Fundamental Concepts of Human Thermoregulation and Adaptation to Heat: A Review in the Context of Global Warming

The international community has recognized global warming as an impending catastrophe that poses significant threat to life on earth. In response, the signatories of the Paris Agreement (2015) have committed to limit the increase in global mean temperature to <1.5 °C from pre-industry period, which is defined as 1850–1890. Considering that the protection of human life is a central focus in the Paris Agreement, the naturally endowed properties of the human body to protect itself from environmental extremes should form the core of an integrated and multifaceted solution against global warming. Scholars believe that heat and thermoregulation played important roles in the evolution of life and continue to be a central mechanism that allows humans to explore, labor and live in extreme conditions. However, the international effort against global warming has focused primarily on protecting the environment and on the reduction of greenhouse gases by changing human behavior, industrial practices and government policies, with limited consideration given to the nature and design of the human thermoregulatory system. Global warming is projected to challenge the limits of human thermoregulation, which can be enhanced by complementing innate human thermo-plasticity with the appropriate behavioral changes and technological innovations. Therefore, the primary aim of this review is to discuss the fundamental concepts and physiology of human thermoregulation as the underlying bases for human adaptation to global warming. Potential strategies to extend human tolerance against environmental heat through behavioral adaptations and technological innovations will also be discussed. An important behavioral adaptation postulated by this review is that sleep/wake cycles would gravitate towards a sub-nocturnal pattern, especially for outdoor activities, to avoid the heat in the day. Technologically, the current concept of air conditioning the space in the room would likely steer towards the concept of targeted body surface cooling. The current review was conducted using materials that were derived from PubMed search engine and the personal library of the author. The PubMed search was conducted using combinations of keywords that are related to the theme and topics in the respective sections of the review. The final set of articles selected were considered “state of the art,” based on their contributions to the strength of scientific evidence and novelty in the domain knowledge on human thermoregulation and global warming.

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Paris Climate Change Conference: A Fresh Start of International Climate Governance in the New Era

Chinese Journal of Urban and Environmental Studies ◽

10.1142/s2345748116500044 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 04 (01) ◽

pp. 1650004 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Guoguang ZHENG ◽

Qingchen CHAO ◽

Yongxiang ZHANG

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Sustainable Development ◽

Global Warming ◽

Scientific Evidence ◽

International Community ◽

Paris Agreement ◽

Low Carbon ◽

Governance System ◽

Climate Governance ◽

International Climate

After tough negotiations, the Paris Agreement finally reached at the Climate Change Conference in Paris. When taking the background into consideration, though the process is tortuous and arduous, the desirability of the Agreement needs no affirmation. Global warming is unequivocal, posing a serious risk to global economic, social sustainable development and natural as well as ecological environment. Scientific evidence shows that human activity is the main cause of current global warming. Tackling climate change should be the path leading the whole society to shift towards low-carbon, green, and circular development, in order to achieve the sustainable development of the international community. World leaders gathered in Paris to discuss actions against climate change and helped establish an international climate governance system after 2020. As governments and the international community are gradually reaching a consensus on the issue of addressing climate change, positive political will and the awareness of win–win cooperation are growing strong. The adoption of the Paris Agreement indicates a new phase of international climate governance, encouraging the parties to participate with more inclusive and practical ways.

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Political Preferences, Personality Traits, and Environmentalism

10.31234/osf.io/fm95k ◽

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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Le Bon’s crowd psychology and post-truth

Theoria Beograd ◽

10.2298/theo2101149p ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 64 (1) ◽

pp. 149-160

Author(s):

Dusko Prelevic

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Deliberative Democracy ◽

Public Discourse ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Scientific Evidence ◽

Technological Innovations ◽

Psychological Mechanisms ◽

Public Debates ◽

Crowd Psychology ◽

Philosophical Community

The phenomenon of post-truth, in which truth (or facts or the best scientific evidence) is brushed aside in public debates, has recently caught the eye of many philosophers, who typically see it as a threat to deliberative democracy. In this paper, it is argued that Gustave Le Bon?s remarks on crowd psychology, which had been very popular in past (and brushed aside later on), might be relevant for a better understanding of psychological mechanisms that lead to post-truth. According to Le Bon, crowds are often irrational, whereas those who try to convince them to do something should use specific techniques of persuasion, such as affirmation, repetition, contagion and prestige, of which the last one can be undermined either by fiasco (the fastest way), or by critique (a bit slower, but nonetheless effective way). It is the age of posttruth that goes towards the neutralization of any critique (Le Bon himself considered such neutralization devastating for democratic societies), which has been, according to some authors, affected to a great extent by technological innovations in media, such as social media that some authors consider anti-social due to their negative impact on society. I argue that Le Bon?s insights might be useful to members of scientific and philosophical community in their attempts to eliminate the spreading of quasi-scientific views in public discourse.

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Impacts of 1.5 and 2.0 °C Global Warming on Water Balance Components over Senegal in West Africa

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos10110712 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. 712

Author(s):

Mamadou Lamine Mbaye ◽

Mouhamadou Bamba Sylla ◽

Moustapha Tall

Keyword(s):

Global Warming ◽

West Africa ◽

Water Deficit ◽

Climate Model ◽

Regional Climate ◽

Climate Change Impacts ◽

Water Balance Components ◽

Global Mean Temperature ◽

The Future ◽

Annual Water

This study assesses the changes in precipitation (P) and in evapotranspiration (ET) under 1.5 °C and 2.0 °C global warming levels (GWLs) over Senegal in West Africa. A set of twenty Regional Climate Model (RCM) simulations within the Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) following the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 4.5 emission scenario is used. Annual and seasonal changes are computed between climate simulations under 1.5 °C and 2.0 °C warming, with respect to 0.5 °C warming, compared to pre-industrial levels. The results show that annual precipitation is likely to decrease under both magnitudes of warming; this decrease is also found during the main rainy season (July, August, September) only and is more pronounced under 2 °C warming. All reference evapotranspiration calculations, from Penman, Hamon, and Hargreaves formulations, show an increase in the future under the two GWLs, except annual Penman evapotranspiration under the 1.5 °C warming scenario. Furthermore, seasonal and annual water balances (P-ET) generally exhibit a water deficit. This water deficit (up to 180 mm) is more substantial with Penman and Hamon under 2 °C. In addition, analyses of changes in extreme precipitation reveal an increase in dry spells and a decrease in the number of wet days. However, Senegal may face a slight increase in very wet days (95th percentile), extremely wet days (99th), and rainfall intensity in the coming decades. Therefore, in the future, Senegal may experience a decline in precipitation, an increase of evapotranspiration, and a slight increase in heavy rainfall. Such changes could have serious consequences (e.g., drought, flood, etc.) for socioeconomic activities. Thus, strong governmental politics are needed to restrict the global mean temperature to avoid irreversible negative climate change impacts over the country. The findings of this study have contributed to a better understanding of local patterns of the Senegal hydroclimate under the two considered global warming scenarios.

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Extreme heat in India and anthropogenic climate change

Natural Hazards and Earth System Science ◽

10.5194/nhess-18-365-2018 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 365-381 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Geert Jan van Oldenborgh ◽

Sjoukje Philip ◽

Sarah Kew ◽

Michiel van Weele ◽

Peter Uhe ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Global Warming ◽

Health Effects ◽

Climate Models ◽

Decadal Variability ◽

Heat Waves ◽

Health Impact ◽

Heat Index ◽

Maximum Temperature ◽

Surface Cooling

Abstract. On 19 May 2016 the afternoon temperature reached 51.0 °C in Phalodi in the northwest of India – a new record for the highest observed maximum temperature in India. The previous year, a widely reported very lethal heat wave occurred in the southeast, in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, killing thousands of people. In both cases it was widely assumed that the probability and severity of heat waves in India are increasing due to global warming, as they do in other parts of the world. However, we do not find positive trends in the highest maximum temperature of the year in most of India since the 1970s (except spurious trends due to missing data). Decadal variability cannot explain this, but both increased air pollution with aerosols blocking sunlight and increased irrigation leading to evaporative cooling have counteracted the effect of greenhouse gases up to now. Current climate models do not represent these processes well and hence cannot be used to attribute heat waves in this area. The health effects of heat are often described better by a combination of temperature and humidity, such as a heat index or wet bulb temperature. Due to the increase in humidity from irrigation and higher sea surface temperatures (SSTs), these indices have increased over the last decades even when extreme temperatures have not. The extreme air pollution also exacerbates the health impacts of heat. From these factors it follows that, from a health impact point of view, the severity of heat waves has increased in India. For the next decades we expect the trend due to global warming to continue but the surface cooling effect of aerosols to diminish as air quality controls are implemented. The expansion of irrigation will likely continue, though at a slower pace, mitigating this trend somewhat. Humidity will probably continue to rise. The combination will result in a strong rise in the temperature of heat waves. The high humidity will make health effects worse, whereas decreased air pollution would decrease the impacts.

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Robust increase of Indian monsoon rainfall and its variability under future warming in CMIP-6 models

10.5194/esd-2020-80 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Anja Katzenberger ◽

Jacob Schewe ◽

Julia Pongratz ◽

Anders Levermann

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Global Warming ◽

Climate Models ◽

Monsoon Rainfall ◽

Global Climate ◽

Coupled Model ◽

Global Climate Models ◽

Future Climate Change ◽

Global Mean Temperature ◽

Almost All

Abstract. The Indian summer monsoon is an integral part of the global climate system. As its seasonal rainfall plays a crucial role in India's agriculture and shapes many other aspects of life, it affects the livelihood of a fifth of the world's population. It is therefore highly relevant to assess its change under potential future climate change. Global climate models within the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP-5) indicated a consistent increase in monsoon rainfall and its variability under global warming. Since the range of the results of CMIP-5 was still large and the confidence in the models was limited due to partly poor representation of observed rainfall, the updates within the latest generation of climate models in CMIP-6 are of interest. Here, we analyse 32 models of the latest CMIP-6 exercise with regard to their annual mean monsoon rainfall and its variability. All of these models show a substantial increase in June-to-September (JJAS) mean rainfall under unabated climate change (SSP5-8.5) and most do also for the other three Shared Socioeconomic Pathways analyzed (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0). Moreover, the simulation ensemble indicates a linear dependence of rainfall on global mean temperature with high agreement between the models and independent of the SSP; the multi-model mean for JJAS projects an increase of 0.33 mm/day and 5.3 % per degree of global warming. This is significantly higher than in the CMIP-5 projections. Most models project that the increase will contribute to the precipitation especially in the Himalaya region and to the northeast of the Bay of Bengal, as well as the west coast of India. Interannual variability is found to be increasing in the higher-warming scenarios by almost all models. The CMIP-6 simulations largely confirm the findings from CMIP-5 models, but show an increased robustness across models with reduced uncertainties and updated magnitudes towards a stronger increase in monsoon rainfall.

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A new scenario logic for the Paris Agreement long-term temperature goal

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-10262 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Joeri Rogelj ◽

Daniel Huppmann ◽

Volker Krey ◽

Keywan Riahi ◽

Leon Clarke ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Global Warming ◽

Integrated Assessment ◽

Transition Period ◽

Paris Agreement ◽

Climate Change Scenarios ◽

Industrial System ◽

Carbon Neutrality ◽

Climate Action ◽

Near Term

To understand how global warming can be kept well-below 2&#176;C and even 1.5&#176;C, climate policy uses scenarios that describe how society could transform in order to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Such scenario are typically created with integrated assessment models that include a representation of the economy, and the energy, land-use, and industrial system. However, current climate change scenarios have a key weakness in that they typically focus on reaching specific climate goals in 2100 only. This choice results in risky pathways that delay action and seemingly inevitably rely on large quantities of carbon-dioxide removal after mid-century. Here we propose a framework that more closely reflects the intentions of the UN Paris Agreement. It focusses on reaching a peak in global warming with either stabilisation or reversal thereafter. This approach provides a critical extension of the widely used Shared Socioecononomic Pathways (SSP) framework and reveals a more diverse picture: an inevitable transition period of aggressive near-term climate action to reach carbon neutrality can be followed by a variety of long-term states. It allows policymakers to explicitly consider near-term climate strategies in the context of intergenerational equity and long-term sustainability.

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KRETERIA DESAIN FOTOBIOREAKTOR SISTEM AIRLIFT REACTOR

Jurnal Teknologi Lingkungan ◽

10.29122/jtl.v11i1.1219 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 27

Author(s):

Arif Dwi Santoso ◽

Abdil H.S ◽

Diyono .

Keyword(s):

Global Warming ◽

Carbon Capture ◽

Human Life ◽

Co2 Reduction ◽

Chemical Mechanism ◽

Co2 Uptake ◽

Environmental Technology ◽

Negative Impacts ◽

Air Lift ◽

Selection Of

Global warming has become an increasingly important issue around the world today due to the rise of anthropogenic greenhouse gases emission, which gives several negative impacts on human life. There are some techniques have been studied and assessed i.e. physical mechanism by injected CO2 to the geological formations, chemical mechanism with artificial tree technology and biological mechanism by increasing the primary production through iron enrichment in high nutrient-low chlorophyll (HNLC) waters as well as mixing of water column below the sea surface. Those technologies, which are well known as Carbon Capture Storage ‘(CCS) technology, are expected to be applied to reduce the oncentration of anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere and to minimize the global warming. The Center of Environmental Technology, Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) will carry out a research concerning CO2 reduction by a phytoplankton culture in a photobioreactor in three years. The main objective of this research is to assess the CO2 uptake capability of tropical phytoplankton. In this paper, we would showed the creteria and design to assembly a photobioreactor esspesially a air lift photobioreactor. To improve performance photobioreaktor, the materials included design criteria and the dynamics of fluids in fotobioreaktor have to considered propoerly. Other the hand, the selection of the most productive species and selection of appropriate media and economically also important to be done. Keywords: global warming, creteria and design, greenhouse gas, air lift photobioreactor

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The relationship between net GHG emissions and radiative forcing with an application to Article 4.1 of the Paris Agreement.

10.21203/rs.3.rs-1022455/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Tom M. L. Wigley

Keyword(s):

Global Warming ◽

Radiative Forcing ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Zero Point ◽

Paris Agreement ◽

Test Case ◽

Net Zero ◽

Global Warming Potentials ◽

The Relationship

Abstract This paper provides an assessment of Article 4.1 of the Paris Agreement on climate; the main goal of which is to provide guidance on how “to achieve the long-term temperature goal set out in Article 2”. Paraphrasing, Article 4.1 says that, to achieve this end, we should decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions so that net anthropogenic GHG emissions fall to zero in the second half of this century. To aggregate net GHG emissions, 100-year Global Warming Potentials (GWP-100) are commonly used to convert non-CO2 emissions to equivalent CO2 emissions. As a test case using methane, temperature projections using GWP-100 scaling are shown to be seriously in error. This throws doubt on the use of GWP-100 scaling to estimate net GHG emissions. An alternative method to determine the net-zero point for GHG emissions based on radiative forcing is derived. This shows that the net-zero point needs to be reached as early as 2036, much sooner than in the Article 4.1 window. Other scientific flaws in Article 4.1 that further undermine its purpose to guide efforts to achieve the Article 2 temperature targets are discussed.

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Towards high-quality net-zero targets

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-10425 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Joeri Rogelj ◽

Andy Reisinger ◽

Annette Cowie ◽

Oliver Geden

Keyword(s):

Global Warming ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Paris Agreement ◽

Emissions Reduction ◽

Special Report ◽

High Quality ◽

Net Zero ◽

The World ◽

Global Goal

With the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015 the world has decided that warming should be kept well below 2&#176;C while pursuing a limit of 1.5&#176;C above preindustrial levels. The Paris Agreement also sets a net emissions reduction goal: in the second half of the century, the balance of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and removals should become net zero. Since 2018, in response to the publication of the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5&#176;C, a flurry of net zero target announcements has ensued. Many countries, cities, regions, companies, or other organisations have come forward with targets to reach net zero, or become carbon or climate neutral. These labels describe a wide variety of targets, and rarely detailed. Lack of transparency renders it impossible to understand their ultimate contribution towards the global goal. Here we present a set of key criteria that high-quality net zero targets should address. These nine criteria cover emissions, removals, timing, fairness and a long-term vision. Unless net zero targets provide clarity on these nine criteria, we may not know until it is too late whether the collective promise of net zero targets is adequate to meet the global goal of the Paris Agreement.

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