scholarly journals Celebrating 25 years of advances in micropalaeontology: a review

2006 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. John Gregory ◽  
Howard A. Armstrong ◽  
Ian Boomer ◽  
Rainer Gersonde ◽  
Ian Harding ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Building Block ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Dramatic Decrease ◽  
Post Graduate ◽  
The Uk ◽  
John Gregory

Abstract. INTRODUCTION (F. JOHN GREGORY)To commemorate the publication of the 25th Volume of the Journal of Micropalaeontology, the first issue of which came out in 1982, this celebratory review article was commissioned. Officers of each TMS Group (Ostracod, Foraminifera, Palynology, Nannofossil, Microvertebrate and Silicofossil) were requested to reflect over the last 25 years and assess the major advances and innovations in each of their disciplines. It is obvious from the presentations that all Groups report that research has moved on from the basic, but essential descriptive phase, i.e. taxonomy and establishing biostratigraphies, to the utilization of new technologies and application to issues of the day such as climate change and global warming. However, we must not lose sight of the fact that the foundation of micropalaeontology is observation and the building block for all these new and exciting innovations and developments is still good taxonomy. Briefly, the most obvious conclusion that can be drawn from this review is that micropalaeontology as a science is in relatively good health, but we have to ensure that the reported advancements will sustain and progress our discipline. There is one issue that has not really been highlighted in these contributions – we need to make sure that there are enough people being trained in micropalaeontology to maintain development. The last 25 years has seen a dramatic decrease in the number of post-graduate MSc courses in micropalaeontology. For example, in the UK, in the 1980s and early 1990s there were five specific MSc courses to choose . . .

scholarly journals Inuit perceptions of climate change in East Greenland

2011 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cunera Buijs
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Specific Area ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
Political Debates ◽  
Mobile Telephones ◽  
Subsistence Activities

Abstract Global warming and climate change are important topics of debate in Greenland. This paper examines how the Tunumiit of East Greenland perceive the weather, the changing climate, and the local environment. It also discusses how their perceptions have been influenced by political debates on global warming, sustainable development, and wildlife management since the 1950s. In the past, if some animal species disappeared from a specific area, or if the weather turned bad, the Tunumiit would attribute this misfortune to human transgressions of rules of respect. Today, they often connect the increasingly unpredictable weather to their reduced access to natural resources and greater difficulties in travelling. Some hunters speak of a shift from seal hunting to cod fishing in East Greenland, although fishing is still perceived as a vulnerable source of income with low status. Nowadays, older methods of navigation and orientation coexist with such new technologies as GPS and mobile telephones. Some local hunters and villagers feel unfairly accused of increases in CO2 emissions and pollution from their motorboats and generators. Tunumiit hunting communities are facing increasing uncertainty on all levels of their existence, and their hunters are turning to the growing tourism industry—a side effect of global warming—and other coping strategies to maintain their local subsistence activities and to reinforce their own culture.

scholarly journals Non-quantitative knowledge about global warming: a trip to Antarctica

2008 ◽  
Vol 07 (03) ◽  
pp. C04
Author(s):  
Andrea Polli
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
National Science Foundation ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
Weather And Climate ◽  
National Science ◽  
Time Of Year ◽  
The Antarctic

Despite the developed world’s climate-controlled interiors and easy access to all kinds of fresh produce at any time of year, our lives are still dependent upon the weather and climate. With global warming, our dependence is becoming even more apparent. I am an artist working with new technologies and last year I had the opportunity to go to Antarctica for two months on a US National Science Foundation-sponsored residency where I worked alongside scientists studying the global implications of Antarctic weather and climate change. The Antarctic is unlike any other place on earth. There, I wanted to find a way to more closely engage with the issue of global climate change.

scholarly journals Vinay Lal, The Fury of COVID-19: The Politics, Histories, and Unrequited Love of the Coronavirus, New Dehli: Pan Macmillan Publishing, 2020.

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. iv-xi
Author(s):  
Syed sami Raza
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
The Us ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Uk

This book is composed of a set of disparate essays that are grounded in history, political economy, and philosophy. These essays focus on a range of topics addressing different dynamics of the coronavirus pandemic. They include history of pandemics, governmental discourse on health and practical strategies, the role of WHO, neo-liberal economic order and consumerism, social order and human attitudes, nationalism and immigration, and global warming and climate change. Shedding light on these various dynamics, Lal exposes the high claims made by the powerful states like the US, the UK, and European states about their superior political systems, health care programs, and welfare services.

scholarly journals Research and development on climate change and greenhouse gases in support of climate-smart livestock production and a vibrant industry

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
MM Scholtz ◽  
HC Schönfeldt ◽  
FWC Neser ◽  
GM Schutte
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Research And Development ◽  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Production Efficiency ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Livestock Production ◽  
Continuous Increase ◽  
Food And Nutrition ◽  
The Impact

Climate change represents a feedback-loop in which livestock production both contributes to the problem and suffers from the consequences. The impact of global warming and continued, uncontrolled release of greenhouse gasses (GHG) has twofold implications for the livestock industry, and consequently food security. Firstly, the continuous increase in ambient temperature is predicted to have a direct effect on the animal, as well as on food and nutrition security, due to changes associated with temperature itself, relative humidity, rainfall distribution in time and space, altered disease distribution, changes in the ecosystem and biome composition. Secondly, the responsibility of livestock production is to limit the release of greenhouse gases (GHG) or the carbon footprint, in order to ensure future sustainability. This can be done by implementing new or adapted climate-smart production systems, the use of known and new technologies to turn waste into assets, and by promoting sustainable human diets with low environmental impacts. The following elements, which are related to livestock production and climate change, are discussed in this paper: (1) restoring the value of grasslands/rangelands, (2) pastoral risk management and decision support systems, (3) improved production efficiency, (4) global warming and sustainable livestock production, (5) the disentanglement between food and nutritional needs, focusing on nutrient rich core foods, (6) GHG from livestock and carbon sequestration, and (7) water and waste management. No single organization (or industry) within South Africa can perform this research and the implementation thereof on its own. The establishment of a (virtual) centre of excellence in climate-smart livestock production and the environment for the livestock industries, with the objective to share research expertise and information, build capacity and conduct research and development studies, should be a priority.Keywords: Food and nutrition, global warming, production efficiency, rangeland, water, waste

Securing Decarbonisation and Growth

2019 ◽  
Vol 250 ◽  
pp. R54-R60
Author(s):  
Dimitri Zenghelis
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Structural Adjustment ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Market Failures ◽  
Executive Summary ◽  
The Uk

Executive SummaryThe need to decarbonise the economy in order to slow the pace of climate change is now recognised as one of the most pressing international policy challenges. While the UK cannot by itself materially affect global climate change, it has an opportunity to play an influential role, both by persuading others of the need for action but also by reshaping its domestic economy to benefit from a low-carbon transition.Far from hampering competitiveness, adoption of a coordinated policy approach to climate change today would generate positive benefits for the UK economy, especially if it addresses the multiple market failures that promote pollution and places decarbonisation at the heart of structural economic policy.Desirable strategies would include public support for research, development, and deployment of new technologies, and measures to foster an environment where innovation can rapidly shift the economy from dirty to clean production systems. Focusing UK industrial strategy on securing strong domestic supply chains for green products and services, for example, could help create an early mover advantage in rapidly growing global market sectors. Interventions could include the establishment of a National Infrastructure Bank to support decarbonisation in crucial sectors such as energy and transport, and would also need to encompass measures to assist structural adjustment in affected industries and their workforces.

scholarly journals Exploratory Study on Suitable Horticulture Trees for Building Sufficiency of Fruits and Nuts from New Transformation of Forestry-Horticulture

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Stressful Situation ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Dense Forest ◽  
Cover Density

A new transformation for enhancing utility and efficiency of forestry ecosystem and reduction of stress due to resting sole reliance on arable ecosystem for livelihood was devised. This endeavor reached to a new transformation from forestry to Forestry- Horticulture so as to enable acquiring fruits and nuts, highly effectively useful in bringing feel good and wellness, foster of good health and wealth for nations, under changing climate. Reviw and connaissance survey of suitable horticultural trees which bear fruits and nuts and not get damaged by birds, monkeys and ground moving wild animals were searched coveing India from it boundary in North to South and from West to East. There occurred plentiful fruits and nut trees, bushes and herbs, which will easily grow at sites in forest where no trees existed. The statistics of forestry revealed that mere 2.7 percent of geographical area occuring under forest (21.338%), is dense forest having vegetation cover density of 70% or more and remaing areas under forest have moderate to low vegetation covearage. This new transformation will quickly enhance forest cover, induce carbon sequestration, produce woods of different qualities and additionally produce fruits, nuts, gums and resins and many useful produces such as leaves, herbs, honey etc. These products will be available locally as all states have their own forests and produce commodities for business and trades with huge employment generations in process from production to consumption. This new bio based transformation is implementable, without creating any disparity or grudge and bringing a plausible livelihood from stressful situation occurring due to global warming and climate change.

Modelling ecosystem adaptation and dangerous rates of global warming

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Millington ◽  
Peter M. Cox ◽  
Jonathan R. Moore ◽  
Gabriel Yvon-Durocher
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Diffusion Rate ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Genetic Evolution ◽  
Rates Of Change ◽  
Rapid Climate Change ◽  
Warming Climate ◽  
Intraspecies Competition ◽  
High Trait

Abstract We are in a period of relatively rapid climate change. This poses challenges for individual species and threatens the ecosystem services that humanity relies upon. Temperature is a key stressor. In a warming climate, individual organisms may be able to shift their thermal optima through phenotypic plasticity. However, such plasticity is unlikely to be sufficient over the coming centuries. Resilience to warming will also depend on how fast the distribution of traits that define a species can adapt through other methods, in particular through redistribution of the abundance of variants within the population and through genetic evolution. In this paper, we use a simple theoretical ‘trait diffusion’ model to explore how the resilience of a given species to climate change depends on the initial trait diversity (biodiversity), the trait diffusion rate (mutation rate), and the lifetime of the organism. We estimate theoretical dangerous rates of continuous global warming that would exceed the ability of a species to adapt through trait diffusion, and therefore lead to a collapse in the overall productivity of the species. As the rate of adaptation through intraspecies competition and genetic evolution decreases with species lifetime, we find critical rates of change that also depend fundamentally on lifetime. Dangerous rates of warming vary from 1°C per lifetime (at low trait diffusion rate) to 8°C per lifetime (at high trait diffusion rate). We conclude that rapid climate change is liable to favour short-lived organisms (e.g. microbes) rather than longer-lived organisms (e.g. trees).

New Technologies to Combat Herbicide Resistance

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 90-92
Author(s):  
Rob Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Winter Wheat ◽  
Herbicide Resistance ◽  
Cover Crops ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Green Revolution ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Limited Range ◽  
Cultural Control ◽  
Arable Farming ◽  
The Uk

Herbicide resistance in problem weeds is now a major threat to global food production, being particularly widespread in wild grasses affecting cereal crops. In the UK, black-grass (Alopecurus myosuroides) holds the title of number one agronomic problem in winter wheat, with the loss of production associated with herbicide resistance now estimated to cost the farming sector at least £0.5 billion p.a. Black-grass presents us with many of the characteristic traits of a problem weed; being highly competitive, genetically diverse and obligately out-crossing, with a growth habit that matches winter wheat. With the UK’s limited arable crop rotations and the reliance on the repeated use of a very limited range of selective herbicides we have been continuously performing a classic Darwinian selection for resistance traits in weeds that possess great genetic diversity and plasticity in their growth habits. The result has been inevitable; the steady rise of herbicide resistance across the UK, which now affects over 2.1 million hectares of some of our best arable land. Once the resistance genie is out of the bottle, it has proven difficult to prevent its establishment and spread. With the selective herbicide option being no longer effective, the options are to revert to cultural control; changing rotations and cover crops, manual rogueing of weeds, deep ploughing and chemical mulching with total herbicides such as glyphosate. While new precision weeding technologies are being developed, their cost and scalability in arable farming remains unproven. As an agricultural scientist who has spent a working lifetime researching selective weed control, we seem to be giving up on a technology that has been a foundation stone of the green revolution. For me it begs the question, are we really unable to use modern chemical and biological technology to counter resistance? I would argue the answer to that question is most patently no; solutions are around the corner if we choose to develop them.

Political Preferences, Personality Traits, and Environmentalism

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alistair Soutter ◽  
René Mõttus
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Environmental Attitudes ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Political Orientation ◽  
Anthropogenic Climate Change ◽  
Political Preferences ◽  
Party Voting

Although the scientific evidence of anthropogenic climate change continues to grow, public discourse still reflects a high level of scepticism and political polarisation towards anthropogenic climate change. In this study (N = 499) we attempted to replicate and expand upon an earlier finding that environmental terminology (“climate change” versus “global warming”) could partly explain political polarisation in environmental scepticism (Schuldt, Konrath, & Schwarz, 2011). Participants completed a series of online questionnaires assessing personality traits, political preferences, belief in environmental phenomenon, and various pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours. Those with a Conservative political orientation and/or party voting believed less in both climate change and global warming compared to those with a Liberal orientation and/or party voting. Furthermore, there was an interaction between continuously measured political orientation, but not party voting, and question wording on beliefs in environmental phenomena. Personality traits did not confound these effects. Furthermore, continuously measured political orientation was associated with pro-environmental attitudes, after controlling for personality traits, age, gender, area lived in, income, and education. The personality domains of Openness, and Conscientiousness, were consistently associated with pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours, whereas Agreeableness was associated with pro-environmental attitudes but not with behaviours. This study highlights the importance of examining personality traits and political preferences together and suggests ways in which policy interventions can best be optimised to account for these individual differences.

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