scholarly journals Thermal Requirements Underpinning Germination Allude to Risk of Species Decline from Climate Warming

Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Anne Cochrane
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Thermal Requirements ◽  
The Past ◽  
Warming Climate ◽  
Species Vulnerability ◽  
The Face ◽  
Germination Timing ◽  
Regeneration Phase ◽  
Gradient Plate

The storage of seeds is a commonly used means of preserving plant genetic diversity in the face of rising threats such as climate change. Here, the findings of research from the past decade into thermal requirements for germination are synthesised for more than 100 plant species from southern Western Australia. This global biodiversity hotspot is predicted to suffer major plant collapse under forecast climate change. A temperature gradient plate was used to assess the thermal requirements underpinning seed germination in both commonly occurring and geographically restricted species. The results suggest that the local climate of the seed source sites does not drive seed responses, neither is it indicative of temperatures for optimal germination. The low diurnal phase of the temperature regime provided the most significant impact on germination timing. Several species germinated optimally at mean temperatures below or close to current wet quarter temperatures, and more than 40% of species were likely to be impacted in the future, with germination occurring under supra-optimal temperature conditions. This research highlights both species vulnerability and resilience to a warming climate during the regeneration phase of the life cycle and provides vital information for those aiming to manage, conserve and restore this regional flora.

What the past can say about the present and future of fire

2020 ◽  
Vol 96 ◽  
pp. 66-87
Author(s):  
Jennifer R. Marlon
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Combustion Products ◽  
Temperature Changes ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Warming Climate ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
In Fire ◽  
Very High

AbstractWildfires are an integral part of most terrestrial ecosystems. Paleofire records composed of charcoal, soot, and other combustion products deposited in lake and marine sediments, soils, and ice provide a record of the varying importance of fire over time on every continent. This study reviews paleofire research to identify lessons about the nature of fire on Earth and how its past variability is relevant to modern environmental challenges. Four lessons are identified. First, fire is highly sensitive to climate change, and specifically to temperature changes. As long as there is abundant, dry fuel, we can expect that in a warming climate, fires will continue to grow unusually large, severe, and uncontrollable in fire-prone environments. Second, a better understanding of “slow” (interannual to multidecadal) socioecological processes is essential for predicting future wildfire and carbon emissions. Third, current patterns of burning, which are very low in some areas and very high in others—are often unprecedented in the context of the Holocene. Taken together, these insights point to a fourth lesson—that current changes in wildfire dynamics provide an opportunity for paleoecologists to engage the public and help them understand the potential consequences of anthropogenic climate change.

Epilogue

2016 ◽  
pp. 119-122
Author(s):  
Christian W. McMillen
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
The Past ◽  
Public Health Infrastructure ◽  
Health Infrastructure ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Face ◽  
New Challenges

There will be more pandemics. A pandemic might come from an old, familiar foe such as influenza or might emerge from a new source—a zoonosis that makes its way into humans, perhaps. The epilogue asks how the world will confront pandemics in the future. It is likely that patterns established long ago will re-emerge. But how will new challenges, like climate change, affect future pandemics and our ability to respond? Will lessons learned from the past help with plans for the future? One thing is clear: in the face of a serious pandemic much of the developing world’s public health infrastructure will be woefully overburdened. This must be addressed.

Assessing Gender Equality in Climate Change Advocacy Campaign for Sustainable Agricultural Food Security in Uganda

2021 ◽  
pp. 207-217
Author(s):  
Wilson Okaka
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Information Service ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Climate Change Effects ◽  
The Face ◽  
Agricultural Food

This chapter examines climate change and variability emergency disaster risks on agricultural food security of the local communities in Africa with a focus on gender equality lens in Uganda. Ugandan women contribute up to 75% of domestic food production and yet they are often overburdened with reproduction, household management, gender-specific discrimination, and adverse climate change effects like agricultural droughts, flash flooding, violent windstorms, or water stress. To ensure sustainable food security in the face of climate change vulnerability risks, the role of women is vital. Communication strategy to promote local climate information service (CIS) delivery system has been developed by the local government district planners in the park areas, but there is a lack of capacity to raise public awareness of the gender equality for the empowerment of women and girls for sustainable food security through agriculture production in Uganda for enhanced livelihood assets.

scholarly journals Flattening the climate curve

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
tomas molina
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Behaviour ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Scientific Communication ◽  
The Past ◽  
Greenhouse Gases Emissions ◽  
Warming Climate ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Change Curve ◽  
General Society

<p>With the arrival of COVID we have learned how to flatten the "pandemic curve" during the past year. Now it is time to finally flatten the global warming, climate change curve.</p><p>The scientific knowledge is clear and unequivocal, but we must now strengthen our scientific communication to the general population, to governments, to industry, and to the private sector, to drive changes to our social behaviour as individuals, workers, communities and general society.</p><p>We talk a lot about private and public partnership; we need also to include also the scientific community in this cooperation. All of society needs to know and understand the challenges, in order to drive changes in social behaviour that reduce greenhouse gases emissions.</p>

scholarly journals Análise Espaço-Temporal das Temperaturas no Ceará no Contexto das Mudanças Climáticas

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 743
Author(s):  
Arnóbio De Mendonça Barreto Cavalcante ◽  
Eliane Barbosa Santos ◽  
Vicente de Paula Silva Filho Silva Filho ◽  
Vanessa de Almeida Dantas ◽  
Luciana Cristina De Sousa Vieira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
The State ◽  
Time Analysis ◽  
Average Temperature ◽  
The Past ◽  
Warming Climate ◽  
Maximum Temperatures ◽  
Maximum Minimum ◽  
Meteorological Institute

O aumento de temperatura do ar é uma realidade inquestionável. Vários trabalhos em macroescala confirmam esse fato, mas é preciso melhorar nossa compreensão, também, em escalas menores. O objetivo desse estudo foi analisar e comparar as normais climatológicas das temperaturas máxima, mínima e média compensada do período de 1961-1990 (normal de referência) com as normais climatológicas provisórias de 1994-2015, com o propósito de identificar mudanças nos padrões de temperatura e obter uma avaliação mais refinada das mudanças climáticas ocorridas nas últimas décadas no estado do Ceará, Brasil. Para tal, utilizou-se do banco de dados meteorológicos do INMET. O comportamento das temperaturas máxima, mínima e média compensada revelou para todas as estações selecionadas, um padrão de aumento do período 1994-2015 em relação ao período 1961-1990, da ordem de 0,7 oC, 0,4 oC e 0,6 oC em média, respectivamente. Destaca-se que esse aumento alcançou todo o estado mas, como cada localidade apresenta particularidades, a alta da temperatura não foi uniforme variando em função do setor do estado. As temperaturas médias foram “puxadas” para cima mais por conta dos aumentos das temperaturas máximas do que devido às medidas das temperaturas mínimas.Palavras-chave: Aquecimento do Ar; Normais Climatológicas; Mesoescala.  Space-Time Analysis of Temperatures in Ceará in the Context of Climate Change  A B S T R A C TSpatiotemporal analysis of temperatures in Ceará-Brazil in the context of climate change. The rise in air temperature is an unquestionable reality. Several studies in macroscale confirm this fact, but we must improve our understanding also at smaller scales. The aim of this study was to analyze and compare the climate normals of maximum, minimum and average temperature of the 1961-1990 period (normal reference) with the provisional climate normals from 1994 to 2015, with the purpose of identifying changes in temperature patterns and a more refined assessment of climate change over the past decades in the state of Ceará. For this, the database is used, taken from the National Meteorological Institute of Brazil (INMET). The behavior of the maximum, minimum and average temperature revealed for all selected stations, a pattern of increased period 1994-2015 for the period 1961-1990, in the order of 0.7 °C, 0.4 °C and 0.6 oC in average, respectively. It is noteworthy that this increase reached throughout the state but as each location has special features, the temperature rise has not been uniform. It changed due to the state section. Average temperatures were "pulled" up more because of the rise in maximum temperatures that due to the measures of minimum temperatures.Keywords: Air Warming, Climate Normals, Mesoscale.

Assessing Gender Equality in Climate Change Advocacy Campaign for Sustainable Agricultural Food Security in Uganda

2022 ◽  
pp. 1220-1228
Author(s):  
Wilson Okaka
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Information Service ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Climate Change Effects ◽  
The Face ◽  
Agricultural Food

This chapter examines climate change and variability emergency disaster risks on agricultural food security of the local communities in Africa with a focus on gender equality lens in Uganda. Ugandan women contribute up to 75% of domestic food production and yet they are often overburdened with reproduction, household management, gender-specific discrimination, and adverse climate change effects like agricultural droughts, flash flooding, violent windstorms, or water stress. To ensure sustainable food security in the face of climate change vulnerability risks, the role of women is vital. Communication strategy to promote local climate information service (CIS) delivery system has been developed by the local government district planners in the park areas, but there is a lack of capacity to raise public awareness of the gender equality for the empowerment of women and girls for sustainable food security through agriculture production in Uganda for enhanced livelihood assets.

Human resilience and resettlement among the Islands of Four Mountains, Aleutians, Alaska

2019 ◽  
Vol 91 (03) ◽  
pp. 917-933 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia L. Hatfield ◽  
Kirsten Nicolaysen ◽  
Dixie L. West ◽  
Olga A. Krylovich ◽  
Kale M. Bruner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Volcanic Eruption ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Aleutian Islands ◽  
Human Settlements ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
The Past ◽  
Human Ecodynamics ◽  
The Face

AbstractCombined archaeological, ecological, and geologic research on Chuginadak and Carlisle Islands in the Islands of Four Mountains (IFM) probed questions about the sustainability of human settlements over the past 4000 years in the face of geologic, ecological, and social hazards. We use a human ecodynamics approach to frame the investigation and present original archaeological evidence from this poorly known region of the remote Aleutian Islands. Several village sites occupied during the last four millennia are clustered in locations that were not damaged by earthquake-induced tsunamis; however, new geologic evidence indicates that at least one volcanic eruption forced humans to abandon one or more prehistoric village sites. Combined archaeological, ecological, and geologic analyses demonstrate resilient Unangax̂ occupations of the IFM through long-term climate change as well as earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions with occasional community vulnerability to volcanic eruptions.

scholarly journals Rapid diversification of the Australian Amitermes group during late Cenozoic climate change

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bastian Heimburger ◽  
Leonie Schardt ◽  
Alexander Brandt ◽  
Stefan Scheu ◽  
Tamara R Hartke
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Wide Distribution ◽  
Monsoon Region ◽  
Late Cenozoic ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Face ◽  
Rapid Diversification ◽  
Past Climate Change ◽  
First Time

Late Cenozoic climate change led to the progressive aridification of Australia over the past 15 million years. This gradual biome turnover fundamentally changed Australia's ecosystems, opening new niches and prompting diversification of plants and animals. One example is the Australian Amitermes Group (AAG), consisting of the Australian Amitermes and affiliated genera. Although it represents the most speciose and diverse higher termite group in Australia, little is known about its evolutionary history. We used ancestral range reconstruction and diversification analyses to illuminate 1) the origin and phylogenetic relationships of the AAG, 2) biogeographical processes leading to the current continent-wide distribution, and 3) timing and pattern of diversification in the context of late Cenozoic climate change. By estimating the first time-calibrated phylogeny, we show that the AAG is a monophyletic group, whose ancestor arrived ~11-10 million years ago from Southeast Asia. Ancestral range reconstruction indicates that Australia's monsoon region was the launching point for a continental radiation that has been shaped by range expansions and within-area speciation rather than vicariance. We found that multiple arid species diversified from mesic and tropical ancestors in the Plio-Pleistocene, but also observed diversification in the opposite direction. Finally, we show that two pulses of rapid diversification coincided with past climate change during the late Miocene and early Pliocene. Consistent with rapid diversification, species accumulation then slowed, likely caused by progressive niche saturation. This study provides a stepping stone for predicting the future response of Australia's termite fauna in the face of human-mediated climate change.

scholarly journals Coral reefs as a source of climate-active aerosols

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e10023
Author(s):  
Rebecca L. Jackson ◽  
Albert J. Gabric ◽  
Roger Cropp
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Coral Reefs ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Environmental Stressors ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressures ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Face ◽  
Aerosol Emissions ◽  
The Relationship

We review the evidence for bio-regulation by coral reefs of local climate through stress-induced emissions of aerosol precursors, such as dimethylsulfide. This is an issue that goes to the core of the coral ecosystem’s ability to maintain homeostasis in the face of increasing climate change impacts and other anthropogenic pressures. We examine this through an analysis of data on aerosol emissions by corals of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. We focus on the relationship with local stressors, such as surface irradiance levels and sea surface temperature, both before and after notable coral bleaching events. We conclude that coral reefs may be able to regulate their exposure to environmental stressors through modification of the optical properties of the atmosphere, however this ability may be impaired as climate change intensifies.

scholarly journals Better Safe than Sorry: Local Impacts of Climate Change on Agricultural Activities in North-East Ghana

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-73
Author(s):  
Mary Ann Alua ◽  
Kenneth Peprah ◽  
Godwin Thomas Wedam Achana
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Arid Zone ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
North East ◽  
The Face ◽  
Local Climate Change ◽  
The Government ◽  
Local Impacts

 Water is precious and vulnerable simultaneously in the face of climate change impacts. Farmers respond differently to climate change impacts depending on available resources. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of access to water on smallholder farmers’ coping strategies to climate change impacts in the semi-arid zone (Aw climate). Using a mixed method approach, 6 focus group discussions, 10 key informant interviews and 148 questionnaires were administered to farmers. Quantitative data were analysed and presented using descriptive statistics whilst qualitative data were transcribed and discussed alongside. The study found that in coping with local climate change, farmers’ incomes are dependent on availability of water to supplement rainfall. Therefore, communities closer to the waters of the Tono irrigation dam have greater advantage over other communities that rely on waters from dugouts and wells. Also, income gained from farming is complemented with supplementary incomes from activities such as petty trading, carpentry and sale of farmers’ labour on other farms. Availability of water, particularly, during the dry season is a determinant factor of success in terms of good farm produce, income and better coping with local climate change impacts. To help these water-stressed farmers, the provision of sustainable sources of water is inevitable.  The government and smallholders need to work together to solve the problem.

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