Cambial phenology in Abies pindrow (Pinaceae) along an altitudinal gradient in northwestern Himalaya

IAWA Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-201
Author(s):  
Rayees Malik ◽  
Sergio Rossi ◽  
Raman Sukumar

Abstract Climate change is expected to be heterogeneous across the world, with high impacts on the Himalayan ecosystems. There is a need to precisely document cambial phenology and wood formation in these regions to better understand climate-growth relationships and how trees face a warming climate. This study describes the dynamics of cambial phenology in pindrow fir (Abies pindrow) along its altitudinal gradient in the Himalaya. The stages of xylem phenology, and the duration and rate of wood formation were assessed from anatomical observations during the growing season from samples collected weekly from three sites at various altitudes (2392–2965 m a.s.l.) over two years. There were significant differences in the duration and rate of cell formation along the altitudinal gradient, which decreased at increasing altitudes. The growing season duration decreased by 5.2 and 3.7 days every 100 m of increase in altitude in 2014 and 2015, respectively, while the rate of cell formation decreased from 0.38 and 0.44 cells /day to 0.29 and 0.34 cells/day in 2014 and 2015, respectively. Cell production decreased from 63.3 and 67.0 cells to 38.3 and 45.2 cells with a decrease of 4.3 and 3.8 cells per 100 m increase in altitude in 2014 and 2015, respectively. The higher precipitation in 2015 increased the growth rate and resulted in a higher xylem production. Our findings give new insights into the dynamics of cambial phenology and help in better understanding of the potential impacts of climate change on tree growth and forest productivity of Himalayan forests.

Author(s):  
B. E. Ikumbur ◽  
S. Iornumbe

Climate change is the single biggest environmental issue facing the world today. It has become a great challenge to our generation and its impact is felt in almost every society in the world. Nigeria is one of the most vulnerable countries in Africa. Nigeria as a developing nation with a population of about 200 million people is likely to be adversely impacted by climate change due to its vulnerability and low coping capabilities. Climate change is evidently linked to human actions, and in particular from the burning of fossil fuels and changes in global patterns of land use. The impacts of human activities, as well as those of natural phenomena on global warming, climate change, and the environment, were presented and discussed. Various manifestations of its impact are evident in Nigeria, which includes temperature rise, increase in draught, and scarcity of food instigated by irregularities in rainfall, over flooding, and so on. This paper examines the concepts of global warming and climate change; its impact on the Nigeria ecosystems. It highlights the climate change-related risks and hazards the nation could face if best practices are not employed to prevent and mitigate its impact. Two sets of measures have been advocated for confronting climate change, these are mitigation and adaptation measures. The review explores possible adaptation strategies that are required to respond to the climatic variations and suggests ways that these adaptation strategies can be implemented.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
P Van Den Hazel

Abstract The impacts of climate change are not distributed equally. Some people will experience natural disasters first hand, some will be affected more gradually over time, and some will experience only indirect impacts. There are data from the United nations that show the interest of youth on climate change. Close to half a million youth around the world have taken action on climate change through SGP [small grants programmes] projects in their homes, schools and communities. (UNDP, 2015). 84% of the surveyed young people agree that they need more information to prevent climate change. (UNEP, 2011). Furthermore, about 73% of surveyed youth say they currently feel the effects climate change. (UNEP, GlobeScan Survey, 2008). Some 89% of youth respondents say young people can make a difference on climate change. [UNEP, 2008]. But only 9% of youth are very confident the world will act quickly enough to address climate change. [UNEP, 2008]. Young people are key actors in raising awareness, running educational programmes, promoting sustainable lifestyles, conserving nature, supporting renewable energy, adopting environmentally-friendly practices and implementing adaptation and mitigation projects[UNFCCC]. Action by youth, as protest school strikes or speeches to the UN by Greta Thunberg, urge immediate action from governments, business leaders and school leaders. There are different reasons for this action by youth. The psycho-social impacts of a changing climate are generally under lighted in these reasons. Are the responses by society enough to minimize suffering and promote resilience of youth in the face of the challenging impacts of climate change? Or do governments and businesses enough while they increasingly seem to be moving toward action on climate change, as they proclaim to cut their own emissions or be active in their energy transition? It is not clear whether those actions are enough to satisfy the next generation of customers, employees and decision makers.


2021 ◽  

Abstract This book is a collection of 77 expert opinions arranged in three sections. Section 1 on "Climate" sets the scene, including predictions of future climate change, how climate change affects ecosystems, and how to model projections of the spatial distribution of ticks and tick-borne infections under different climate change scenarios. Section 2 on "Ticks" focuses on ticks (although tick-borne pathogens creep in) and whether or not changes in climate affect the tick biosphere, from physiology to ecology. Section 3 on "Disease" focuses on the tick-host-pathogen biosphere, ranging from the triangle of tick-host-pathogen molecular interactions to disease ecology in various regions and ecosystems of the world. Each of these three sections ends with a synopsis that aims to give a brief overview of all the expert opinions within the section. The book concludes with Section 4 (Final Synopsis and Future Predictions). This synopsis attempts to summarize evidence provided by the experts of tangible impacts of climate change on ticks and tick-borne infections. In constructing their expert opinions, contributors give their views on what the future might hold. The final synopsis provides a snapshot of their expert thoughts on the future.


Author(s):  
Maria José Centenero de Arce ◽  
Gracia Martínez Orenes ◽  
Antonio Luis Guinea Serrano

La educación ambiental es un reto y una realidad que debemos incluir en los centros educativos de todo el mundo.  A partir de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible 2030 (ODS) lanzado por Naciones Unidas, nos planteamos la necesidad de actuar contra el calentamiento global, el cambio climático y en general cambiar para mejorar nuestros hábitos, tanto sociales, como personales. Vimos que este cambio tan necesario y urgente en nuestro modo de vida lo podríamos acercar a los más jóvenes a través del juego. Para ello se buscó una metodología práctica para trabajar a través del juego y de la tecnología los conceptos necesarios para el cuidado del medio ambiente. Con esta gamificación buscamos motivar al alumnado para iniciar este cambio de estilo de vida de una forma divertida y en equipo sin olvidar el objetivo de alcanzar la mayoría de las metas propuestas. La utilización del juego como instrumento de aprendizaje favorece la participación e implicación del alumnado y ayuda a la cohesión de los equipos. Retos de lógica, artísticos, de cuidado de medio ambiente, talleres de igualdad han convivido con las materias habituales durante este curso. La completa participación de profesorado y alumnado ha hecho que este reto educativo se haya convertido en una realidad extrapolable a otros cursos e incluso a otros centros que deseen incorporarlo. Environmental education is a challenge and a reality that we must include in educational centers around the world. Based on the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) launched by the United Nations, we consider the need to act against global warming, climate change and in general change to improve our habits, both social and personal. We saw that this so necessary and urgent change in our way of life could be brought closer to the youngest through the game. For this, a practical methodology was sought to work through games and technology the concepts necessary for caring for the environment. With this gamification we seek to motivate students to start this lifestyle chango in a fun way and as a team without forgetting the objective of achieving most of the proposed goals. The use of the game as a learning instrument favors the participation and involvement of the students and helps the cohesion of the teams. Challenges of logic, art, care of the environment, equality workshops have coexisted with the usual subjects during this course. The full participation of teachers and students has made this educational challenge a reality that can be extrapolated to other courses and even to other centers that wish to incorporate it.


2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Attaher ◽  
M. A. Medany ◽  
A. F. Abou-Hadid

Abstract. The overall agricultural system in the Nile Delta region is considered as one of the highest intensive and complicated agriculture systems in the world. According to the recent studies, the Nile Delta region is one of the highly vulnerable regions in the world to climate change. Sea level rise, soil and water degradation, undiversified crop-pattern, yield reduction, pests and disease severity, and irrigation and drainage management were the main key factors that increased vulnerability of the agriculture sector in that region. The main objective of this study is to conduct a community-based multi-criteria adaptation assessment in the Nile Delta using a preset questionnaire. A list of possible adaptation measures for agriculture sector was evaluated. The results indicated that the Nile Delta growers have strong perceptions to act positively to reduce the impacts of climate change. They reflected the need to improve the their adaptive capacity based on clear scientific message with adequate governmental support to coop with the negative impacts of climate change.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 1203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asako Iwami ◽  
Takanori Matsui ◽  
Michinori Kimura ◽  
Kenshi Baba ◽  
Mitsuru Tanaka

As the effects of climate change increase in severity, organizations across the world are attempting to measures to mitigate these effects. In accordance with the Paris Agreement of November 2015, wherein participating nations agreed to restrict the increase in global temperature below 2 °C, Japan has formulated guidelines on creating adaptation plans that can be implemented by local governments. A Climate Change Adaptive Information Platform was also launched to promote understanding and cooperation by sharing information on climate risks. However, the literature on this topic lacks information related to the organization of requirements and challenges faced by municipal administrative officials that formulate adaptation plans. To address these issues, we examined the four municipal forums hosted at Hosei University to encourage administrative needs for new technological ideas in areas such as climate modeling and impact assessment. We used text mining on the transcripts of the various workshops conducted in these forums and attempted to understand the changes in discussions and to extract issues related to the formulation process. The results showed that various topics, such as creating adaptation promotion systems, assessing the impacts of climate change, formulating adaptation plans, communicating with related organizations and stakeholders, developing human resources, and capacity building, were discussed, and a need for information, procedures, and assistance was identified for the formulation of feasible adaptation plans. This study is expected to provide a useful reference to stakeholders involved in framing adaptation plans to mitigate the effects of climate changes, particularly at the municipal level.


Bragantia ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 201-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vânia Rosa Pereira ◽  
Gabriel Constantino Blain ◽  
Ana Maria Heuminski de Avila ◽  
Regina Célia de Matos Pires ◽  
Hilton Silveira Pinto

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2S8) ◽  
pp. 1754-1757

Cities across the world are the main contributors to climate change but at the same time they are also the most vulnerable to its consequences. Some of the disastrous impacts of climate change include extreme weather events, periods of extreme heat and cold, high precipitation, floods, strong cyclones and storms. There is a need for urban design guidelines to effectively address the issues of climate chanbe and increase the resilience of cities. One way to adapt to this is through engineered infrastructure. Today nearly 70% of the world live in urban areas and in the next 20 years two billion more people are expected to move to the cities. With increasing urban densification land and buildable areas are going to become increasingly scarce. One possible solution is to build downwards instead of upwards. Underground areas are less susceptible to external influences and have the ability to better withstand natural catastrophes and hence can be sustainable solution for an unpredictable future. This paper will analyze the viability of underground cities through examples from history and existing case studies along with new upcoming proposals and probe how using underground spaces can increase the resilience of future cities


2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-63
Author(s):  
Jem Bendell

As the impacts of climate change grow in number and severity, so climate distress is increasing around the world and becoming a major issue for psychologists, as both individuals and professionals. Increasing numbers of people assess that the damage that is forthcoming because of existing trajectories of atmospheric heating will lead to massive disruption and ultimate collapse of societies around the world. Some such people have been grouping together to share ideas on the implications for the rest of their lives. Many are using the concept and framework of “Deep Adaptation” to organise their sense making and actions. Their existence and ideas have led to strong criticisms from some commentators and scientists, who argue it is not correct or helpful to discuss collapse risk and readiness. This paper explores the reasons why publicly discussing anticipation of collapse has become helpful, and how criticisms of it are likely involving forms of ‘experiential avoidance’. The problematic objectification of people for ‘doomism’ is explained, as well as the antecedents of authoritarianism that may be emerging in the criticisms of Deep Adaptation. Therefore, a case is made for how psychotherapists and psychologists can help people, including scholars, understand how their aversion to the topic of collapse — and the emotions associated with it — could be preventing dialogue and wise action at this crucial time for humanity.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-254
Author(s):  
Nguyen Thi Hong Yen ◽  
Nguyen Phuong Dung

Abstract Climate change is becoming the largest crisis that humans have ever faced and a major challenge to the socio-economic and prosperous development of almost every country in the world, especially developing countries. According to the Report of the 2019 Long-Term Climate Risk Index of Germanwatch, Vietnam is rated as one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to the impacts of climate change due to factors such as its geographic location, economic development model and population density. The negative impacts of climate change have become barriers for Vietnam in implementing socio-economic development policies, sustainable development goals and human rights, including the right to a healthy environment. This article will focus on clarifying the legal basis as well as the direct challenges of climate change in ensuring the right to a healthy environment in Vietnam and will recommend appropriate solutions to improve the law and capacity to enforce this right in Vietnam.


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