scholarly journals Precipitation Climatology for the Arid Region of the Arabian Peninsula—Variability, Trends and Extremes

Climate ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
Platon Patlakas ◽  
Christos Stathopoulos ◽  
Helena Flocas ◽  
Nikolaos S. Bartsotas ◽  
George Kallos
Keyword(s):  
Extreme Events ◽  
Arabian Peninsula ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Value Theory ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
Rainfall Trends ◽  
Main Components ◽  
Climatic Characteristics

The Arabian Peninsula is a region characterized by diverse climatic conditions due to its location and geomorphological characteristics. Its precipitation patterns are characterized by very low annual amounts with great seasonal and spatial variability. Moreover, extreme events often lead to flooding and pose threat to human life and activities. Towards a better understanding of the spatiotemporal features of precipitation in the region, a thirty-year (1986-2015) climatic analysis has been prepared with the aid of the state-of-the-art numerical modeling system RAMS/ICLAMS. Its two-way interactive nesting capabilities, explicit cloud microphysical schemes with seven categories of hydrometeors and the ability to handle dust aerosols as predictive quantities are significant advantages over an area where dust is a dominant factor. An extended evaluation based on in situ measurements and satellite records revealed a good model behavior. The analysis was performed in three main components; the mean climatic characteristics, the rainfall trends and the extreme cases. The extremes are analyzed under the principles of the extreme value theory, focusing not only on the duration but also on the intensity of the events. The annual and monthly rainfall patterns are investigated and discussed. The spatial distribution of the precipitation trends revealed insignificant percentage differences in the examined period. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the eastern part and the top half of the western Arabian Peninsula presented the lowest risk associated with extreme events. Apart from the pure scientific interest, the present study provides useful information for different sectors of society and economy, such as civil protection, constructions and reinsurance.

scholarly journals A precipitation climatology for the Arabian Peninsula: from droughts to extremes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Platon Patlakas ◽  
Christos Stathopoulos ◽  
Nikolaos S. Bartsotas ◽  
Helena Flocas ◽  
George Kallos
Keyword(s):  
Arabian Peninsula ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Value Theory ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
The North ◽  
Extreme Precipitation Events

<p>The Arabian Peninsula is an area of diverse climatic conditions due to its location and geomorphological characteristics. It is affected by the Indian monsoon in the South and the Mediterranean synoptic scale systems in the North. It has mostly a desert-type climate with extreme heat during the daytime and very low annual rainfall. Extreme precipitation events related to convective activities are not that rare though. Such events often lead to flooding and may pose threat to human life and activities. At the same time, their local nature makes the recording and forecasting very difficult but essential. Towards a better understanding of the spatiotemporal features, the links and the feedback mechanisms associated with precipitation, a thirty year regional climatic analysis has been prepared with the aid of the state-of-the-art modeling system RAMS/ICLAMS. Its two-way interactive nesting capabilities, explicit cloud microphysical schemes with seven categories of hydrometeors and the ability to handle dust aerosols as predictive quantities make it suitable in an area where dust is a dominant factor. Special focus is given to densely populated regions and in several cities in order to cover the climatic features of the Peninsula to a satisfactory extent. An extended evaluation based on in-situ measurements and satellite records is performed. A monthly climatic analysis is performed alongside with a trend analysis to better assess the rainfall patterns throughout the thirty year period. The extremes are studied under the principles of the extreme value theory focusing not only on the duration but also on the intensity of the events. To enrich the analysis of the precipitation climate an examination of droughts is also performed. Apart from the strict scientific interest, the outcome has an added value in civil protection and several industries such as constructions and reinsurance.</p>

scholarly journals A Tree-Ring chronology from Allerød–YD transition from Koźmin (Central Poland)

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-111
Author(s):  
Marek Krąpiec ◽  
Elżbieta Szychowska-Krąpiec ◽  
Joanna Barniak ◽  
Tomasz Goslar ◽  
Piotr Kittel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Extreme Events ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Matching Method ◽  
Tree Ring Chronology ◽  
Central Poland ◽  
Organic Sediments ◽  
Strong Winds ◽  
Late Weichselian ◽  
Convergent Sequences

AbstractSubfossil trunks of pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) from the Late Weichselian were discovered in the site Koźmin in the Koło Basin, central Poland (Dzieduszyńska et al., 2014a). Another part of organic sediments with trunks was excavated in the frame of the research project. Altogether 224 samples from Koźmin were analysed dendrochronologically; they represented generally young trees, 40 to 70 years old. Based on the most convergent sequences, the chronology 2KOL_A1 was produced, 210 years in length. With the wiggle-matching method, it was dated to ca. 13065–12855 cal BP. Dendrochronological dating of trunks buried in organic sediments, most of which occurred in situ, revealed that tree deaths occurred successively, over more than 100 years. That could have been due to unfavourable climatic conditions, as well as extreme events, e.g. strong winds.

Kluyveromyces marxianus as a Probiotic Yeast: A Mini-review

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. 1163-1169
Author(s):  
Aziz Homayouni-Rad ◽  
Aslan Azizi ◽  
Parvin Oroojzadeh ◽  
Hadi Pourjafar
Keyword(s):  
Kluyveromyces Marxianus ◽  
Yeast Species ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Saccharomyces Boulardii ◽  
Biotechnological Products ◽  
Probiotic Yeast ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
Main Components ◽  
Micro Organisms ◽  
Harmful Effects

Background: Yeasts play diverse roles in human life. Since ancient times, these micro organisms have been used to produce food products and beverages including bread and beer. Nowadays, the biotechnological products of yeast are some of the main components of commercial products. Objective: Some species of yeast such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomyces boulardii are recognized as probiotic yeast with extensive applications in the food and drug industries. However, certain species like Kluyveromyces marxianus are still not recognized as probiotic micro organisms despite their widespread industrial usage. In this study, the application of K. marxianus in preparing food and the medicinal product was reviewed in terms of its beneficial or harmful effects. Methods: Pub Med, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Science Direct databases were searched by using “Probiotics”, “Yeast”, and “Kluyveromyces marxianus”. Results: The findings suggest that K. marxianus can be recognized as a probiotic yeast species. Conclusion: It can be concluded that K. marxianus may be considered as a probiotic micro organism with a variety of commercial and medical applications.

scholarly journals Determination of Environmental Factors for the Implementation of the Exploitability Index in Industrial Aggregate Mining Using Multi-Criteria Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 196
Author(s):  
Julio Manuel de Luis-Ruiz ◽  
Benito Ramiro Salas-Menocal ◽  
Gema Fernández-Maroto ◽  
Rubén Pérez-Álvarez ◽  
Raúl Pereda-García
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Environmental Factor ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Accurate Estimation ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy ◽  
Main Components ◽  
Hierarchy Process ◽  
Made In

The quality of human life is linked to the exploitation of mining resources. The Exploitability Index (EI) assesses the actual possibilities to enable a mine according to several factors. The environment is one of the most constraining ones, but its analysis is made in a shallow way. This research is focused on its determination, according to a new preliminary methodology that sets the main components of the environmental impact related to the development of an exploitation of industrial minerals and its weighting according to the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). It is applied to the case of the ophitic outcrops in Cantabria (Spain). Twelve components are proposed and weighted with the AHP and an algorithm that allows for assigning a normalized value for the environmental factor to each deposit. Geographic Information Systems (GISs) are applied, allowing us to map a large number of components of the environmental factors. This provides a much more accurate estimation of the environmental factor, with respect to reality, and improves the traditional methodology in a substantial way. It can be established as a methodology for mining spaces planning, but it is suitable for other contexts, and it raises developing the environmental analysis before selecting the outcrop to be exploited.

scholarly journals The effects of ENSO, climate change and human activities on the water level of Lake Toba, Indonesia: a critical literature review

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendri Irwandi ◽  
Mohammad Syamsu Rosid ◽  
Terry Mart
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Level ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
Climate Projections ◽  
Continuous Increase ◽  
The Future

AbstractThis research quantitatively and qualitatively analyzes the factors responsible for the water level variations in Lake Toba, North Sumatra Province, Indonesia. According to several studies carried out from 1993 to 2020, changes in the water level were associated with climate variability, climate change, and human activities. Furthermore, these studies stated that reduced rainfall during the rainy season due to the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the continuous increase in the maximum and average temperatures were some of the effects of climate change in the Lake Toba catchment area. Additionally, human interventions such as industrial activities, population growth, and damage to the surrounding environment of the Lake Toba watershed had significant impacts in terms of decreasing the water level. However, these studies were unable to determine the factor that had the most significant effect, although studies on other lakes worldwide have shown these factors are the main causes of fluctuations or decreases in water levels. A simulation study of Lake Toba's water balance showed the possibility of having a water surplus until the mid-twenty-first century. The input discharge was predicted to be greater than the output; therefore, Lake Toba could be optimized without affecting the future water level. However, the climate projections depicted a different situation, with scenarios predicting the possibility of extreme climate anomalies, demonstrating drier climatic conditions in the future. This review concludes that it is necessary to conduct an in-depth, comprehensive, and systematic study to identify the most dominant factor among the three that is causing the decrease in the Lake Toba water level and to describe the future projected water level.

scholarly journals In-Situ Synthesis of TiO2@GO Nanosheets for Polymers Degradation in a Natural Environment

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 2158
Author(s):  
Yueqin Shi ◽  
Zhanyang Yu ◽  
Zhengjun Li ◽  
Xiaodong Zhao ◽  
Yongjun Yuan
Keyword(s):  
Natural Environment ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Separation Efficiency ◽  
Basic Mechanism ◽  
Chemical Degradation ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Additional Energy ◽  
Photogenerated Electrons ◽  
Main Components

Plastic photodegradation naturally takes 300–500 years, and their chemical degradation typically needs additional energy or causes secondary pollution. The main components of global plastic are polymers. Hence, new technologies are urgently required for the effective decomposition of the polymers in natural environments, which lays the foundation for this study on future plastic degradation. This study synthesizes the in-situ growth of TiO2 at graphene oxide (GO) matrix to form the TiO2@GO photocatalyst, and studies its application in conjugated polymers’ photodegradation. The photodegradation process could be probed by UV-vis absorption originating from the conjugated backbone of polymers. We have found that the complete decomposition of various polymers in a natural environment by employing the photocatalyst TiO2@GO within 12 days. It is obvious that the TiO2@GO shows a higher photocatalyst activity than the TiO2, due to the higher crystallinity morphology and smaller size of TiO2, and the faster transmission of photogenerated electrons from TiO2 to GO. The stronger fluorescence (FL) intensity of TiO2@GO compared to TiO2 at the terephthalic acid aqueous solution indicates that more hydroxyl radicals (•OH) are produced for TiO2@GO. This further confirms that the GO could effectively decrease the generation of recombination centers, enhance the separation efficiency of photoinduced electrons and holes, and increase the photocatalytic activity of TiO2@GO. This work establishes the underlying basic mechanism of polymers photodegradation, which might open new avenues for simultaneously addressing the white pollution crisis in a natural environment.

Engaging with the science and politics of biodiversity futures: a literature review

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Carina Wyborn ◽  
Elena Louder ◽  
Mike Harfoot ◽  
Samantha Hill
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Global Environmental Change ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Science And Politics ◽  
Science Community ◽  
Impact On Biodiversity ◽  
Made In

Summary Future global environmental change will have a significant impact on biodiversity through the intersecting forces of climate change, urbanization, human population growth, overexploitation, and pollution. This presents a fundamental challenge to conservation approaches, which seek to conserve past or current assemblages of species or ecosystems in situ. This review canvases diverse approaches to biodiversity futures, including social science scholarship on the Anthropocene and futures thinking alongside models and scenarios from the biophysical science community. It argues that charting biodiversity futures requires processes that must include broad sections of academia and the conservation community to ask what desirable futures look like, and for whom. These efforts confront political and philosophical questions about levels of acceptable loss, and how trade-offs can be made in ways that address the injustices in the distribution of costs and benefits across and within human and non-human life forms. As such, this review proposes that charting biodiversity futures is inherently normative and political. Drawing on diverse scholarship united under a banner of ‘futures thinking’ this review presents an array of methods, approaches and concepts that provide a foundation from which to consider research and decision-making that enables action in the context of contested and uncertain biodiversity futures.

Models for New Corrugated and Porous Solar Air Collectors under Transient Operation

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qahtan Adnan Abed ◽  
Viorel Badescu ◽  
Adrian Ciocanea ◽  
Iuliana Soriga ◽  
Dorin Bureţea
Keyword(s):  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Meteorological Conditions ◽  
Bias Error ◽  
First Order ◽  
Solar Air Collector ◽  
Section Surface ◽  
South Eastern Europe ◽  
Main Components ◽  
Theoretical Results ◽  
Good Agreement

AbstractMathematical models have been developed to evaluate the dynamic behavior of two solar air collectors: the first one is equipped with a V-porous absorber and the second one with a U-corrugated absorber. The collectors have the same geometry, cross-section surface area and are built from the same materials, the only difference between them being the absorbers. V-corrugated absorbers have been treated in literature but the V-porous absorbers modeled here have not been very often considered. The models are based on first-order differential equations which describe the heat exchange between the main components of the two types of solar air heaters. Both collectors were exposed to the sun in the same meteorological conditions, at identical tilt angle and they operated at the same air mass flow rate. The tests were carried out in the climatic conditions of Bucharest (Romania, South Eastern Europe). There is good agreement between the theoretical results and experiments. The average bias error was about 7.75 % and 10.55 % for the solar air collector with “V”-porous absorber and with “U”-corrugated absorber, respectively. The collector based on V-porous absorber has higher efficiency than the collector with U-corrugated absorber around the noon of clear days. Around sunrise and sunset, the collector with U-corrugated absorber is more effective.

The Era of Environmental Derangement: Witnessing Climate Crisis in Amitav Ghosh’s Gun Island

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nupur Pancholi ◽  
◽  
Sanjit Kumar Mishra ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Good Life ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Cumulative Impacts ◽  
Environmental Deterioration ◽  
Human Interventions ◽  
Human World ◽  
Climate Crisis

Drawing on Amitav Ghosh’s novel Gun Island (2019) together with his nonfictional The Great Derangement (2016), the article strives to present that while advancing endless desires, human-centric culture and the idea of ‘good life’ drive climate change and environmental deterioration. It seeks to enumerate the devastating consequences of changing climatic conditions and degenerating ecosystems and their cumulative impacts on the humankind and non-human world. It aims to locate how human life at the margins has been affected by these cataclysmic consequences through analysing Ghosh’s Gun Island. It attempts to show that human interventions had significantly fuelled the global climate crisis in the seventeenth century, decoding the myth of Bonduki Sadagar that Ghosh identifies in Gun Island.

Human Potential of the Population of Russian Regions: the Level and Dynamics of Development (Part Two)

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 59-72
Author(s):  
L. Migranova ◽  
M. Toksanbaeva
Keyword(s):  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Human Potential ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
Reproductive Structure ◽  
North Caucasus ◽  
Index Method ◽  
Potential Development ◽  
Northern Regions ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Main Components

The Object of the Study. Human potential.The Subject of the Study. The level and dynamics of development of the human potential of the population of the RF subjects. The Purpose of the Study. Identifying differences in development of the human potential of the population of the RF subjects and opportunities for their reduction.The Main Provisions of the Article. Human potential and its development are considered article both as the purpose and the means of human progress reflecting extension of human opportunities including creative (resource) capabilities. Theoretical and instrumental interpretation of the main components of human potential based on its reproductive structure is analysed. The components include a demographic component, components of population health and education, and a sociocultural component. For estimation of human potential indicators for each of its component, as well as a methodology for both component-by-component and composite (aggregate of all components) calculations using the index method are proposed. The methodology is applied to all RF subjects using the Rosstat data for 2010 and 2015. On the basis of the obtained estimates the authors have identified the levels of human potential development in regions that enabling to range them by this level and analyze the direction of its changes in dynamics. Components have been found out a weak and strong impact on the composite estimates as well as specifics of this impact by groups of regions. It has been established that demographic and health components leave much to be desired, particularly in northern regions characterized by harsh natural climatic conditions of life in particular.In North Caucasus regions the problem of raising educational level of population has not lost its relevance. It is shown that despite the general growth in the level of human potential development in most subjects of the Russian Federation over the period in question it remains insufficient for implementing modernization processes in some regions.

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