Chemical variations in time in a context of climate variability: examples in different hydrogeological settings

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuela Lasagna ◽  
Daniela Ducci ◽  
Mariangela Sellerino ◽  
Susanna Mancini ◽  
Domenico De Luca
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Variability ◽  
Groundwater Quality ◽  
Unsaturated Zone ◽  
Nitrate Contamination ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Piezometric Level ◽  
Po Plain ◽  
Campanian Plain

<p>Increased variability in precipitation and more extreme weather events caused by climate change can lead to more extended periods of droughts and floods, which directly affects the availability of groundwater. The consequent fluctuation of the water table can also affect groundwater quality. Particularly, a higher recharge, and the resultant increase of the piezometric level, can have, as a positive result, the dilution of the contaminants in aquifers and a decrease of the concentrations. On the other side, water that infiltrates can leach pollutants that are present in the unsaturated zone, with an increase of groundwater pollution. Even, the rise of the piezometric level can have negative consequences on groundwater quality, also due to groundwater that leach the capillary fringe and the previously unsaturated zone; if a contaminant is present in these sectors, it can lead to an increase of the aquifer pollution.</p><p>The increase or decrease in contaminants levels depend on a complex balance between all the described phenomena, and contaminant behaviour. This study wants to analyse the hydrogeochemical variations in time due to climate variability to define the role of different processes.</p><p>Two different hydrogeological environments were chosen as test fields: an alluvial aquifer in the Piedmont Po Plain (NW Italy) and an alluvial-pyroclastic aquifer in the Campanian plain (S Italy).</p><p>Piedmont Po plain shows a diffuse nitrate contamination, due to intensive agricultural and livestock activities. A nickel contamination is locally present, due to natural causes, namely the presence of basic and ultrabasic rocks debris in the supply basins, containing high amount of nickel-bearing femic minerals. Consequently, nitrate and nickel fluctuation were analysed and compared with precipitation and piezometric levels.</p><p>The hydrogeochemistry of the Campanian plain is influenced by the closeness of volcanic active areas (Phlegrean Fields and Vesuvius), bringing high As and F values, and by the presence of reducing conditions, bringing high Fe and Mn values. Moreover, there is a widespread nitrate contamination, prevalently due to intensive agricultural and livestock activities. The fluctuations of these 5 ions (As, F, Fe, Mn and NO<sub>3</sub>) have been observed during almost twenty years and compared with the differences in recharge, sometimes significant due to the climate change.</p><p>The monitoring and analyses of the chemical concentrations of ions of anthropogenic and natural origin in a context of climate variability represent a key element to offer a new and different research perspective in the field of groundwater chemistry.</p>

Urban Population Knowledge of Climate Change in Costa Rica and Nicaragua

2013 ◽  
pp. 55-76
Author(s):  
Sergio A. Molina Murillo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Costa Rica ◽  
Urban Population ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
International Policies ◽  
General Concern

Most scenarios indicate that people in developing countries are more vulnerable and less capable of adapting to climate change. Since our public understanding of risk toward climate change in developing countries is limited, this article presents results from Costa Rica and Nicaragua, two countries which are socio-economically distinct, but which are expected to suffer similar extreme weather events. From October of 2008 until May 2010, a total of 1,047 respondents were surveyed in cities of both countries. The main results indicate that climate change is a widely known concept but other notions such as “carbon footprint” are foreign to most respondents. Despite the general concern with its negative consequences, respondents’ foremost concern is linked to their socioeconomic situation, and how it will be impacted by climate change in such aspects as poverty and social security. The results presented here contribute to advance national and international policies aiming to support mitigation or adaptation strategies in developing countries.

scholarly journals Meteorological Variability and Groundwater Quality: Examples in Different Hydrogeological Settings

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuela Lasagna ◽  
Daniela Ducci ◽  
Mariangela Sellerino ◽  
Susanna Mancini ◽  
Domenico Antonio De Luca
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Quality ◽  
Chemical Species ◽  
Test Site ◽  
Temperature Variability ◽  
Nitrate Contamination ◽  
Anthropogenic Contamination ◽  
Piedmont Plain ◽  
Unconfined Aquifers ◽  
Campanian Plain ◽  
Over Time

Rainfall and temperature variability causes changes in groundwater recharge that can also influence groundwater quality by different processes. The aim of this study is the analysis of the hydrogeochemical variations over time due to meteorological variability in two different study areas in Italy: an alluvial aquifer in the Piedmont Po plain and an alluvial-pyroclastic aquifer in the Campanian plain. The examined plains show groundwater with natural quality not satisfying the European drinking water standards, or anthropogenic contamination. The peculiar natural quality is due, in the Campanian plain, to the closeness of volcanic areas, and to the presence of reducing conditions. In Piedmont plain a test site is characterized by a point-source contamination by heavy metals, due to the presence of past industrial activities. In all the examined areas there is a diffuse nitrate contamination. The fluctuations of the ions As, F, Fe, Mn, Cr VI, NO3, and Cl were analyzed and compared, using statistical methods, with the variations over time in precipitation, temperature, and piezometric levels, sometimes significant. Results highlight the importance of the groundwater and meteorological monitoring and the key role of the recharge variation in the hydrogeochemical processes. The linking degree between rainfall/temperature variability and hydrogeochemistry is variable, in function of the typology of chemical species, their origin, and of the aquifer characteristics. The fluctuation of climate variables determines sudden changes in the geochemistry of shallow unconfined aquifers (e.g., in the Piedmont plain), while semiconfined or confined aquifers (e.g., in the Volturno-Regi Lagni plain) react with a greater delay to these variations. Moreover, natural quality is more affected by climatic variations than anthropogenic contamination, which is the result of multiple environmental and anthropic factors.

scholarly journals The 21st Century Agriculture: When Rice Research Draws Attention to Climate Variability and How Weedy Rice and Underutilized Grains Come in Handy

Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noraikim Mohd Hanafiah ◽  
Muhamad Shakirin Mispan ◽  
Phaik Eem Lim ◽  
Niranjan Baisakh ◽  
Acga Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Climate Variability ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Green Revolution ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Weedy Rice ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Rice Varieties ◽  
Dwarfing Gene ◽  
The 1960S

Rice, the first crop to be fully sequenced and annotated in the mid-2000s, is an excellent model species for crop research due mainly to its relatively small genome and rich genetic diversity. The 130-million-year-old cereal came into the limelight in the 1960s when the semi-dwarfing gene sd-1, better known as the “green revolution” gene, resulted in the establishment of a high-yielding semi-dwarf variety IR8. Deemed as the miracle rice, IR8 saved millions of lives and revolutionized irrigated rice farming particularly in the tropics. The technology, however, spurred some unintended negative consequences, especially in prompting ubiquitous monoculture systems that increase agricultural vulnerability to extreme weather events and climate variability. One feasible way to incorporate resilience in modern rice varieties with narrow genetic backgrounds is by introgressing alleles from the germplasm of its weedy and wild relatives, or perhaps from the suitable underutilized species that harbor novel genes responsive to various biotic and abiotic stresses. This review reminisces the fascinating half-century journey of rice research and highlights the potential utilization of weedy rice and underutilized grains in modern breeding programs. Other possible alternatives to improve the sustainability of crop production systems in a changing climate are also discussed.

scholarly journals Extreme Weather Events and Climate Variability Provide a Lens to How Shallow Lakes May Respond to Climate Change

Water ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl Havens ◽  
Hans Paerl ◽  
Edward Phlips ◽  
Mengyuan Zhu ◽  
John Beaver ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Variability ◽  
Shallow Lakes ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Weather Events

scholarly journals Climate change impacts on cattle production: analysis of cattle herders’ climate variability/change adaptation strategies in Nigeria

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-23
Author(s):  
Ayansina Ayanlade ◽  
Stephen M. Ojebisi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Variability ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Cattle Production ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Qualitative Approaches ◽  
Weather Events

Abstract The study examines the seasonality in climate and extreme weather events, and its effect on cattle production in the Guinea Savannah ecological zone of Nigeria. The study uses both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Climate data of 34 years were used to examine the trends in rainfall pattern and climate variability while household survey was used to appraise the herders’ awareness of climate variability/change impacts and adaptation strategies. Cumulative Departure Index (CDI) method was used to assess the extreme weather events while descriptive statistics and multinomial logistic (MNL) regression model were used to identify the factors that determined herders’ adaptation strategies to climate change. The results revealed a significant spatiotemporal variation in both rainfall and temperature with CDI ranging from -1.39 to 3.3 and -2.3 to 1.81 respectively. The results revealed a reduction in the amount of water available for cattle production. From survey results, 97.5% of the herders identified drought as the major extreme weather event affecting livestock productivities in the study region. In the herder’s perception, the droughts are more severe in recent years than 34 years ago. The results from MNL revealed that extreme weather events, such as drought, has a positive likelihood on migration, at a 10% level of significance, the events has led to migration of cattle herders from the northern part of the study area toward the southern part in recent years.

scholarly journals THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE VARIABILITY ON DROUGHT MANAGEMENT: EVIDENCE FROM JAPANESE RIVER BASINS

2018 ◽  
Vol 09 (04) ◽  
pp. 1850010
Author(s):  
KAORI TEMBATA ◽  
KENJI TAKEUCHI
Keyword(s):  
Climate Variability ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Water Withdrawal ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Drought Management ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
Water Restrictions ◽  
The Impact

This study examines the effect of climate variability on water resource management during droughts. We use data from local droughts in Japan over three decades to investigate how variability in precipitation and temperature affects water restrictions implemented by drought coordination councils. We find that climate variability is significantly related to water restrictions in terms of both intensity and duration. The regression results show that a 100-mm decrease in annual precipitation is associated with a 0.2% increase in the water withdrawal restriction rate and an increase of one day in the restriction period. Our findings suggest that climate variability might induce more stringent water restrictions, implying negative consequences for water availability. This study thus shows the importance of strategically building adaptive capacity to climate change due to the risks of extreme weather events, such as prolonged droughts and extended summer seasons.

scholarly journals Fishers’ Perceptions and Attitudes toward Weather and Climate Information Services for Climate Change Adaptation in Senegal

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9465
Author(s):  
Ndèye Seynabou Diouf ◽  
Issa Ouedraogo ◽  
Robert B. Zougmoré ◽  
Madické Niang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Variability ◽  
Extreme Events ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Weather Forecast ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Average Treatment Effect ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Adoption Rate

Climate variability has become a major issue for vital sectors in the context of climate change. In fisheries, in particular, the effects of climate change are reflected in the decline of fishing yield and loss of lives during extreme weather events in the sea. This study analyzed the perception of climate variability and change by fisher-folks, the attitude of fisher-folks toward the weather forecast and the adoption rate of the use of the weather forecast as well as the factors determining its use in Senegal. To this end, 576 fisher-folks belonging to 41 local fishing committees along the coastal areas were surveyed and focus group discussions were organized with key informants. The adoption rate was identified using the method of the average treatment effect (ATE) and the test of independency (chi-square) was used to analyze the perceptions of and beliefs on climate change. The results showed that 96% of fisher-folks perceive the change in the climate, though the effects are differently appreciated across the coastline. The most frequently observed effects are: coastal erosion, change in wind direction, increase in extreme swells and sea level rise. Nearly half of fisher-folks confirm that they noticed these changes over the past five years. In the Southern Coast in particular, 40% of fisher-folks stated that these changes happened 10 years ago. This statement is confirmed by the qualitative data. More than 90% of the respondents ascertain the weather forecast before going to fish, 63% regularly receive the weather forecast and 53% avoid going to sea during extreme events. In addition, the results showed that if the weather forecast was made accessible to the majority of fisher-folks, more than 83% would avoid going to sea during periods of extreme weather extreme events, thus reducing significantly the number of fatalities. The best way to protect the fisher-folks from the harmful effects of climate change is to ensure large-scale access to and use of accurate weather forecasts.

scholarly journals (A158) Preventing Disasters: Public Health Vulnerability Reduction as a Sustainable Adaptation to Climate Change

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S1) ◽  
pp. s45-s45
Author(s):  
M. Keim
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Disaster Response ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Population Exposure ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Human Vulnerability ◽  
The Impact

BackgroundGlobal warming is predicted to increase the number and severity of extreme weather events. (IPCC 2007) But we can lessen the effects of these disasters. “Critically important will be factors that directly shape the health of populations such as education, health care, public health prevention and infrastructure.” (IPCC 2007) A comprehensive approach to disaster risk reduction (DRR) has been proposed for climate change adaptation. (Thomalla 2006) DRR is cost-effective. One dollar invested in DRR can save $2-10 in disaster response and recovery costs. (Mechler 2005) Disasters occur as a result of the combination of population exposure to a hazard; the conditions of vulnerability that are present; and insufficient capacity to reduce or cope with the potential negative consequences.DiscussionBy reducing human vulnerability to disasters, we can lessen—and at times even prevent—their impact. Vulnerability may be lessened by: 1) reducing human exposures to the hazard by a reduction of human vulnerability, 2) lessening human susceptibility to the hazard, and 3) building resilience to the impact of the hazard. (Keim 2008) Public health disasters are prevented when populations are protected from exposure to the hazard. Public awareness and education can be used to promote a “culture of prevention” and to encourage local prevention activities. Public health disasters may also be mitigated through both structural and social measures undertaken to limit a health hazard's adverse impact. (IPCC 2007) Community-level public health can play an important part in lessening human vulnerability to climate-related disasters through promotion of “healthy people, healthy homes and healthy, disaster resilience communities.” (Srinivasan 2003)

scholarly journals Climate Change and Emerging Food Safety Issues

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramona A. Duchenne-Moutien ◽  
Hudaa Neetoo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Food Safety ◽  
Climate Variability ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Cold Chain ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Global Issues ◽  
Weather Patterns ◽  
Weather Events

Throughout these past decades, climate change has featured among one of the most complex global issues. Characterized by worldwide alterations in weather patterns, along with a concomitant increase in the temperature of the Earth, climate change will undoubtedly have significant effects on food security and food safety. Climate change engenders climate variability, which are significant variations in weather variables and in their frequency. Both climate variability and climate change are thought to threaten the safety of the food supply chain through different pathways. One such pathway is their ability to exacerbate foodborne diseases by influencing the occurrence, persistence, virulence and, in some cases, toxicity of certain groups of disease-causing microorganisms. Food safety can also be compromised by various chemical hazards such as pesticides, mycotoxins and heavy metals. With changes in weather patterns such as lower rainfall, higher air temperature and higher frequency of extreme weather events amongst others, this translates to emerging food safety concerns. These include shortage of safe water for irrigation of agricultural produce, greater use of pesticides due to pest resistance, increased difficulty in achieving a well-controlled cold chain resulting in temperature abuse, or occurrence of flash floods which cause run-off of chemical contaminants in natural water courses. Together, these can result in foodborne infection, intoxication, antimicrobial resistance and long-term bioaccumulation of chemicals and heavy metals in the human body. Furthermore, severe climate variability can result in extreme weather events and natural calamities, which directly or indirectly impair food safety. This review discusses the causes and impacts of climate change and variability on existing as well as emerging food safety risks, and also considers mitigation and adaptation strategies to address the global warming and climate change problem.

scholarly journals Perceived Climate Variability and Farm Level Adaptation in the Central River Region of The Gambia

Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bagagnan ◽  
Ouedraogo ◽  
Fonta
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Variability ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
The Gambia ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Farm Level ◽  
Awareness Campaigns ◽  
River Region

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the recurring erratic and uneven rainfall distribution has resulted in low crop yields, income losses, and low food stock. In response to these climate change challenges, farmers have recourse to several coping strategies to survive. This present paper explores farmers’ perception of climate variability and the coping strategies in use in the Central River Region of The Gambia. The main purpose of this paper is to analyze perceived climate variability and farm level adaptation options in the region. Data were collected from 283 farmhouses through transect walks, quantitative surveys including the use focus group discussions. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results revealed that farmers generally perceive an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events and a decrease in the duration of the growing season. With regards to vulnerability and severity, nearly 95% of the respondents considered the dryness as the main threat to their farming activities and perceived its consequences as the most severe. The results equally showed that the perception of changes is linked to the adoption of some adaptation measures among which the preferred were the use of chemical fertilizers (66%), though it is stated to be the most expensive. The Spearman correlation test showed that the use of water conservation techniques is highly correlated with the quality of soil surface structure (p ≤ 0.01) and soil storage capacity (p ≤ 0.01). Findings of this study are of paramount importance in planning and implementing adaptation policies in The Gambia and beyond. To improve farmers’ resilience, drought tolerant crops should be promoted along with climate change and variability awareness campaigns.

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