Comparison of climatic indices with landslide occurrences in Calabria (Southern Italy)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Petrucci ◽  
Enric Aguilar ◽  
Angela A. Pasqua ◽  
Sergio Vicente-Serrano ◽  
Fabio Zimbo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southern Italy ◽  
Daily Precipitation ◽  
Precipitation Amount ◽  
Daily Rainfall ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Climate Services ◽  
Climatic Indices ◽  
The World ◽  
Agriculture Risk

<p>The most frequent and widespread landslides all over the world are induced by prolonged or heavy rainfall events. These phenomena often cause casualties and damages. Recent research on climate change has evidencing the link between the rainfall tendencies and the increase of damaging geohydrological events. This study has been carried out in the ambit of the EC Project INDECIS, whose aim is to develop an integrated approach to produce a series of climate indicators aimed at the high priority sectors of the Global Framework for Climate Services of the World Meteorological Organization (agriculture, risk reduction, energy, health, water), with the addition of tourism. The study area is Calabria, a region of Southern Italy frequently affected by mass movements and characterized by a highly variable climate. In this study, landslide occurrences in the period 1990-2018 have been collected for the whole territory of Calabria, and clustered according to the five provinces of the region. Moreover, 13 rainfall-based climatic indexes, among those proposed in the INDECIS project, have been calculated for each of the 79 rain gauges presenting complete and homogeneous databases. For each province and for the whole Calabria, the average and the maximum values of the climatic indices have been compared with the landslide occurrences in each year. The comparisons showed the best agreements with the following climatic indices: a) the total annual precipitation (RTA), the annual count of days when daily precipitation amount ≥ 10mm (R10mm), the annual count of days when daily precipitation amount ≥ 20mm (R20mm), the annual total precipitation when daily rainfall is greater than 95<sup>th</sup>-percentile (R95TOT) and, secondarily, the annual count of days with daily rainfall >= 50 mm (D50mm). For the best matches, the curves interpolating the two databases have been also drawn. The obtained results can be useful to predict the impacts that tendencies of rainfall indices patterns can have on slope stabilities of the territory.</p><p>Acknowledgments:</p><p>The Project INDECIS is part of ERA4CS, an ERA-NET initiated by JPI Climate, and funded by FORMAS (SE), DLR (DE), BMWFW (AT), IFD (DK), MINECO (ES), ANR (FR) with co-funding by the European Union (Grant 690462)</p>

Analysis of dry conditions compared with wildfires: an application in Calabria (Southern Italy)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Coscarelli ◽  
Enric Aguilar ◽  
Sergio Vicente-Serrano ◽  
Fabio Zimbo
Keyword(s):  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Southern Italy ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Climate Services ◽  
Comparison Results ◽  
The World ◽  
Burnt Areas

<p>All over the world wildfires destroy property and vegetation and can have an adverse effect on slope stability and soil erosion. Even though the number and the size of wildfires are often related to changes in land cover, population, and fire management practices, climatic and soil conditions remain the main factors influencing the extension of burnt areas. The goal of the EC Project INDECS, in which this study has been carried out, is to develop an integrated approach to produce a series of climate indicators aimed at the high priority sectors of the Global Framework for Climate Services of the World Meteorological Organization (agriculture, risk reduction, energy, health, water), with the addition of tourism. The study area is Calabria, a region of Southern Italy frequently affected by wildfires. In this research, data about the burnt areas (monthly data of extension - in hectares - and the number of fires in the period 2008-2018), provided by means of the module “Rapid Damage Assessment” (R.D.A.) of E.F.F.I.S. (European Forest Fire Information System) have been compared with the Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI). This index, ranging between 0 and 203.2 (extreme dry condition of the soil), is used all over the world for monitoring and forecasting forest fires. The index was calculated with the daily rainfall and temperature data of 79 stations presenting complete and homogeneous databases. The monthly mean values were evaluated and the KBDI values were averaged for each province, given that the data of the wild fires are available for each of the five provinces of the region. The comparison results show that the peaks of the burnt areas almost always correspond with the highest of the KDBI values. Analogous results were obtained considering the number of fires. It is important to highlight that the results can be influenced by the following factors: a) the KBDI monthly mean value is evaluated by means of a database with a variable number of monthly values owing to missing data; b) the extension of the burnt areas is determined by the efficiency of the fire monitoring system and by the rapidity of first response operations; c) the RDA module database of EFFIS is referred to burnt areas with an extension greater than 30 hectares (in Europe, these fires are about 75-80% of the total fires) and does not contain differences between natural fires and human-induced fires. However, the obtained results can help to predict the impacts that tendencies of the KBDI patterns can have on the territory as an extension of burnt areas. In this way, the present study gives a useful service for agriculture and risk reduction sectors.</p><p>Acknowledgments:</p><p>The Project INDECIS is part of ERA4CS, an ERA-NET initiated by JPI Climate, and funded by FORMAS (SE), DLR (DE), BMWFW (AT), IFD (DK), MINECO (ES), ANR (FR) with co-funding by the European Union (Grant 690462).</p>

scholarly journals On the Link between Tropical Cyclones and Daily Rainfall Extremes Derived from Global Satellite Observations

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (17) ◽  
pp. 6127-6135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivier P. Prat ◽  
Brian R. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Daily Precipitation ◽  
Daily Rainfall ◽  
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission ◽  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
Active Regions ◽  
Cyclonic Activity ◽  
The World ◽  
Precipitation Analysis ◽  
Almost All

Abstract The authors evaluate the contribution of tropical cyclones (TCs) to daily precipitation extremes over land for TC-active regions around the world. From 1998 to 2012, data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA 3B42) showed that TCs account for an average of 3.5% ± 1% of the total number of rainy days over land areas experiencing cyclonic activity regardless of the basin considered. TC days represent between 13% and 31% of daily extremes above 4 in. day−1, but can account locally for the large majority (>70%) or almost all (≈100%) of extreme rainfall even over higher-latitude areas marginally affected by cyclonic activity. Moreover, regardless of the TC basin, TC-related extremes occur preferably later in the TC season after the peak of cyclonic activity.

A global observation-based dataset of sub-daily precipitation indices

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Pritchard ◽  
Elizabeth Lewis ◽  
Hayley Fowler ◽  
Stephen Blenkinsop ◽  
Anna Whitford
Keyword(s):  
Daily Precipitation ◽  
Daily Rainfall ◽  
Control Procedure ◽  
Precipitation Characteristics ◽  
The World ◽  
Precipitation Indices ◽  
Precipitation Records ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Frequency Properties

<p>Short duration precipitation extremes can lead to severe flash flooding and destructive landslides. Yet many gaps remain in our understanding of these acute precipitation events, partly due to the lack of accessible and high quality sub-daily observational datasets available to researchers. To address this problem, the INTENSE project (leading the GEWEX Hydroclimatology Panel Cross-Cutting Project on Sub-Daily Extremes) has coordinated a major international effort to collate sub-daily precipitation observations from around the world. The resulting Global Sub-Daily Rainfall (GSDR) dataset contains hourly precipitation records from over 20,000 gauges globally. The quality of the raw data underpinning the GSDR dataset is variable, so an automated and wide-ranging quality control procedure has been developed and applied to the records. To facilitate research and other applications of the dataset, we have defined and calculated a novel set of sub-daily precipitation indices. These indices complement and extend the ETCCDI daily precipitation indices by characterising key aspects of shorter duration precipitation variability, including intensity, duration and frequency properties. Project partners and other collaborators continue to augment the resulting indices database by performing the calculations on their own observations and sharing these with the INTENSE project, with new contributors always welcome. This combined effort has led to an extensive observation-based climatology of various sub-daily precipitation characteristics (including extremes) across large parts of the world. These indices will be publicly available for as many gauges as possible, alongside a gridded dataset that also incorporates indices calculated for additional restricted-access gauge records.</p>

THE EUROPEAN UNION FORUM ON KIDS' SAFETY IN INTERNET SIF 2019

2019 ◽  
pp. 3-6
Author(s):  
D. A. Bogdanova
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
World Wide Web ◽  
World Wide ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Internet Forum ◽  
The World

The article provides an overview of the activities of the European Union Forum on kids' safety in Internet — Safer Internet Forum (SIF) 2019, which was held in Brussels, Belgium, in November 2019. The current Internet risks addressed by the World Wide Web users, especially children, are described.

Analysis Criteria for Choosing Energy Efficient High-Quality Light Sources and Luminaires

2018 ◽  
pp. 113-119
Author(s):  
Gennady Ya. Vagin ◽  
Eugene B. Solntsev ◽  
Oleg Yu. Malafeev
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Energy Efficient ◽  
National Standards ◽  
Light Sources ◽  
The European Union ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
The World ◽  
A New Technique ◽  
Energy Labelling

The article analyses critera applying to the choice of energy efficient high quality light sources and luminaires, which are used in Russian domestic and international practice. It is found that national standards GOST P 54993–2012 and GOST P 54992– 2012 contain outdated criteria for determining indices and classes of energy efficiency of light sources and luminaires. They are taken from the 1998 EU Directive #98/11/EU “Electric lamps”, in which LED light sources and discharge lamps of high intensity were not included. A new Regulation of the European Union #874/2012/EU on energy labelling of electric lamps and luminaires, in which these light sources are taken into consideration, contains a new technique of determining classes of energy efficiency and new, higher classes are added. The article has carried out a comparison of calculations of the energy efficiency classes in accordance with GOST P 54993 and with Regulation #874/2012/EU, and it is found out that a calculation using GOST P 54993 gives underrated energy efficiency classes. This can lead to interdiction of export for certain light sources and luminaires, can discredit Russian domestic manufacturer light sources and does not correspond to the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

9/11 and Armageddon: the Christian Right and George W. Bush

2003 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-50
Author(s):  
Göran Gunner
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Christian Right ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Religious Leader ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The World ◽  
Mega Church ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Jerry Falwell ◽  
High Degree

Authors from the Christian Right in the USA situate the September 11 attack on New York and Washington within God's intentions to bring America into the divine schedule for the end of the world. This is true of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, and other leading figures in the ‘Christian Coalition’. This article analyses how Christian fundamentalists assess the roles of the USA, the State of Israel, Islam, Iraq, the European Union and Russia within what they perceive to be the divine plan for the future of the world, especially against the background of ‘9/11’. It argues that the ideas of the Christian Right and of President George W. Bush coalesce to a high degree. Whereas before 9/11 many American mega-church preachers had aspirations to direct political life, after the events of that day the President assumes some of the roles of a mega-religious leader.

Pakistan and the World Economy (Distinguished Lecture)

1998 ◽  
Vol 37 (4I) ◽  
pp. 181-201
Author(s):  
John Williamson
Keyword(s):  
Direct Investment ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Balance Of Payments ◽  
Engineering Industry ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Growth Trend ◽  
Difficult Situation ◽  
Financial Investment ◽  
The World ◽  
Deep Integration

This paper aims to explore Pakistan's geo-economic options in the difficult situation that confronts following the easing of sanctions, which added acute balance of payments pressures to its existing ailments of near-stagnant exports, a lower growth trend than in preceding decades, an unattractive climate for foreign investment, and weak social indicators. The first question explored is whether Pakistan has any opportunity of participating in a regional trade grouping. It is argued that the only conceivable way of achieving this would involve the development of SAARC, which would demand a profound transformation of Indo-Pakistani relations (though one no more profound than that realised in Franco-German relations since the founding of what is now known as the European Union). One benefit of achieving deep integration through SAARC is that this would create the possibility of Pakistan developing a serious engineering industry far more rapidly than will otherwise happen. In the absence of deep integration in SAARC, it is argued that Pakistan's best option would be a policy close to unilateral free trade, so as to place it in a position to take advantage of whatever the next generation of labour-intensive activities demanded by the world economy proves to be. Under either of those scenarios, the reestablishment of a dynamic industrial sector will require the maintenance of a competitive exchange rate, something that, it is argued, is not necessarily guaranteed by floating. The paper also discusses the role of inward direct investment in contributing to the export success of East Asia, and considers whether the expatriate Pakistani community might be capable of playing a role comparable to that played by the overseas Chinese in nurturing the Chinese export expansion of the last two decades. It is suggested that such a hope was set back by the extra-legal attempt to renegotiate power tariffs with the independent power producers in the course of 1998, and that Pakistan needs to become a country of laws rather than discretion if foreign investors, including expatriate Pakistanis, are ever to find the country an attractive export platform. While more inward direct investment would almost certainly be beneficial, the same is not true for inward financial investment, where too large an inflow can easily expose a country to very significant risks, as the East Asian crisis showed. In the long run, Pakistan needs to be prepared to repel excessive capital inflows if they materialise; but its immediate problem is still balance of payments pressure, and this seems to demand targeting a major and sustained improvement in the current account over the next several years.

Russia in the XXI century: a request for a new economic policy

2020 ◽  
pp. 8-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Khasbulatov
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Economic Policy ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
The European Union ◽  
New Economic Policy ◽  
The World ◽  
Economic Position

The author examines Russia’s economic position in the world in the XXI century, China’s economic and political infl uence on other countries, and analyzes the economy of the European Union, classifi es the experience of Western Europe as the most successful, while taking into account miscalculations and mistakes.

scholarly journals Using Blockchain-Enabled Solutions as SDG Accelerators in the International Development Space

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 4025
Author(s):  
Ahmet Faruk Aysan ◽  
Fouad Bergigui ◽  
Mustafa Disli
Keyword(s):  
International Development ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Use Case ◽  
Good Practices ◽  
Blockchain Technology ◽  
Hype Cycle ◽  
The World ◽  
Fit For Purpose ◽  
Development Approach ◽  
Case Development

As the world is striving to recover from the shockwaves triggered by the COVID-19 crisis, all hands are needed on deck to transition towards green recovery and make peace with nature as prerequisites of a global sustainable development pathway. In this paper, we examine the blockchain hype, the gaps in the knowledge, and the tools needed to build promising use cases for blockchain technology to accelerate global efforts in this decade of action towards achieving the SDGs. We attempt to break the “hype cycle” portraying blockchain’s superiority by navigating a rational blockchain use case development approach. By prototyping an SDG Acceleration Scorecard to use blockchain-enabled solutions as SDG accelerators, we aim to provide useful insights towards developing an integrated approach that is fit-for-purpose to guide organizations and practitioners in their quest to make informed decisions to design and implement blockchain-backed solutions as SDG accelerators. Acknowledging the limitations in prototyping such tools, we believe these are minimally viable products and should be considered as living tools that can further evolve as the blockchain technology matures, its pace of adoption increases, lessons are learned, and good practices and standards are widely shared and internalized by teams and organizations working on innovation for development.

scholarly journals Investigating the status of transgenic crops in Iran in terms of cultivation, consumption, laws and rights in comparison with the world

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abolfazl Baghbani-Arani ◽  
Mona Poureisa ◽  
Hossein Alekajbaf ◽  
Rezvan Karami Borz-Abad ◽  
Khodadad Khodadadi-Dashtaki
Keyword(s):  
Transgenic Crops ◽  
Economic Effects ◽  
Food Allergies ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Gm Crop ◽  
Gm Food ◽  
Gm Foods ◽  
The World ◽  
The Status ◽  
Transgenic Technologies

AbstractRecently, there has been a development in transgenic technologies in many countries to meet nutritional needs of increasing worlds҆ population. However, there are some concerns about possible risks in the field of growing genetically modified (GM) food, such as threats of biodiversity and food allergies making their use a challenge. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the economic effects and political scopes of GM foods in production sector and policies made by different countries in the world and Iran. Moreover, essential (practical and legal) solutions and guidelines were provided for production and consumption of GM foods, which are useful for governmental entities, Iranian politicians, and consumers' rights. The latest situation of transgenic crops in the countries with which Iran has the highest exchange of agricultural products (including Turkey, Pakistan, and the European Union (EU)) was also studied. Although, Iran has been one of leading Asian countries not only in the field of transfer of technical knowledge of genetic engineering, but also in development of the specialized knowledge of biosafety, and despite production of several transgenic plant lines by Iranian researchers, unfortunately no GM crop has obtained release and cultivation license except for GM rice that its growing process was banned after change of government. According to findings of this study, in Iran, growing and production process of GM crops does not follow the global trend owing to scientific and legal infrastructures.

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