scholarly journals Tipping to Staying on the Ground: Internalized Knowledge of Climate Change Crucial for Transformed Air Travel Behavior

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1994 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Jacobson ◽  
Jonas Åkerman ◽  
Matteo Giusti ◽  
Avit K. Bhowmik

Air travel accounts for a major share of individual greenhouse gas emissions, particularly for people in high-income countries. Until recently, few have reduced flying because of climate concerns, but currently, a movement for staying on the ground is rising. Sweden has been a focal point for this movement, particularly during 2018–2019, when a flight tax was introduced, and air travel reduction was intensely discussed in the media. We performed semi-structured interviews with Swedish residents, focusing primarily on individuals who have reduced flying because of its climate impact. We explore how such individual transformation of air travel behavior comes about, and the phases and components of this process. Applying a framework of sustainability transformation, we identify incentives and barriers in personal and political spheres. We show that internalized knowledge about climate change and the impact of air travel is crucial for instigating behavioral change. Awareness evokes negative emotions leading to a personal tipping point where a decision to reduce or quit flying is made. However, the process is often counteracted by both personal values and political structures promoting air travel. Even individuals with a strong drive to reduce flying feel trapped in social practices, norms and infrastructures. Hence, we argue that personal and political spheres interact complexly and to reduce flying at larger scales, interventions are needed across spheres, e.g., change of norms, effective policy instruments and better alternatives to air travel.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sri Rum Giyarsih

Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s surface. According to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) average temperature of the Earth’s surface was global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the 0.74 ± 0.18 0C (1.33 ± 0.32 F) over the last hundred years. The impact of rising temperatures is the climate change effect on agricultural production. If the community does not craft made adaptation to global warming will have an impact on food security. This research aims to know the society’s adaptation to food security as a result of global warming and to know the influence of global warming on food security. The research was carried out based on survey methods. The influence of global warming on food security is identified with a share of household food expenditure and the identification of rainfall. Sampling was done by random sampling. The Data used are the primary and secondary data. Primary Data obtained through structured interviews and depth interview using a questionnaire while the secondary data retrieved from publication data of the Central Bureau Statistics B(BPS), Department of Agriculture and Climatology Meteorology and Geophysics (BMKG). The expected results of the study is to know variations of food security due to global warming in Kulon Progo Regency. Comprehensive knowledge through community participation and related Government increased food security that is used as the basis for drafting the model society’s adaptation to the impacts of global warming.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Fiacre Basson ◽  
Djibril S. Dayamba ◽  
Joel Korahire ◽  
Jean M. Dipama ◽  
Francois Zougmore ◽  
...  

Despite the existence of a National Adaptation Plan to climate change (NAP) in Burkina Faso, operationalizing adaptation still face a number of challenges. The current study focused on identifying institutional barriers to the strategic objectives of climate change adaptation (CCA) using a literature review and semi-structured interviews conducted with key stakeholders / resource persons involved in the implementation of the NAP. The results revealed a weak collaboration between the NAP steering institution and the ministerial departments covered by the NAP. This situation, first, hampers the implementation of adaptation actions and secondly, the monitoring reporting and verification of adaptation initiatives. Further, the analysis revealed that lack of financial resources poses constraints to many actions that were to be taken by the steering institution and therefore creates poor ownership of the NAP by the main stakeholders that should be actively involved in the NAP process. To cope with the various constraints, it is necessary to have strong political support in many aspects. For instance, it was judged that institutionalizing the role of climate change (CC) focal point within the ministries and embedding NAP monitoring and evaluation (M&E) objectives and indicators with existing functional M&E systems in the sectorial ministries will ease CCA actions integration in operational plans, their implementation and documentation. Moreover, it is relevant to have a continuous capacity building plan to keep stakeholders updated on climate change issues as this will support them in their mandate of mainstreaming CC into ministerial operational plans and lead to optimal CCA implementation and monitoring.


2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1873) ◽  
pp. 20172329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Howard ◽  
Philip A. Stephens ◽  
Joseph A. Tobias ◽  
Catherine Sheard ◽  
Stuart H. M. Butchart ◽  
...  

Climate change is predicted to increase migration distances for many migratory species, but the physiological and temporal implications of longer migratory journeys have not been explored. Here, we combine information about species' flight range potential and migratory refuelling requirements to simulate the number of stopovers required and the duration of current migratory journeys for 77 bird species breeding in Europe. Using tracking data, we show that our estimates accord with recorded journey times and stopovers for most species. We then combine projections of altered migratory distances under climate change with models of avian flight to predict future migratory journeys. We find that 37% of migratory journeys undertaken by long-distance migrants will necessitate an additional stopover in future. These greater distances and the increased number of stops will substantially increase overall journey durations of many long-distance migratory species, a factor not currently considered in climate impact studies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-262
Author(s):  
Renata Peregrino de Brito ◽  
Priscila Laczynski de Souza Miguel ◽  
Susana Carla Farias Pereira

Purpose This study aims to analyze the media coverage of the impact of extreme weather events (EWE) and related risk management activities in Brazil. Design/methodology/approach Using a documentary analysis, the authors examined the media coverage of droughts and floods from 2003 to 2013 with concomitant official reports. Findings The results indicate that although media coverage conveys the direct impact of floods and droughts on society, it underemphasizes the importance of risk management activities. Moreover, the private sector rarely engages in risk management and mitigation activities, despite the documented supply chain disruptions. Research limitations/implications This study focuses solely on media coverage as provided by wide-circulation newspaper in Brazil and would benefit by being extended to all media platforms. Practical implications The results highlight the need for private sector involvement in risk management activities to facilitate the adaptation to climate change. Social implications The study reveals the deficiency of existing reports and lack of awareness regarding EWE. Originality/value The study contributes by focusing on climate awareness and how society can adapt to climate change, as well as how businesses can improve supply chain operations to facilitate smoother risk management.


2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 697-713 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Bosshard ◽  
Sven Kotlarski ◽  
Massimiliano Zappa ◽  
Christoph Schär

Abstract Climate change is expected to affect the hydrological cycle, with considerable impacts on water resources. Climate-induced changes in the hydrology of the Rhine River (Europe) are of major importance for the riparian countries, as the Rhine River is the most important European waterway, serves as a freshwater supply source, and is prone to floods and droughts. Here regional climate model data from the Ensemble-Based Predictions of Climate Changes and their Impacts (ENSEMBLES) project is used to drive the hydrological model Precipitation–Runoff–Evapotranspiration–Hydrotope (PREVAH) and to assess the impact of climate change on the hydrology in the Rhine basin. Results suggest increases in monthly mean runoff during winter and decreases in summer. At the gauge Cologne and for the period 2070–99 under the A1B scenario of the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios, projected decreases in summer vary between −9% and −40% depending on the climate model used, while increases in winter are in the range of +4% to +51%. These projected changes in mean runoff are generally consistent with earlier studies, but the derived spread in the runoff projections appears to be larger. It is demonstrated that temperature effects (e.g., through altered snow processes) dominate in the Alpine tributaries, while precipitation effects dominate in the lower portion of the Rhine basin. Analyses are also presented for selected extreme runoff indices.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Naveen P Singh ◽  
Bhawna Anand ◽  
S K Srivastava ◽  
K V Rao ◽  
S K Bal ◽  
...  

Thestudy attempts to estimateand predict climate impact on crop yieldsusing future temperature projections under two climate emissions scenarios of RCP 4.5 and 8.5 for threedifferent time periods (2030s, 2050s and 2080s) across Agro-climatic zones (ACZ) of India.During the period 1966-2011, a significant rise was observed in both the annual mean maximum and minimum temperature across ACZs. Rainfall recorded an annual decline in Himalayan Regions and Gangetic Plains and a rise in Coastal Regions, Plateau & Hills and Western Dry Region.Our results showedhigh heterogeneity in climate impact onkharif and rabi crop yields (with both negative and positive estimates) across ACZs.It was found that rainfall had a positive effect on most of crop yields, but was not sufficient enough to counterbalance the impact of temperature.Changes in crop yield were more pronounced forhigheremission scenario of RCP 8.5. Thus, it was evident that the relative impacts of climate change and the associated vulnerability varyby ACZs, hence comprehensive crop and region-specific adaptation measures should be emphasized that helps in enhancing resilience of agricultural system in short to medium term. 


Author(s):  
Taberannang Korauaba

By Taberannang Korauaba Although the Pacific nation of Kiribati has been identified as one of the most vulnerable countries to the impact of climate change, little is known about the attitudes of the local media and the public toward this issue. This is in contrast to empirical study findings which have shown that the public and the media were aware of the threats posed by climate change. This monograph extracted from the author’s thesis argues that the people of Kiribati are not united over climate change. Browse the author's MCS thesis on Kiribati


Author(s):  
Hartmut Wessler ◽  
Julia Lück ◽  
Antal Wozniak

The annual United Nations Climate Change Conferences, officially called Conferences of the Parties (COPs), are the main drivers of media attention to climate change around the world. Even more so than the Rio and Rio+20 “Earth Summits” (1992 and 2012) and the meetings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the COPs offer multiple access points for the communicative engagement of all kinds of stakeholders. COPs convene up to 20,000 people in one place for two weeks, including national delegations, civil society and business representatives, scientific organizations, representatives from other international organizations, as well as journalists from around the world. While intergovernmental negotiation under the auspices of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) constitutes the core of COP business, these multifunctional events also offer arenas for civil society mobilization, economic lobbying, as well as expert communication and knowledge transfer. The media image of the COPs emerges as a product of distinct networks of coproduction constituted by journalists, professional communicators from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and national delegations. Production structures at the COPs are relatively globalized with uniform access rules for journalists from all over the world, a few transnational news agencies dominating distribution of both basic information and news visuals, and dense localized interaction between public relations (PR) professionals and journalists. Photo opportunities created by globally coordinated environmental NGOs meet the selection of journalists much better than the visual strategies pursued by delegation spokespeople. This gives NGOs the upper hand in the visual framing contest, whereas in textual framing NGOs are sidelined and national politicians clearly dominate media coverage. The globalized production environment leads to relatively similar patterns of basic news framing in national media coverage of the COPs that reflect overarching ways of approaching the topic: through a focus on problems and victims; a perspective on civil society demands and solutions; an emphasis on conflict in negotiations; or a focus on the benefits of clean energy production. News narratives, on the other hand, give journalists from different countries more leeway in adapting COP news to national audiences’ presumed interests and preoccupations. Even after the adoption of a new global treaty at COP21 in Paris in 2015 that specifies emission reduction targets for all participating countries, the annual UN Climate Change Conferences are likely to remain in the media spotlight. Future research could look more systematically at the impact of global civil society and media in monitoring the national contributions to climate change mitigation introduced in the Paris Agreement and shoring up even more ambitious commitments needed to reach the goal of keeping global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius as compared to pre-industrial levels.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  

Abstract Climate change is real; and its health implications are numerous and serious. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) include responsible consumption (SDG 12) and climate action (SDG 13). Scientific conferences are significant and regularly recurring components of professional life. They represent major opportunities, e.g., of information exchange, networking and quality assurance. At the same time, they involve major amounts of traveling as well as other resource-intensive activities. For several years now, based on a perspective of sustainability and professional credibility, EUPHA has taken steps of caring about the impact on environment and health, especially of “greening” the EPH conferences. This includes efforts to learn from other associations and institutions. Within EUPHA, a “Green Club” was formed to develop suggestions and to promote the issue. The intention is to reduce the “ecological footprint”, including less resource consumption and fewer emissions. But “greening” our conferences turns out to be no trivial task. In some respects (e.g. air travel), the environmental and health implications are obvious, but to establish benign alternatives is challenging. In other respects (e.g. catering/regional food), the implications of different alternatives can be much harder to identify. An important element of current debate on climate protection is “climate compensation”, i.e. paying for compensation measures in proportion to the approximate production of CO2, e.g. from travel activities. This is offered by various providers), and often can be included during the booking procedure. There is, however, a debate questioning the rationale, pointing at technical and/or ethical difficulties implied in this approach. Given the state of climate change, it is urgent to continue the debate and to intensify practical action. Key issues for this workshop include the following: What has been achieved so far? What experiences were made, e.g. concerning usability of tools? Can quantification of emissions from our conferences (especially from air travel) contribute to increasing awareness and to moving towards solutions? What tasks lie ahead? What specific suggestions can be given, e.g., for the 2020 World Congress Public Health in Rome? Clearly, in tune with the SDGs, the same “footprint” metaphor applies - beyond our conferences - to regular work (in offices, labs, fieldwork and duty travel), private travel, recreation, and daily life at large. It is an open question if it is better to integrate such issues into one “integrative” (and complex) approach, or to deal with these issues “one by one”, which might take ages to achieve; or what other ways towards “greening” our lives should be taken. For such discussion, it will be useful to continue cooperation with other professional associations and/or institutions, facing similar challenges. Key messages For reasons of responsibility and credibility, professional associations need to care about their ecological footprint; EUPHA created a “Green Club” and explores practical measures for “greening”. Both resource consumption and emissions from EPH conferences are considerable, calling for intensified action, e.g. provision of evidence, awareness-building, and promotion of eco-friendly options.


2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 667-696 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kari Gibson ◽  
Nick Haslam ◽  
Ida Kaplan

Across the globe there is a critical need for culturally informed and locally valid approaches to mental health assessment and intervention, particularly among disadvantaged and marginalized populations. To be optimally effective, such approaches must be informed by a sound understanding of locally relevant idioms of distress and its determinants, including those caused or exacerbated by global power disparities and structural inequities. Climate change, arising due to anthropogenic sources located predominantly in industrialized nations, is one potential determinant of distress having disproportionate adverse impacts on already marginalized populations. The present study formed part of a broader project examining the intersections of culture, climate change, and distress in the Polynesian nation of Tuvalu – a focal point of global concern over the human costs of climate change. The study explored determinants and idioms of distress and culturally prescribed responses to coping with distress. Results are based on fieldwork conducted in 2015 entailing semi-structured interviews with 16 key informants and 23 lay residents of Funafuti atoll, recruited using maximal variation purposive sampling. Findings are examined in consideration of the unfolding impacts of climate change and the threat it portends for the future, both of which were identified as salient determinants of distress, in keeping with theorized relationships between climate change and mental health. The study underscores the necessity of attending to the relationships between global forces, local cultures, and individual experiences of distress, as efforts to provide access to culturally informed social and mental health services expand globally.


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