scholarly journals The Regional Hydro-Ecological Simulation System for 30 Years: A Systematic Review

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 2878
Author(s):  
Benxin Chen ◽  
Zhifeng Liu ◽  
Chunyang He ◽  
Hui Peng ◽  
Pei Xia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Management ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Simulation System ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Limited Application ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
Scope Of Application ◽  
Ecological Simulation ◽  
Application Fields

As the Regional Hydro-Ecological Simulation System (RHESSys) is a tool to simulate the interactions between ecological and hydrological processes, many RHESSys-based studies have been implemented for sustainable watershed management. However, it is crucial to review a RHESSys updating history, pros, and cons for further improving the RHESSys and promoting ecohydrological studies. This paper reviewed the progress of ecohydrological studies employing RHESSys by a bibliometric analysis that quantitatively analyzed the characteristics of relevant studies. In addition, we addressed the main application progress, parameter calibration and validation methods, and uncertainty analysis. We found that since its release in 1993, RHESSys has been widely applied for basins (<100 km2) within mainly seven biomes. The RHESSys model has been applied for evaluating the ecohydrological responses to climate change, land management, urbanization, and disturbances, as well as water quality and biogeochemical cycle. While most studies have paid their attention on climate change, the focus has shifted to the application for land management in recent years. This study also identified many challenges in RHESSys such as the inaccessible data and parameters, oversimplified calibration approach, few applications for large-scale watersheds, and limited application fields. Therefore, this study proposed a set of suggestions to overcome the limitations and challenges: (1) Developing a new approach for parameter acquisition and calibration from multi-source data, (2) improving the applicability for a large-scale basin, and (3) extending the scope of application fields. We believe RHESSys can improve the understandings of human–environment relationships and the promotion of sustainable watersheds development.

scholarly journals Soil erosion as a factor of desertification of agrolandscapes in Ukraine

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Tarariko ◽  
T. Ilienko ◽  
T. Kuchma ◽  
O. Bilokin
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Land Management ◽  
Dust Storm ◽  
Wind Erosion ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
The State ◽  
Small Rivers ◽  
Regional Governments

The description of the typical structure of agricultural landscapes of Ukraine and the most common degradation processes are given. Water and wind erosion are considered as one of the largest contributors to soil degradation in Ukraine, accompanied by declining soil fertility, moisture loss to surface runoff, air and surface water pollution, and degradation of small rivers. The sown areas of main crops for 1990–2020 are analysed per administrative oblast according to the State Statistical Service of Ukraine. A global long-term satellite remote sensing land surface temperature dataset (NOAA AVHRR) was used to analyse the dynamics of the average sum of effective temperatures for the vegetation season in 1982–2019. Sentinel-5P satellite data was used to analyse the spread and exposure of a large-scale dust storm in Polissya region in April 2020. As a result of climate change and economic factors, the area under corn and sunflower has been significantly increased. Due to the increased frequency of stormy rains and strong wind under climate change, the conditions for intensification of water and wind erosion in agricultural landscapes has been created. The local manifestation of wind erosion is typical for Polissya, mainly on overdried peat bogs and cohesive-sandy soils. But in the spring of 2020 a large-scale dust storm was observed for the first time on the territory of Ukrainian and Belarusian Polissya on the area of about 3.5 million hectares.The growing risk of soil erosion due to the climate change and current agricultural practices requires the improvement not only of the state land management system, but also the agri-environmental monitoring system, scientific methodical and information-advisory support of regional governments, landowners and land users. In order to implement state policy and coordinate the work on the rational use and protection of soils, combating their desertification and degradation, as well as adaptation of land use systems to climate change, it is proposed to establish the governing body «Monitoring, land management and soil protection» on the basis of existing specialized units of central and regional governments in the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.

Global climate policy will focus on land use

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Land Management ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Natural Capital ◽  
Early Warning Systems ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Trade Offs

Subject Food security and land management. Significance A new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reviewing the impacts of climate change on land highlights that climate change is happening faster over land than the global average. This has direct negative impacts for agricultural production, water availability and food security. However, the increasing severity of these impacts will also reduce longer-term adaptation options through land-based strategies, and the ability of soil to act as a carbon sink. The prospect of large-scale bioenergy-based technologies to achieve negative emissions also faces trade-offs and competition with other land uses. Impacts Better natural capital accounting for ecosystem services will incentivise climate-sensitive land management strategies. Carbon pricing may expand to agricultural systems, but is thus far untested. Investment in early-warning systems can reduce risks from extreme weather events on agricultural production.

scholarly journals Public Awareness: What Climate Change Scientists Should Consider

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 8369
Author(s):  
Mohammad Rahimi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Connected Network ◽  
Multi Scale ◽  
Valuable Addition ◽  
Scientific Approach ◽  
Design Solutions ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change

In this Opinion, the importance of public awareness to design solutions to mitigate climate change issues is highlighted. A large-scale acknowledgment of the climate change consequences has great potential to build social momentum. Momentum, in turn, builds motivation and demand, which can be leveraged to develop a multi-scale strategy to tackle the issue. The pursuit of public awareness is a valuable addition to the scientific approach to addressing climate change issues. The Opinion is concluded by providing strategies on how to effectively raise public awareness on climate change-related topics through an integrated, well-connected network of mavens (e.g., scientists) and connectors (e.g., social media influencers).

scholarly journals Impact of air–sea coupling on the climate change signal over the Iberian Peninsula

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alba de la Vara ◽  
William Cabos ◽  
Dmitry V. Sein ◽  
Claas Teichmann ◽  
Daniela Jacob
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Iberian Peninsula ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Regional Distribution ◽  
Coupled Model ◽  
Climate Change Signal ◽  
The North ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Impact

AbstractIn this work we use a regional atmosphere–ocean coupled model (RAOCM) and its stand-alone atmospheric component to gain insight into the impact of atmosphere–ocean coupling on the climate change signal over the Iberian Peninsula (IP). The IP climate is influenced by both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean sea. Complex interactions with the orography take place there and high-resolution models are required to realistically reproduce its current and future climate. We find that under the RCP8.5 scenario, the generalized 2-m air temperature (T2M) increase by the end of the twenty-first century (2070–2099) in the atmospheric-only simulation is tempered by the coupling. The impact of coupling is specially seen in summer, when the warming is stronger. Precipitation shows regionally-dependent changes in winter, whilst a drier climate is found in summer. The coupling generally reduces the magnitude of the changes. Differences in T2M and precipitation between the coupled and uncoupled simulations are caused by changes in the Atlantic large-scale circulation and in the Mediterranean Sea. Additionally, the differences in projected changes of T2M and precipitation with the RAOCM under the RCP8.5 and RCP4.5 scenarios are tackled. Results show that in winter and summer T2M increases less and precipitation changes are of a smaller magnitude with the RCP4.5. Whilst in summer changes present a similar regional distribution in both runs, in winter there are some differences in the NW of the IP due to differences in the North Atlantic circulation. The differences in the climate change signal from the RAOCM and the driving Global Coupled Model show that regionalization has an effect in terms of higher resolution over the land and ocean.

Retooling the Energy Charter Treaty for climate change mitigation: lessons from investment law and arbitration

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-87
Author(s):  
Elena Cima
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Careful Analysis ◽  
Energy Trade ◽  
Energy Charter Treaty ◽  
Scope Of Application ◽  
Modernization Process ◽  
Change Mitigation

Abstract In 2017, the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) began a modernization process aimed at updating, clarifying, and modernizing a number of provisions of the Treaty. Considering the scope of application of the Treaty—cooperation in energy trade, transit, and investment—there is hardly any doubt that the modernization kicked off in 2017 offers a springboard for constructive reform and a unique opportunity to bring the Treaty closer in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Although none of the items selected by the Energy Charter Conference and open for discussion and reform mention climate change or clean energy, a careful analysis of the relevant practice in both treaty drafting and adjudication can provide valuable insights as to how to steer the discussions on some of the existing items in a climate-friendly direction. The purpose of this article is to rely on this relevant practice to explore promising avenues to ‘retool’ the Treaty for climate change mitigation, in other words, to imagine a Treaty that would better reflect climate change concerns and clean energy transition goals.

scholarly journals Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning: A Review of Challenges and Applications

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 4948
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Canese ◽  
Gian Carlo Cardarilli ◽  
Luca Di Di Nunzio ◽  
Rocco Fazzolari ◽  
Daniele Giardino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Mathematical Models ◽  
Learning Algorithms ◽  
Single Agent ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Multi Agent ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
Application Fields

In this review, we present an analysis of the most used multi-agent reinforcement learning algorithms. Starting with the single-agent reinforcement learning algorithms, we focus on the most critical issues that must be taken into account in their extension to multi-agent scenarios. The analyzed algorithms were grouped according to their features. We present a detailed taxonomy of the main multi-agent approaches proposed in the literature, focusing on their related mathematical models. For each algorithm, we describe the possible application fields, while pointing out its pros and cons. The described multi-agent algorithms are compared in terms of the most important characteristics for multi-agent reinforcement learning applications—namely, nonstationarity, scalability, and observability. We also describe the most common benchmark environments used to evaluate the performances of the considered methods.

scholarly journals Contributions of Vegetation Greening and Climate Change to Evapotranspiration Trend after Large-Scale Vegetation Restoration on the Loess Plateau, China

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 1755
Author(s):  
Shuo Wang ◽  
Chenfeng Cui ◽  
Qin Dai
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
Potential Evapotranspiration ◽  
Development Trend ◽  
Future Trend ◽  
Natural Ecosystem ◽  
The Loess Plateau

Since the early 2000s, the vegetation cover of the Loess Plateau (LP) has increased significantly, which has been fully recorded. However, the effects on relevant eco-hydrological processes are still unclear. Here, we made an investigation on the changes of actual evapotranspiration (ETa) during 2000–2018 and connected them with vegetation greening and climate change in the LP, based on the remote sensing data with correlation and attribution analysis. Results identified that the average annual ETa on the LP exhibited an obvious increasing trend with the value of 9.11 mm yr−1, and the annual ETa trend was dominated by the changes of ETa in the third quarter (July, August, and September). The future trend of ETa was predicted by the Hurst exponent. Partial correlation analysis indicated that annual ETa variations in 87.8% regions of the LP were controlled by vegetation greening. Multiple regression analysis suggested that the relative contributions of potential evapotranspiration (ETp), precipitation, and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), to the trend of ETa were 5.7%, −26.3%, and 61.4%, separately. Vegetation greening has a close relationship with the Grain for Green (GFG) project and acts as an essential driver for the long-term development trend of water consumption on the LP. In this research, the potential conflicts of water demanding between the natural ecosystem and social-economic system in the LP were highlighted, which were caused by the fast vegetation expansion.

scholarly journals Repeated surveying over 6 years reveals that fine-scale habitat variables are key to tropical mountain ant assemblage composition and functional diversity

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mulalo M. Muluvhahothe ◽  
Grant S. Joseph ◽  
Colleen L. Seymour ◽  
Thinandavha C. Munyai ◽  
Stefan H. Foord
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
High Altitude ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Composition Analysis ◽  
Fine Scale

AbstractHigh-altitude-adapted ectotherms can escape competition from dominant species by tolerating low temperatures at cooler elevations, but climate change is eroding such advantages. Studies evaluating broad-scale impacts of global change for high-altitude organisms often overlook the mitigating role of biotic factors. Yet, at fine spatial-scales, vegetation-associated microclimates provide refuges from climatic extremes. Using one of the largest standardised data sets collected to date, we tested how ant species composition and functional diversity (i.e., the range and value of species traits found within assemblages) respond to large-scale abiotic factors (altitude, aspect), and fine-scale factors (vegetation, soil structure) along an elevational gradient in tropical Africa. Altitude emerged as the principal factor explaining species composition. Analysis of nestedness and turnover components of beta diversity indicated that ant assemblages are specific to each elevation, so species are not filtered out but replaced with new species as elevation increases. Similarity of assemblages over time (assessed using beta decay) did not change significantly at low and mid elevations but declined at the highest elevations. Assemblages also differed between northern and southern mountain aspects, although at highest elevations, composition was restricted to a set of species found on both aspects. Functional diversity was not explained by large scale variables like elevation, but by factors associated with elevation that operate at fine scales (i.e., temperature and habitat structure). Our findings highlight the significance of fine-scale variables in predicting organisms’ responses to changing temperature, offering management possibilities that might dilute climate change impacts, and caution when predicting assemblage responses using climate models, alone.

scholarly journals Predicting Shifts in Land Suitability for Maize Cultivation Worldwide Due to Climate Change: A Modeling Approach

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 295
Author(s):  
Yuan Gao ◽  
Anyu Zhang ◽  
Yaojie Yue ◽  
Jing’ai Wang ◽  
Peng Su
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Land Suitability ◽  
Large Scale Assessment ◽  
Scale Assessment ◽  
Maize Cultivation ◽  
Large Scale Screening ◽  
Selection Of

Suitable land is an important prerequisite for crop cultivation and, given the prospect of climate change, it is essential to assess such suitability to minimize crop production risks and to ensure food security. Although a variety of methods to assess the suitability are available, a comprehensive, objective, and large-scale screening of environmental variables that influence the results—and therefore their accuracy—of these methods has rarely been explored. An approach to the selection of such variables is proposed and the criteria established for large-scale assessment of land, based on big data, for its suitability to maize (Zea mays L.) cultivation as a case study. The predicted suitability matched the past distribution of maize with an overall accuracy of 79% and a Kappa coefficient of 0.72. The land suitability for maize is likely to decrease markedly at low latitudes and even at mid latitudes. The total area suitable for maize globally and in most major maize-producing countries will decrease, the decrease being particularly steep in those regions optimally suited for maize at present. Compared with earlier research, the method proposed in the present paper is simple yet objective, comprehensive, and reliable for large-scale assessment. The findings of the study highlight the necessity of adopting relevant strategies to cope with the adverse impacts of climate change.

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