Range Sizes of the World’s Mammals, Birds, and Amphibians from the Mid-Holocene to the Industrial Period

Anthropogenic land use and climate change in the Industrial age have had substantial impacts on the geographic ranges of the world’s terrestrial animal species. How do these impacts compare against those in the millennia preceding the Industrial era? Here, we combine reconstructions of global climate and land use from 6000 BCE to 1850 CE with empirical data on the spatial distributions and habitat requirements of 16,919 mammal, bird, and amphibian species to estimate changes in their range sizes through time. We find that land use had only a small, yet almost entirely negative impact during most of the study period, whilst natural climatic variability led to some range expansions and contractions; but, overall it had a small impact on the majority of species. Our results provide a baseline for comparison with studies of range changes during the Industrial period, demonstrating that contemporary rates of range loss exceed the magnitude of range changes seen over many thousands of years prior to the Industrial period by an alarming extent.

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Progress in modeling the impact of land cover change on the global climate

Progress in Physical Geography Earth and Environment ◽

10.1177/0309133306071956 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 30 (6) ◽

pp. 737-749 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Haydee Salmun ◽

Andrea Molod

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Land Cover ◽

Land Cover Change ◽

General Circulation ◽

Global Climate ◽

New Technique ◽

Anthropogenic Land Use Change ◽

The Impact ◽

Anthropogenic Land Use

The prediction of the impact of anthropogenic land use change on the climate system hinges on the ability to properly model the interaction between the heterogeneous land surface and the atmosphere in global climate models. This paper contains a review of techniques in general use for modeling this interaction in general circulation models (GCMs) that have been used to assess the impact of land use change on climate. The review includes a summary of GCM simulations of land cover change using these techniques, along with a description of the simulated physical mechanisms by which land cover change affects the climate. The vertical extent to which surface heterogeneities retain their individual character is an important consideration for the land-atmosphere coupling, and the description of a recently developed technique that improves this aspect of the coupling is presented. The differences in the simulated climate between this new technique and a technique in general use include the presence of a boundary layer feedback mechanism that is not present in simulations with the standard technique. We postulate that the new technique when implemented in a GCM has the potential to guide an improved understanding of the mechanisms by which anthropogenic land use change affects climate.

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of Malaria risk and temperature: influences from global climate change and local land use practices.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.1001629.374762 ◽

2006 ◽

Author(s):

Albert van Jaarsveld

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Land Use ◽

Global Climate Change ◽

Global Climate ◽

Malaria Risk ◽

Land Use Practices

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Synergistic impacts of global warming and thermohaline circulation collapse on amphibians

Communications Biology ◽

10.1038/s42003-021-01665-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Julián A. Velasco ◽

Francisco Estrada ◽

Oscar Calderón-Bustamante ◽

Didier Swingedouw ◽

Carolina Ureta ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Global Warming ◽

Thermohaline Circulation ◽

Climate Model ◽

Global Climate ◽

Extinction Risk ◽

Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Amphibian Species ◽

Climate Conditions

AbstractImpacts on ecosystems and biodiversity are a prominent area of research in climate change. However, little is known about the effects of abrupt climate change and climate catastrophes on them. The probability of occurrence of such events is largely unknown but the associated risks could be large enough to influence global climate policy. Amphibians are indicators of ecosystems’ health and particularly sensitive to novel climate conditions. Using state-of-the-art climate model simulations, we present a global assessment of the effects of unabated global warming and a collapse of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) on the distribution of 2509 amphibian species across six biogeographical realms and extinction risk categories. Global warming impacts are severe and strongly enhanced by additional and substantial AMOC weakening, showing tipping point behavior for many amphibian species. Further declines in climatically suitable areas are projected across multiple clades, and biogeographical regions. Species loss in regional assemblages is extensive across regions, with Neotropical, Nearctic and Palearctic regions being most affected. Results underline the need to expand existing knowledge about the consequences of climate catastrophes on human and natural systems to properly assess the risks of unabated warming and the benefits of active mitigation strategies.

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Estimating Soil Water Susceptibility to Salinization in the Mekong River Delta Using a Modified DRASTIC Model

Water ◽

10.3390/w13121636 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (12) ◽

pp. 1636

Author(s):

Thanh N. Le ◽

Duy X. Tran ◽

Thuong V. Tran ◽

Sangay Gyeltshen ◽

Tan V. Lam ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Water ◽

Management Practices ◽

Global Climate ◽

Anthropogenic Activities ◽

Rapid Development ◽

Anthropogenic Factors ◽

Drastic Model ◽

River Catchment ◽

Modified Drastic

Saltwater intrusion risk assessment is a foundational step for preventing and controlling salinization in coastal regions. The Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD) is highly affected by drought and salinization threats, especially severe under the impacts of global climate change and the rapid development of an upstream hydropower dam system. This study aimed to apply a modified DRASTIC model, which combines the generic DRASTIC model with hydrological and anthropogenic factors (i.e., river catchment and land use), to examine seawater intrusion vulnerability in the soil-water-bearing layer in the Ben Tre province, located in the VMD. One hundred and fifty hand-auger samples for total dissolved solids (TDS) measurements, one of the reflected salinity parameters, were used to validate the results obtained with both the DRASTIC and modified DRASTIC models. The spatial analysis tools in the ArcGIS software (i.e., Kriging and data classification tools) were used to interpolate, classify, and map the input factors and salinization susceptibility in the study area. The results show that the vulnerability index values obtained from the DRASTIC and modified DRASTIC models were 36–128 and 55–163, respectively. The vulnerable indices increased from inland districts to coastal areas. The Ba Tri and Binh Dai districts were recorded as having very high vulnerability to salinization, while the Chau Thanh and Cho Lach districts were at a low vulnerability level. From the comparative analysis of the two models, it is obvious that the modified DRASTIC model with the inclusion of a river or canal network and agricultural practices factors enables better performance than the generic DRASTIC model. This enhancement is explained by the significant impact of anthropogenic activities on the salinization of soil water content. This study’s results can be used as scientific implications for planners and decision-makers in river catchment and land-use management practices.

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Effects of Cropland Expansion on Temperature Extremes in Western India from 1982 to 2015

Land ◽

10.3390/land10050489 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (5) ◽

pp. 489

Author(s):

Jinxiu Liu ◽

Weihao Shen ◽

Yaqian He

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Heat Flux ◽

Land Cover ◽

Minimum Temperature ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Maximum Temperature ◽

Daily Minimum Temperature ◽

Daily Maximum ◽

Temperature Extremes ◽

Western India

India has experienced extensive land cover and land use change (LCLUC). However, there is still limited empirical research regarding the impact of LCLUC on climate extremes in India. Here, we applied statistical methods to assess how cropland expansion has influenced temperature extremes in India from 1982 to 2015 using a new land cover and land use dataset and ECMWF Reanalysis V5 (ERA5) climate data. Our results show that during the last 34 years, croplands in western India increased by ~33.7 percentage points. This cropland expansion shows a significantly negative impact on the maxima of daily maximum temperature (TXx), while its impacts on the maxima of daily minimum temperature and the minima of daily maximum and minimum temperature are limited. It is estimated that if cropland expansion had not taken place in western India over the 1982 to 2015 period, TXx would likely have increased by 0.74 (±0.64) °C. The negative impact of croplands on reducing the TXx extreme is likely due to evaporative cooling from intensified evapotranspiration associated with croplands, resulting in increased latent heat flux and decreased sensible heat flux. This study underscores the important influences of cropland expansion on temperature extremes and can be applicable to other geographic regions experiencing LCLUC.

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Measuring pedestrian volume by land use mix: Presenting a new entropy-based index by weighting walking generation units

Environment and Planning B Urban Analytics and City Science ◽

10.1177/2399808318824112 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 47 (7) ◽

pp. 1219-1236 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ha Na Im ◽

Chang Gyu Choi

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Urban Studies ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Explanatory Power ◽

Built Environments ◽

Estimation Model ◽

Land Use Types ◽

Land Use Mix ◽

The Relationship ◽

The Empirical Analysis

This study proposes an alternative to the conventional entropy-based land use mix index, which is generally used to measure the diversity of land use. Pedestrian volume was selected as the dependent variable as it represents the vitality of districts, which many recent urban studies now consider important. The study investigates an entropy-based weighted land use mix index, which is weighted by different land use types. For the index, different areas are needed to generate a unit of pedestrian volume, whose measure is m2/person/day. The study demonstrates that this alternative is more effective than the existing conventionally used entropy-based land use mix index for explaining pedestrian volume. The research confirms that the conventionally used entropy-based land use mix index can have a positive or negative impact depending on the land use characteristics of the survey points because the conventionally used entropy-based land use mix index has a non-linear relationship with pedestrian volume. By analysing 9727 surveyed locations of pedestrian volume in Seoul, Korea, the study demonstrates that the weighted land use mix index, rather than the conventionally used entropy-based land use mix index, can improve the explanatory power of the estimation model for the relationship between pedestrian volume and built environments, showing consistent results throughout the empirical analysis. In future built-environment studies, the utility of the weighted land use mix index is expected to improve if studies include how to find the accurate weighting of the land use in estimating the pedestrian volume.

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Ramification of Global and Local Climatic Variability on Resurgent Cases of Dengue in Delhi, India

Disaster Advances ◽

10.25303/147da3221 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (7) ◽

pp. 32-41

Author(s):

Netrananda Sahu ◽

Martand Mani Mishra

Keyword(s):

Climatic Factors ◽

Global Climate ◽

Climatic Variability ◽

Climatic Variation ◽

Statistical Tool ◽

High Positive Correlation ◽

Local Climate ◽

Vector Borne Diseases ◽

Monsoon Index ◽

Vector Borne

It has become evident that the global climate is changing rapidly over the past few decades. The variation and change in the global climatic factors have a notable impact on the local climate of a region. The changing climate is widely regarded as one of the most serious global health threats of the 21st century. Among various kinds of diseases, the most vulnerable to these changes are vector-borne diseases. In the Indian context, particularly Delhi city is the most vulnerable to dengue, a kind of vector-borne disease having its highest impact. We sought to identify and explore the correlation and influence of the global climatic phenomena and local climatic factors with the reported number of dengue cases in Delhi. The temporal expansions of reported dengue cases in Delhi have a variation from its first major outbreak in the city during the year 1996 to 2015. A statistical tool like Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) is used in this study to establish the interrelationship and the level of impact and local climatic variation on dengue. An exceptional negative correlation value of r = -0.82 between the monsoon index and the dengue incidences was reported during the positive years and also maintains a very high positive correlation with other global climatic indices. The study here finds that there is a strong correlation of climatic variation which further influences the epidemiology of dengue in Delhi.

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A Visit to Rusty Ships. Tourism as a Strategy of Rejuvenating Shrinking Towns in Coastal Areas

Global Environment ◽

10.3197/ge.2021.140307 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (3) ◽

pp. 588-612

Author(s):

Katarzyna Jarosz ◽

Hanna Daria Tricoire

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Coastal Areas ◽

Shrinking Cities ◽

Access To Information ◽

Tourist Attractions ◽

Environmental Value ◽

Culture History ◽

Tourist Infrastructure ◽

Tourism Potential

The aim of the paper is to analyse, whether and to what degree that tourism is a way of rejuvenating shrinking cities located on the coast. The research is based on three cities, and the adjacent regions, located in Uzbekistan (Mo'noq), Romania (Sulina) and Georgia-Abkhazia (Sukhumi). Tourist attractions connected with nature, culture, history and cuisine are examined, along with the land use and tourist infrastructure. The research indicates that the three sites have great tourism potential, with a focus on nature-oriented tourism. It also suggests that infrastructure, transport, access to information and land use can have a strong, positive or negative impact on tourism attractiveness. Additionally, the threats that uncontrolled tourism can bring are considered - it has been shown that unsustainable tourism and an excessive influx of tourists are threats to the environment and to local societies. A balance between economic and environmental value should therefore be maintained in the process of developing tourism.

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Testing Farmers’ Perception of Climate Variability: A Case Study from Kirtipur of Kathmandu Valley

Hydro Nepal Journal of Water Energy and Environment ◽

10.3126/hn.v11i1.7200 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 30-34

Author(s):

Jiban Mani Poudel

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Climate Variability ◽

Global Climate ◽

Climatic Variability ◽

Global Perspective ◽

Kathmandu Valley ◽

Climatic Fluctuations ◽

Climate Fluctuations ◽

Global And Local

In the 21st century, global climate change has become a public and political discourse. However, there is still a wide gap between global and local perspectives. The global perspective focuses on climate fluctuations that affect the larger region; and their analysis is based on long-term records over centuries and millennium. By comparison, local peoples’ perspectives vary locally, and local analyses are limited to a few days, years, decades and generations only. This paper examines how farmers in Kirtipur of Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, understand climate variability in their surroundings. The researcher has used a cognized model to understand farmers’ perception on weather fluctuations and climate change. The researcher has documented several eyewitness accounts of farmers about weather fluctuations which they have been observing in a lifetime. The researcher has also used rainfall data from 1970-2009 to test the accuracy of perceptions. Unlike meteorological analyses, farmers recall and their understanding of climatic variability by weather-crop interaction, and events associating with climatic fluctuations and perceptions are shaped by both physical visibility and cultural frame or belief system.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hn.v11i1.7200 Hydro Nepal Special Issue: Conference Proceedings 2012 pp.30-34

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