scholarly journals Enhancing the Ecological Value of Sea Dikes

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scheres ◽  
Schüttrumpf

Sea dikes protect low-lying hinterlands along many coasts all around the world. Commonly, they are designed as embankments with grass covers or grey revetments accounting for the prevailing hydraulic loads. So far, incorporation of ecological aspects in the dike design is limited. With regard to increasing environmental awareness and climate change adaptation needs, the present study reviews methods for ecological enhancement of sea dikes and discusses limitations and challenges related to these methods. In doing so, one key aspect is to maintain dike safety while increasing the ecological value. Potential for ecological enhancement of sea dikes has been found regarding natural or nature-based solutions in the foreshore, dike surface protection measures (vegetated dike covers, hard revetments and dike roads) and the dike geometry. While natural and nature-based solutions in the foreland are investigated thoroughly, so far only few experiences with ecological enhancements of the dike structure itself were gained resulting in uncertainties and knowledge gaps concerning the implementation and efficiency. Additional to technical uncertainties, engineers and ecologists meet the challenge of interdisciplinary collaboration under consideration of societal needs and expectations.

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Dircke ◽  
A. Molenaar

In 2025 the majority of the world population will live in flood prone delta cities. Delta City Rotterdam, with one of the biggest ports in the world, is dealing with the consequences of climate change in a very pro-active and smart way, turning these challenges into opportunities. Rotterdam wants to become one of the global leaders in water management and climate change adaptation, by using new and smart technologies and protecting its citizens against the future impacts of sea level rise and intensified rainfall by making Rotterdam completely “Climate Proof” by 2025. And also by developing its old city ports area by adding attractive waterfronts and knowledge centers like the RDM Campus (Research, Design and manufacturing), where education of future generations is combined with innovative and sustainable development of businesses and sciences, and with experiencing best practices. One of the major innovative and smart solutions for climate change adaptation discussed in this paper is called “Smart Flood Control Rotterdam”, the development of a serious flood management game for Rotterdam. All this knowledge and experiences are shared with other Delta Cities of the world, in the C40 “Connecting Delta Cities” network.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 4098 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Moretti ◽  
Giuseppe Loprencipe

Transport infrastructures are lifelines: They provide transportation of people and goods, in ordinary and emergency conditions, thus they should be resilient to increasing natural disasters and hazards. This work presents several technologies adopted around the world to adapt and defend transport infrastructures against effects of climate change. Three main climate change challenges have been examined: Air temperatures variability and extremization, water bombs, and sea level rise. For each type of the examined phenomena the paper presents engineered, and architectural solutions adopted to prevent disasters and protect citizens. In all cases, the countermeasures require deeper prediction of weather and climate conditions during the service life of the infrastructure. The experience gained supports the fact that strategies adopted or designed to contrast the effects of climate change on transport infrastructures pursue three main goals: To prevent the damages, protect the structures, and monitor and communicate to users the current conditions. Indeed, the analyses show that the ongoing climate change will increase its impact on transport infrastructures, exposing people to unacceptable risks. Therefore, prevention and protection measures shall be adopted more frequently in the interest of collective safety.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terence Darlington Mushore ◽  
Teddious Mhizha ◽  
Moven Manjowe ◽  
Linia Mashawi ◽  
Electdom Matandirotya ◽  
...  

Climate change encompassing mostly hydro-meteorological hazards is a reality affecting the world in diverse ways. It is manifesting in various ways such as increases in frequency and intensity of floods, droughts, and extreme temperatures. In recent years, climate change has induced droughts, other extreme weather events and meteorological disasters in many countries including Zimbabwe. Effective management of climate change induced challenges require localized strategies which may vary from one part of the world to another and even within a country. In view of the need to understand localized impacts and responses to climate change, the main objectives of the study were to (i) assess the impact of climate change on livelihoods and food security, (ii) identify and evaluate adaptation and mitigation strategies that small holder farmers in Ward 17, Nyanga, Zimbabwe have developed. The research used both qualitative and quantitative approaches with data collection methods comprising of questionnaires (56), observations and interviews (8). The tools were used to gather information which included encounters with extreme weather events, climatic trends as well as adaptive responses. The findings showed that climate change had a significant negative impact on the livelihoods and food security status of small holder farmers in ward 17 of Nyanga district. The identified climate change adaptation strategies implemented in the study area included food aid, use of traditional grains and other drought resistant crops, early planting, multiple planting, barter trade and livelihood diversification. The mitigation strategies used included afforestation and reforestation programs, avoiding veld fires and preservation of wetlands. The research identified challenges to climate change adaptation which include lack of markets to sell farming produce, inefficient institutions, poverty and high climate variability and increased uncertainty in the behavior of seasons. The findings of this study indicated the need for similar assessment in other parts of the country as impacts of climate change and responses thereof should vary from place to place.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (20) ◽  
pp. 9413
Author(s):  
Terence Epule Epule ◽  
Abdelghani Chehbouni ◽  
Driss Dhiba ◽  
Mirielle Wase Moto

As global changes continue, the repercussions in Africa remain profound. This is reflected notably in food and water crises across Africa. This work examines the readiness of Africa to climate change adaptation through a newly developed readiness index (ClimAdaptCap Index). In fact, this work shifts the readiness debate from emotional descriptions that currently flood academic scholarship to a more pragmatic evidence-based approach in assessing readiness. Readiness for climate change adaptation is driven by the intensity of climate forcing and adaptive capacity. The historical climate score data or precipitation and temperature for the period 1991–2016 were culled from the World Bank Climate Portal. The historical adaptive capacity score data included proxies such as poverty and literacy rates from 1991 to 2016 were collected from the World Bank and Macrotrends. The climate data were normalized using the normalization function to enhance interpretation, comparison, and fusion into the index. Missing poverty and literacy rate data were estimated by linear interpolation of the poverty and literacy rate data. The ClimAdaptCap Index was developed to compute readiness. This index is the first of its kind and will serve as a flagship for assessing readiness for climate change adaptation as it is highly adaptable to different contexts. This work’s first-ever maps of readiness show that North and Southern Africa are the readiest for climate change adaptation under historical climate and literacy and poverty conditions. West Africa is the least ready while Middle and East Africa are in the middle. Consistent is that readiness has a positive correlation with literacy rates and an inverse one with poverty rates. In addition, with readiness scores of between 0.35 and 0.39 for all the regions with a maximum potential score of 1, this work has shown that the level of readiness in Africa is generally low, and there is a very small variation between the different regions. In addition, climate change adaptation will highly be influenced by both climatic and non-climatic indicators. The developed readiness index adequately simulates readiness to climate change adaptation in Africa and complements previous frameworks of adaptation preparedness.


Author(s):  
Güngör Karakas

The purpose of agricultural policies is to meet the food demand that the society needs. While supports and incentives for agricultural production increase production, they can have negative consequences on climate change. In parallel with the increase in agricultural production and climate change in the world, there has been a serious increase in both food waste and obese numbers recently. While the overproduction effort of agricultural products creates pressure on the environment, it causes obesity and overweight problems. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Turkey is at the forefront among the countries where there are obese and overweight people. In the 11th Development Plan in Turkey, in 2018 the prevalence of obesity is 30% (for ages 15 and over) in 2023 is targeted to be reduced to 29.1. The aim of this research is to draw attention to the relationship between climate change and obesity and to address the issue within the framework of the 11th Development Plan. Obesity issues for Turkey; since it is important in terms of food security, climate change and agricultural policies, it is necessary to develop political guidance and protection measures in terms of health, economy, education, environment and national security.


Author(s):  
Ericson E. Coracero

Climate change is one of the most challenging environmental issues being faced by the world. Its effects are slowly getting worse and unbearable. Adaptation techniques are important to learn how to deal and live with climate change, and somehow address it. This paper provides possible practices and ways of adaptation to climate change that can be of help to the people. These ways include three major components: use of technical practices and strategies, execution of site-based programs, and raising people’s awareness and sense of responsibility. These practices can help address the problem and improve the way of living of people while also improving the environment’s situation.


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