scholarly journals Climate change and Canada’s north coast: research trends, progress, and future directions

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. Ford ◽  
Nicole Couture ◽  
Trevor Bell ◽  
Dylan G. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Geographic Location ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
North Coast ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Northern Coast ◽  
Knowledge Mobilization ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approaches

This paper identifies and characterizes current knowledge on climate change impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability for Canada’s northern coastline, outlining key research gaps. Warming temperatures and increased precipitation have been documented across the northern coast, with the rate of sea ice decline ranging from 2.9% to 10.4% per decade. Storm intensity and frequency is increasing, and permafrost is warming across the region. Many of these changes are projected to accelerate in the future, with in excess of 8 °C warming in winter possible under a high-emission scenario by 2081–2100. Vulnerability to these changes differs by region and community, a function of geographic location, nature of climate change impacts, and human factors. Capacity to manage climate change is high in some sectors, such as subsistence harvesting, but is being undermined by long-term societal changes. In other sectors, such as infrastructure and transportation, limitations in climate risk management capacity result in continuing high vulnerabilities. There is evidence that adaptation is taking place in response to experienced and projected impacts, although readiness for adaptation is challenged by limited resources, institutional capacity, and a need for support for adaptation across levels of government. Priority areas for future research include (i) expanding the sectoral and geographic focus of understanding on climate change impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability; (ii) integrating climatic and socio-economic projections into vulnerability and adaptation assessments; (iii) developing an evidence base on adaptation options; and (iv) monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of adaptation support. Cross-cutting themes for advancing climate change impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability research on the north coast more broadly include the need for greater emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches and cross-cultural collaborations, support for decision-orientated research, and focus on effective knowledge mobilization.

Climate change and security in Canada

2021 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-203
Author(s):  
Wilfrid Greaves
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
National Security ◽  
Human Security ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Future Research ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Domestic Conflict ◽  
The Third ◽  
Current State ◽  
Humanitarian Crises

This article examines the implications of human-caused climate change for security in Canada. The first section outlines the current state of climate change, the second discusses climate change impacts on human security in Canada, and the third outlines four other areas of Canada’s national interests threatened by climate change: economic threats; Arctic threats; humanitarian crises at home and abroad; and the threat of domestic conflict. In the conclusion, I argue that climate change has clearly not been successfully “securitized” in Canada, despite the material threats it poses to human and national security, and outline directions for future research.

scholarly journals Nitrogen Fixation in a Changing Arctic Ocean: An Overlooked Source of Nitrogen?

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa W. von Friesen ◽  
Lasse Riemann
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Nitrogen Fixation ◽  
Primary Production ◽  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean is the smallest ocean on Earth, yet estimated to play a substantial role as a global carbon sink. As climate change is rapidly changing fundamental components of the Arctic, it is of local and global importance to understand and predict consequences for its carbon dynamics. Primary production in the Arctic Ocean is often nitrogen-limited, and this is predicted to increase in some regions. It is therefore of critical interest that biological nitrogen fixation, a process where some bacteria and archaea termed diazotrophs convert nitrogen gas to bioavailable ammonia, has now been detected in the Arctic Ocean. Several studies report diverse and active diazotrophs on various temporal and spatial scales across the Arctic Ocean. Their ecology and biogeochemical impact remain poorly known, and nitrogen fixation is so far absent from models of primary production in the Arctic Ocean. The composition of the diazotroph community appears distinct from other oceans – challenging paradigms of function and regulation of nitrogen fixation. There is evidence of both symbiotic cyanobacterial nitrogen fixation and heterotrophic diazotrophy, but large regions are not yet sampled, and the sparse quantitative data hamper conclusive insights. Hence, it remains to be determined to what extent nitrogen fixation represents a hitherto overlooked source of new nitrogen to consider when predicting future productivity of the Arctic Ocean. Here, we discuss current knowledge on diazotroph distribution, composition, and activity in pelagic and sea ice-associated environments of the Arctic Ocean. Based on this, we identify gaps and outline pertinent research questions in the context of a climate change-influenced Arctic Ocean – with the aim of guiding and encouraging future research on nitrogen fixation in this region.

Paradigms of climate change impacts on some major food sources of the world: A review on current knowledge and future prospects

2016 ◽  
Vol 216 ◽  
pp. 356-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashutosh Tripathi ◽  
Durgesh Kumar Tripathi ◽  
D.K. Chauhan ◽  
Niraj Kumar ◽  
G.S. Singh
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Future Prospects ◽  
Major Food ◽  
The World

scholarly journals CLIMATE CHANGE CHALLENGES FACING SRI LANKA: A LITERATURE REVIEW

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.P.M. Dasandara ◽  
◽  
U. Kulatunga ◽  
M.J.B. Ingirige ◽  
T. Fernando ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Adverse Weather ◽  
Temperature Levels ◽  
Earth’S Climate ◽  
The Many

The earth’s climate has changed throughout history and climate change can be identified as an inevitable phenomenon which is being experienced by the whole world. When considering the Sri Lankan context, it is no different to the global context in that the country’s climate has already changed. Sri Lanka, being an island state, is vulnerable to many climate change impacts including high-temperature levels, adverse weather events, sea level rising, and changes in precipitation patterns. The many challenges that arise from these climate-related issues are projected to continue through this century and beyond. Thus, climate change mitigation and adaptation have become the most appropriate ways to restrain these climate change challenges in Sri Lanka. It is paramount to get a broad understanding of how disastrous these climate change challenges are, prior to implementing appropriate responses to overcome them. This urges the need for conducting an in-depth investigation of prevailing climate change challenges in Sri Lanka. Thus, this study presents the prevailing climate change challenges facing Sri Lanka through a conceptual framework, that has been developed based on the existing literature. The developed framework reveals how these prevailing climate changes can lead to a number of challenges. These challenges were identified under three main categories as economic, social, and environmental challenges. The knowledge generated through this literature review will be the focus of future research.

Towards a resilient perspective in building conservation

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Luciani ◽  
Davide Del Curto
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Contemporary Society ◽  
Sustainable Building ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approaches ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Building Conservation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the cross-fertilisation process between the concept of resilience and building conservation. The authors discuss how the conservation field can address new issues posed by climate change and whether the concept of resilience plays a role within the framework of sustainable building conservation. Design/methodology/approach Starting from the use of resilience as a “travelling concept”, different interpretations of the term emerging from different fields are compared and interrelated in order to understand how this concept can impact future research in building conservation. Findings In addition to summarising recent developments in conservation theory with a special focus on how sustainability has influenced the field, this work also suggests some lines of research where resilience could foster interdisciplinary approaches to building conservation and presents some controversial outcomes. Originality/value The paper raises a discussion on how the concept of resilience could renew the field of building conservation, helping contemporary society to address the challenges of climate change.

scholarly journals Global Recognition of the Importance of Nature-Based Solutions to Climate Change Impacts

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathalie Seddon ◽  
Elizabeth Daniels ◽  
Rowan Davis ◽  
Rian Harris ◽  
Xiaoting Hou-Jones ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Ecosystem Science ◽  
Nationally Determined Contributions ◽  
Science Community

Ecosystems are not merely vulnerable to climate change but, if sustainably restored and protected, are a major source of human resilience. Not only is the evidence-base for the importance of these “Nature-based Solutions” (NbS) growing rapidly, but NbS are featuring with increasing prominence in global climate change policy. Here we report on the prominence of NbS in the 141 adaptation components of the 167 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) that were submitted to UNFCCC by all signatories of the Paris Agreement. In total, 103 nations include NbS in the adaptation component of their NDC, 76 nations include them in both their adaptation and mitigation component, and an additional 27 include them as part of their mitigation plans only. In other words, 130 nations—or 66% of all signatories to the Paris Agreement—have articulated intentions of working with ecosystems, in one form or another, to address the causes and consequences of climate change. However, commitments rarely translate into robust science-based targets. As climate pledges are revised in 2020, we urge the ecosystem science community to work closely with policymakers to identify meaningful adaptation targets that benefit both people and the ecosystems on which they depend.

scholarly journals Conceptual Frameworks for Assessing Climate Change Effects on Urban Areas: A Scoping Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 10794
Author(s):  
Florian Klopfer ◽  
René Westerholt ◽  
Dietwald Gruehn
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Conceptual Frameworks ◽  
Climate Change Effects ◽  
International Panel ◽  
Climate Change Assessment ◽  
Adaptation Action

Urban areas are amongst the most adversely affected regions by current and future climate change effects. One issue when it comes to measuring, for example, impacts, vulnerabilities, and resilience in preparation of adaptation action is the abundance of conceptual frameworks and associated definitions. Frequently, those definitions contradict each other and shift over time. Prominently, in the transition from the IPCC AR (International Panel on Climate Change Assessment Report) 4 to the IPCC AR 5, a number of conceptual understandings have changed. By integrating common concepts, the literature review presented intends to thoroughly investigate frameworks applied to assess climate change effects on urban areas, creating an evidence base for research and politically relevant adaptation. Thereby, questions concerning the temporal development of publication activity, the geographical scopes of studies and authors, and the dominant concepts as applied in the studies are addressed. A total of 50 publications is identified following screening titles, abstracts, and full texts successively based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Major findings derived from our literature corpus include a recently rising trend in the number of publications, a focus on Chinese cities, an imbalance in favor of authors from Europe and North America, a dominance of the concept of vulnerability, and a strong influence of the IPCC publications. However, confusion regarding various understandings remains. Future research should focus on mainstreaming and unifying conceptual frameworks and definitions as well as on conducting comparative studies.

scholarly journals A Global Review and Network Analysis of Phytophagous Insect Interactions With Ferns and Lycophytes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Javier Fuentes-Jacques ◽  
Paul Hanson-Snortum ◽  
Vicente Hernández-Ortiz ◽  
Cecilia Díaz-Castelazo ◽  
Klaus Mehltreter
Keyword(s):  
Vascular Plants ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Geographic Location ◽  
Feeding Habit ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Phytophagous Insects ◽  
Genus Level ◽  
Fern Species ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Insect Interactions

Abstract Ferns are the second largest lineage of vascular plants, yet our understanding of their interactions with phytophagous insects is very limited. Which insects feed on ferns? Do insects prefer specific fern taxa? Which feeding habit is the most common on ferns? Is there any evidence for coevolution between insects and ferns? Is our current knowledge on fern-insect interactions biased? To answer these questions, we analyzed 2,318 records of fern-insect interactions from 122 literature sources, based on the feeding habit of insects, fern taxa, and geographic location. We found evidence for interactions comprising 809 insect species (mainly Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, and Coleoptera) and 382 fern species (mainly Dennstaedtiaceae, Dryopteridaceae, and Pteridaceae). Leaf chewers contributed over 50% of the species, followed by sap-sucking insects (29.1%) and spore feeders (6.5%). The overall interaction analyses revealed that the entire fern-insect network had medium levels of nestedness (NODF = 43.37) and relatively low levels of specialization (H2’ = 0.24). The interaction networks of fern-feeding Coleoptera were the most specialized at family (H2’ = 0.40) and genus level (H2’ = 0.65), whereas 6 out of 10 most specialized insect families were Lepidoptera (d’ ≥ 0.44). At the genus level, all networks had a fern-biased asymmetry. Although fern-feeding generalists were common, few cases of coevolutionary radiation have been documented. We discuss the possible biases of our dataset, which also highlight gaps to perform future research, and suggest that many more phytophagous insects on ferns remain to be discovered, especially sap-sucking, gall-forming, and spore-feeding insects on modern fern groups.

scholarly journals The Hunger Games as the Key to Happily Ever After?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacques Deere ◽  
Aziz Aboobaker ◽  
Roberto Salguero-Gómez
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Calorie Restriction ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Retirement Age ◽  
Model Species ◽  
Hunger Games ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Realistic Approach ◽  
The Hunger Games

The world’s human population is reaching record longevities. Consequently, societies are experiencing the tangible impacts of prolonged longevity, such as increased retirement age. A major hypothesised influence on ageing patterns is resource availability and calorie restriction, considered by many to extend longevity in any organism. Here, we highlight challenges facing the field of calorie restriction research as it pertains to ageing and how more realistic environments can impact the role calorie restriction plays in longevity of species. We reviewed 120 peer-reviewed published studies to quantify calorie restriction effects on longevity. We show that calorie restriction research does not always have positive effects on ageing with 27% of studies having no, negative or neutral effects. Additionally, research is biased towards short-lived species and lacks realism. We argue that only by taking a more realistic approach can the impacts of calorie restriction on longevity under climate change be understood. We conclude by discussing Planarians and Hydra as model species that allow for future research to have a better understanding of calorie restriction effects on long-lived species, while incorporating climate change impacts. Steering future calorie restriction research towards integrating interaction effects across a broader range of species will begin addressing the challenges of calorie restriction research. Crucial insights from future research can contribute to the fundamental and translational understanding of human senescence.

scholarly journals Role of Human Milk Bioactives on Infants' Gut and Immune Health

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura E. Carr ◽  
Misty D. Virmani ◽  
Fernanda Rosa ◽  
Daniel Munblit ◽  
Katelin S. Matazel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Human Milk ◽  
Defense Mechanisms ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Knowledge Gaps ◽  
Positive Health ◽  
Optimal Health

Exclusive human milk feeding of the newborn is recommended during the first 6 months of life to promote optimal health outcomes during early life and beyond. Human milk contains a variety of bioactive factors such as hormones, cytokines, leukocytes, immunoglobulins, lactoferrin, lysozyme, stem cells, human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), microbiota, and microRNAs. Recent findings highlighted the potential importance of adding HMOs into infant formula for their roles in enhancing host defense mechanisms in neonates. Therefore, understanding the roles of human milk bioactive factors on immune function is critical to build the scientific evidence base around breastfeeding recommendations, and to enhance positive health outcomes in formula fed infants through modifications to formulas. However, there are still knowledge gaps concerning the roles of different milk components, the interactions between the different components, and the mechanisms behind health outcomes are poorly understood. This review aims to show the current knowledge about HMOs, milk microbiota, immunoglobulins, lactoferrin, and milk microRNAs (miRNAs) and how these could have similar mechanisms of regulating gut and microbiota function. It will also highlight the knowledge gaps for future research.

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