Adequacies and deficiencies of alpine and subalpine treeline studies in the national parks of the western USA

2010 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clayton J. Whitesides ◽  
David R. Butler
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Fine Scale ◽  
Scale Analysis ◽  
The West ◽  
Western Usa ◽  
Alpine Treeline ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Geomorphic Processes

To mitigate the impact of direct human activity on treeline pattern and process, much alpine treeline research in the western USA has been conducted in nationally protected areas. The use of treeline as a proxy for climate change has been assessed in parks throughout the west but often at the expense of geology or geomorphology as controls of treeline variation. The dissimilar geology and geomorphic processes of the western national parks suggest that treeline may respond differently between national parks when subjected to disturbance. Therefore, predicted vegetation response to disturbance across the western USA may provide a limited assessment of change beyond fine-scale analysis due to data collection from a limited number of national parks containing alpine treeline. We performed a content analysis on previous research that examined alpine treeline in national parks and classified each treeline study as anthropogenic, orographic/edaphic, or climatic according to the primary factor attributed to treeline control. Results indicated that the three types of treeline are not uniformly studied. Climatic treeline is most commonly studied whereas anthropogenic and orographic/edaphic studies are often lacking. Furthermore, several western national parks are entirely devoid of anthropogenic and orographic treeline research. Similar findings exist for treeline studies in protected places worldwide. More research in protected places is required to broaden our understanding of multiple treeline processes across both regional and worldwide extents.

Effects of climate change on vector-borne diseases: an updated focus on West Nile virus in humans

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shlomit Paz
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
West Nile Virus ◽  
The West ◽  
West Nile ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Transmission Season ◽  
Vector Borne Diseases ◽  
Vector Borne ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

Abstract One of the main impacts of climate change on health is the influence on vector-borne diseases (VBDs). During the last few years, yearly outbreaks of the West Nile virus (WNV) have occurred in many locations, providing evidence of ongoing transmission. Currently, it is the most widely distributed arbovirus in the world. Increases in ambient temperature have impacts on WNV transmission. Indeed, clear associations were found between warm conditions and WNV outbreaks in various areas. The impact of changes in rainfall patterns on the incidence of the disease is influenced by the amount of precipitation (increased rainfall, floods or droughts), depending on the local conditions and the differences in the ecology and sensitivity of the species of mosquito. Predictions indicate that for WNV, increased warming will result in latitudinal and altitudinal expansions of regions climatically suitable for transmission, particularly along the current edges of its transmission areas. Extension of the transmission season is also predicted. As models show that the current climate change trends are expected to continue, it is important to reinforce WNV control efforts and increase the resilience of population health. For a better preparedness, any assessment of future transmission of WNV should consider the impacts of the changing climate.

scholarly journals The impact of climate change to occupational safety and health: future projections of thermal discomfort (humidex index) in the West Attica region

2021 ◽  
Vol 899 (1) ◽  
pp. 012024
Author(s):  
T Katopodis ◽  
Y Mouzakitis ◽  
E D Adamides
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Extreme Heat ◽  
Occupational Safety And Health ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Future Scenarios ◽  
The West ◽  
Future Projections ◽  
Safety And Health ◽  
The Impact

Abstract There is a growing concern on the implications of climate change on thermal stress, which in turn may affect workspace morale and performance, leading to lower productivity, or even posing a higher risk for employee’s health. In this paper, we study this aspect of climate change providing evidence on future projections of the Humidex Index (HI) for the West Attica Region, an overpopulated and industrialized area of Greece, which holds the World Meteorological Organization record for the highest temperature ever recorded in Europe. The current study is based on the use of the high resolution Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) regional climate model to determine changes in the trends of extreme heat conditions under future scenarios analysis. Projections of future climate regional analysis for the mid-twenty-first century (2021-2045) indicate an increase in the yearly/daily values of maximum air temperatures (Τmax) and HI index values. In addition, the analysis reveal shorter return periods for the specific design thresholds of Tmax and of the HI index as associated with an increase in the number of events above thresholds for both RCPs 4.5 and 8.5 W/m2 future scenarios. The anticipated (extreme) heat conditions expose the occupational safety and health (OSH) at high risk, and the paper provide suggestions for applied interventions in the direction of a safer working environment.

scholarly journals The impact of climate change on tourism in Australia – a case study relating to bushfires in Australia in 2019/2020

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-107
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Kurleto
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Preliminary Analysis ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Summer Season ◽  
Tourism Demand ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
The Impact

The main purpose of the study is to offer a preliminary analysis of the impact of Australian bush fires on tourism in the summer season of 2019/2020. The article addresses issues related to global climate change, including Australia. The author discusses the causes and effects of recent catastrophic fires in Australia, focusing on their negative impacts for tourism. Another problem raised in the article is how climate change in Australia causes bushfires that destroy the nature and life of this country. The study mainly analyses the effects of climate change on the natural environment, especially on the most attractive tourist areas in Australia, i.e. national parks. The study uses the latest information to show the effects of damage caused by fires in Australia, especially in tourism. The author concludes that there is a direct relationship between climate change resulting from global warming and tourism demand.

Climate change impact assessment of sub-alpine vegetation in national park using CMIP5 GCMs

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaeuk Kim ◽  
Huicheul Jung ◽  
Insang Yu ◽  
Sung-Hun Lee
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Species Distribution ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
Maximum Temperature ◽  
Alpine Vegetation ◽  
Distribution Method ◽  
The Impact

<p>In South Korea, national parks occupy the largest area among the protected areas designated to protect biodiversity and ecosystem. Among the 17 mountainous national parks, the vegetation in alpine and sub-alpine regions are very vulnerable to climate change. The objective of this study is to estimate the impact of climate change on sub-alpine vegetation considering uncertainties of future climate and the species distribution method. Observation data were gridded to 3 km spatial resolution from 1981 to 2010 using the Improved GIS-based Registry Model(IDW-IGISRM) based on the Inverse distance weighting(IDW). To reduce future uncertainty of climate change, future climate scenarios of RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 of CMIP5 GCM were utilized. In order to increase the spatial resolution of the GCM, Simple Quantile Mapping, one of the various bias correction and downscaling techniques, was applied. Bioclim DB, a bioclimatic variable considering temperature and moisture conditions, was established using monthly maximum temperature, minimum temperature and precipitation data among detailed GCM data. Impact assessment was held using Biomod2 of R package, for endangered sub-alpine vegetation in the National Forest Inventory(NFI). Verification of the species distribution models were carried out using AUC(Area Under the Curve) and TSS(True Skill Statistics). The result of this study is expected to be utilized for protected area management measures for biodiversity conservation in forests.</p><p>※ This work was supported by Korea Environment Industry & Technology Institute(KEITI) through Climate Change Correspondence Program, funded by Korea Ministry of Environment(MOE)(2018001310004).</p>

Predictions of future grazing season length for European dairy, beef and sheep farms based on regression with bioclimatic variables

2015 ◽  
Vol 154 (5) ◽  
pp. 765-781 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. PHELAN ◽  
E. R. MORGAN ◽  
H. ROSE ◽  
J. GRANT ◽  
P. O'KIELY
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Season Length ◽  
The West ◽  
Grazing Season ◽  
North East ◽  
Bioclimatic Variables ◽  
The Impact

SUMMARYGrazing season length (GSL) on grassland farms with ruminant production systems can influence farm economics, livestock disease transmission, environmental impact, milk and meat quality, and consumer choice. Bioclimatic variables are biologically meaningful climate variables that may enable predictions of the impact of future climate change on GSL on European farms. The present study investigated the spatial relationship between current GSL (months) measured by EUROSTAT on dairy, beef and sheep farms in 706, 774 and 878 regions, respectively, and bioclimatic variables. A stepwise multiple regression model revealed a highly significant association between observed GSL and bioclimatic variables across Europe. Mean GSL was positively associated with the mean temperature of the coldest quarter and isothermality, and negatively associated with precipitation in the wettest month. Extrapolating these relationships to future climate change scenarios, most European countries were predicted to have a net increase in GSL with the increase being largest (up to 2·5 months) in the north-east of Europe. However, there were also predictions of increased variability between regions and decreases in GSL of up to 1·5 months in some areas such as the west of France, the south-west of Norway and the west coast of Britain. The study quantified and mapped the potential impact of climate change on GSL for dairy, beef and sheep farms across Europe.

scholarly journals Improving semi-automated glacial mapping with a multi-method approach: areal changes in Central Asia

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 5433-5483
Author(s):  
T. Smith ◽  
B. Bookhagen ◽  
F. Cannon
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Tien Shan ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
The West ◽  
Mapping Algorithm ◽  
Multi Method Approach ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Central Asia has been strongly impacted by climate change, and will continue to be impacted by diverse climate stressors in the coming decades. This study aims to decipher the impact of climate change on glaciers in the central Tien Shan Mountain Range, a large and understudied region located northeast from the Pamir Knot. To address glacier characteristics over a wide swath of Central Asia, the authors designed and implemented a glacial mapping algorithm which delineates both clean glacial ice – methods which are well documented – and glacial debris tongues, which often require extensive manual digitization. This research improves upon methods developed to automatically delineate glacial areas using spectral, topographic, velocity, and spatial relationships. The authors found that the algorithm misclassifies between 2 and 10% of glacial areas, as compared to a ~750 glacier control dataset. After validating the algorithm against multiple manually digitized control datasets, the authors applied it to a study area encompassing eight Landsat scene footprints stretching from the central Pamir through the central Tien Shan. A statistically significant, though minor, gradient in glacier area loss was found, where glaciers in the west of the study area have shrunk less than those glaciers in the east. This gradient is explained by differences in regional climate, where extratropical cyclones propagating from the west weaken and disband under continued topographic influence, as well as differences in topography, where high-elevation glaciers are thermally insulated from some of the impacts of changing temperatures in the region.

scholarly journals The Impact of a Global Crisis on Areas and Topics of Tourism Research

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 906
Author(s):  
Ulrika Persson-Fischer ◽  
Shuangqi Liu
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Sustainable Tourism ◽  
Global Crisis ◽  
Tourism Research ◽  
Sustainability Challenges ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Descriptive Statistical Analysis

Tourism research has placed considerable emphasis on the pandemic and its impact, which is not surprising given the impact of the pandemic on tourism. However, what specifically do tourism scholars write about the pandemic and its consequences for tourism? What new insights does the literature on COVID-19 provide to guide our practice in sustainable tourism? The pandemic can be seen as a sustainability challenge. Dealing with the pandemic and other sustainability challenges like climate change will not require exactly the same remedies, but the same kind, building resilience, adaptivity, flexibility, collaboration, and co-creation. We thus argue that the literature on tourism and the pandemic may function as a “thermometer” of the way scholars view sustainability and tourism, and that exploring this literature gives us a space to reconsider our understanding of sustainable tourism. Therefore, we have conducted a literature review of the COVID-19 literature on tourism in 2020. A total of 87 articles, in 17 journals, from 4 databases were analyzed to explore how current scholars perceive COVID-19 and tourism, in light of sustainability perspectives. As a result, through the content analysis, this study has found six leading themes in COVID-19 and tourism and has provided valuable information with descriptive statistical analysis for its distributions by theory, methodology, and study area.

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