influence grape growth are: temperature, precipitation and evapotranspiration. Starting for these variables we calculate a range of bioclimatic indices, selected following the International Organisation of Vine and Wine Guidelines (OIV), and correlate these with wine productivity data. According to the values of different indices it is possible to determine the more suitable areas for wine production, where we expect higher productivity, although the climate is not the only factor influencing yield.Using the convection-permitting models (CPMs &#8211; 2.2 horizontal resolution) we investigate how the bioclimatic indices changed in the last 20 years, and the impact of this change on grapes productivity. We look at possible climate trends and at the variation in the frequency distribution of extreme weather events. The CPMs are likely the best available option for this kind of impact studies since they allow a better representation of surface and orography field, explicitly resolve deep convection and show an improved representation of extremes events. In our study, we compare CPMs with regional climate models (RCMs &#8211; 12 km horizontal resolution) to evaluate the possible added value of high resolution models for impact studies. To compare models' output to observation the same analysis it carried out using E-OBS dataset.Through our impact study, we aim to provide a tool that winegrower and stakeholders involved in the wine business can use to make their activities more sustainable and more resilient to climate change.