Introducing the complexity of climate change through a videogame: Change Game – Play with the Planet

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleonora Cogo ◽  
Silvio Gualdi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Water Reservoir ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Research Education ◽  
Ancient Forest

<p>Although the topic of climate change has gained more prominence in recent years, many people still struggle to understand the complex and widespread implications that it is likely to have on almost every sector of our society and natural environment.</p><p>Climate change is a complex issue. The physical process that regulates the feedbacks and interactions of the Earth System’s components are complicated, the consequences for society and ecosystems are extensive, as too are the implications for the economy. Many effects are not yet fully understood and are difficult to envisage.</p><p>Improving climate literacy and the public’s understanding about the causes and consequences of climate change are important to increasing civic participation and engagement. They are necessary for the deep and systemic transformation needed to create resilient and zero carbon societies, in line with the Paris Agreement goals.</p><p>Videogames have been identified as an ideal means through which to represent complexity, simulating different scenarios and testing alternative paths. ‘Change Game’ was developed by the CMCC Foundation, with a view to representing the climate system and its interactions with society and with natural ecosystems. The game was designed to be scientifically grounded, but also engaging and entertaining. </p><p>A simplified model was developed to establish the game’s values, which covered energy and water consumption, historical GHG emissions by sectors, scenarios to reach net zero emissions, technological solutions, climate impacts, etc.</p><p>The player is put in charge of the growth and development of a city on a planet inhabited by a pre-set number of players (5-30) who are also developing their own cities. They have to provide energy, water and food to satisfy their population’s needs, build manufacturing and services industries, manage their resources, trade them with other players, invest in research, education and entertainment, and care for the health, happiness and prosperity of their community.</p><p>However, the higher the emissions that all the players on the same planet generate, the greater the challenges they will face. These include heat waves, droughts, floods, rising sea levels or the spread of new diseases.    <br>The activities in the game are organised within 9 macro categories: houses, factories (steel, cement, sawmill, food factories), services (school, university, hospital, mall, museum, sports center, trading center, warehouse), mines (rock, mineral, rare elements), agriculture (crops, livestock and fish), forestry (forest, ancient forest, land and marine protected areas), energy (fossil fuel, hydroelectric, solar, wind, offshore wind, tidal, nuclear, biofuel, batteries), water (well, aqueduct, water reservoir, desalination plant), negative emissions technologies.</p><p>Through education players can learn to promote sustainable behaviors which affect resource consumption as well as the growth and happiness of their populations. Investment in research determines access to more advanced technological solutions and buildings aimed at reducing GHG emissions or increasing resilience to climate change effects.               </p><p>Finally, players can interact with neighboring cities on the same planet in the multiplayer environment through trade, climate strikes, corruption attacks and fake news.</p><p>Change Game is freely available as an app for Android and IOS mobiles.</p>

Integrate risk from climate change in China under global warming of 1.5°C and 2.0°C

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lulu Liu ◽  
Shaohong Wu ◽  
Jiangbo Gao
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Extreme Events ◽  
Yangtze River ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
The Yangtze River ◽  
Climate Change Risk

<p>Risk of climate-related impacts results from the interaction of climate-related hazards (including hazardous events and trends) with the vulnerability and exposure of human and natural systems. Despite the commitment of the Paris Agreement, the integrate research on climate change risk combining risk‐causing factors and risk‐bearing bodies, the regional differences in climate impacts are still missing. In this paper we provide a quantitative assessment of hazards and socioeconomic risks of extreme events, risks of risk‐bearing bodies in China under global warming of 1.5 and 2.0°C based on future climate scenarios, and quantitative evaluation theory for climate change risk. For severe heat waves, hazards might significantly intensify. Affected population under 2.0°C warming might increase by more than 60% compared to that of 1.5°C. Hazards of severe droughts and floods might strengthen under Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 scenario. Economic losses might double between warming levels of 1.5 and 2.0°C, and the population affected by severe floods might continuously increase. Under the integrate effects of multiple disasters, the regions with high population and economic risks would be concentrated in eastern China. The scope would gradually expand to the west with socioeconomic development and intensification of extreme events. High ecological risks might be concentrated in the southern regions of the Yangtze River Basin, while the ecological risk in northern China would expand. High agriculture yield risks might be distributed mainly in south of the North China Plain, the Sichuan Basin, south of the Yangtze River, and west of Northwest China, and the risk levels might continuously increase.</p>

Health Impact Assessments A Tool for Designing Climate Change Resilience Into Green Building and Planning Projects

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adele Houghton
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Community Planning ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Voluntary Programs ◽  
Health Impact Assessments ◽  
The U.S

Historical records have documented considerable changes to the global climate, with significant health, economic, and environmental consequences. Climate projections predict more intense hurricanes; increased sea level rise; and more frequent and more intense natural disasters such as heat waves, heavy rainfall, and drought in the future (1; 2). The coast along the Gulf of Mexico is particularly vulnerable to many of these environmental hazards and at particular risk when several strike simultaneously—such as a hurricane disrupting electricity transmission during a heat wave. Due to its significant contribution to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the building sector already plays an important role in climate change mitigation efforts (e.g., reducing emissions). For example, voluntary programs such as the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Rating System (3), the Architecture 2030 Challenge (4), the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment (5), and the Clinton Climate Initiative (6) focus almost exclusively on reducing energy consumption and increasing renewable energy generation. Mandatory regulations such as the International Energy Conservation Code (7), the International Green Building Code (8), and CalGreen (9) also emphasize GHG emission reduction targets. This leadership role is necessary. After all, the United States EPA estimates that the building sector accounts for 62.7% of total annual GHG emissions in the U.S., when the construction sector, facility operations, and transportation are factored in. In fact, the construction sector alone is the third largest industrial emitter of GHGs after the oil and gas and chemical industries, contributing 1.7% of total annual emissions (10; 11). As significant as these contributions appear, the built environment's true contribution to climate change is much larger than the GHG emissions attributed to building construction and operations. It is also a major determinant of which populations are vulnerable to climate change-related hazards, such as heat waves and flooding (12; 13). Architecture and land use planning can therefore be used as tools for building community resilience to the climate-related environmental changes underway (13). Climate change regulations and voluntary programs have begun to incorporate requirements targeting the built environment's ability to work in tandem with the natural environment to both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect its occupants from the health consequences of a changing climate. For example, 11 states have incorporated climate change adaptation goals into their climate action plans (14). In 2010, the not-for-profit organization ICLEI: Local Governments for Sustainability launched a climate change adaptation program (15) to complement their existing mitigation program, which supports municipalities who have signed the U.S. Conference of Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement (16). New tools have been introduced to measure community vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. One of these tools, Health Impact Assessments (or HIAs), has emerged over the past decade as a powerful methodology to provide evidence-based recommendations to decision makers and community planning officials about the likely health co-benefits and co-harms associated with proposed policies and land use development proposals (17). While HIAs are becoming a more common feature of community planning efforts, this paper introduces them as an approach to designing climate change resilience into specific building projects. HIAs have been used in Europe and other parts of the world for decades to provide a science-based, balanced assessment of the risks and benefits to health associated with a proposed policy or program (18). In the U.S., they have been used over the past decade to evaluate transit-oriented developments, urban infill projects, and California's capand-trade legislation, among other topics (17; 19). To date, HIAs have been used mainly to inform large-scale community planning, land use, industrial, and policy decisions. However, the recommendations generated through the HIA process often bring to light previously unforeseen vulnerabilities, whether due to existing infrastructure, building technology, or socio-economic conditions. Designers can make use of the HIA process and its resulting recommendations to prioritize design/retrofit interventions that will result in the largest co-benefits to building owners, the surrounding community, and the environment. An HIA focused on the health impacts of climate change will likely generate recommendations that could enhance the longevity of a building project's useful life; protect its property value by contributing to the resilience of the surrounding community; and result in design decisions that prioritize strategies that maximize both short-term efficiencies and long-term environmental, economic, and social value.

scholarly journals Non-Sewered Sanitation Systems’ Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Balancing Sustainable Development Goal Tradeoffs to End Open Defecation

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 11884
Author(s):  
Kelsey Shaw ◽  
Christopher Kennedy ◽  
Caetano C. Dorea
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Emission Factors ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Open Defecation ◽  
Sustainable Development Goal ◽  
Development Goal ◽  
Sanitation Systems

Discharge of excreta into the environment and the use of decentralized sanitation technologies, such as septic tanks, pit latrines and ecological sanitation variants (i.e., container-based sanitation), contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions but have remained poorly quantified. The purpose of this analysis was to investigate the impacts that meeting Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6.2 (i.e., ending open defecation by 2030) would have on SDG 13 (i.e., combatting climate impacts). The current Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change GHG estimation methodology was used as the basis for calculations in this analysis, augmented with improved emission factors from collected data sets for all types of on-site sanitation infrastructure. Specifically, this assessment focused on the three different service levels of sanitation (i.e., improved, unimproved and no service) as defined by UNICEF and WHO as they pertain to three Shared Socioeconomic Pathways. This analysis considered the 100-year global warming potential values in carbon dioxide equivalents of methane and nitrous oxide that can be emitted for each scenario and decentralized sanitation technology. Ultimately, six scenarios were developed for various combinations of pathways and sanitation technologies. There was significant variability between the scenarios, with results ranging from 68 Tg CO2eq/year to 7 TgCO2eq/year. The main contributors of GHG emissions in each scenario were demonstrated to be septic tank systems and pit latrines, although in scenarios that utilized improved emission factors (EFs) these emissions were significantly reduced compared with those using only standard IPCC EFs. This analysis demonstrated that using improved EFs reduced estimated GHG emissions within each SSP scenario by 53% on average. The results indicate that achieving SDG sanitation targets will ultimately increase GHG emissions from the current state but with a relatively small impact on total anthropogenic emissions. There is a need for the continued improvement and collection of field-based emission estimations to refine coarse scale emissions models as well as a better characterization of relevant biodegradation mechanisms in popular forms of on-site sanitation systems. An increase in the understanding of sanitation and climate change linkages among stakeholders will ultimately lead to a better inclusion of sanitation, and other basic human rights, in climate action goals.

scholarly journals Impact of climate change and variability on traditional farming systems: Farmers’ perceptions from south-west, semi-arid Zimbabwe

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Everson Ndlovu ◽  
Barend Prinsloo ◽  
Tanya Le Roux
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Variability ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Traditional Farming ◽  
Annual Crop ◽  
The Past ◽  
Semi Arid

Despite annual climate variability threats, traditional farming in semi-arid Zimbabwe remains entrenched in unproductive, rain-fed agricultural practices. Adaptation strategies by farmers are seemingly failing to mitigate climate impacts, as evidenced by annual crop and livestock losses. Matabeleland South Province was a thriving livestock and small grain-producing province in the 1970s. Today, the province relies heavily on humanitarian assistance from government and humanitarian agencies. Through literature review, observations and focus group discussions with 129 farmers, the qualitative study established the perceptions of farmers around climate variability impacts in the past 20 years in Mangwe, Matobo and Gwanda districts in Zimbabwe. The study (1) analysed changes in climate and weather patterns in the past 20 years; (2) analysed climate impacts on traditional farming systems in the past 20 years in Gwanda, Mangwe and Matobo districts in Zimbabwe; and (3) established farmers’ perceptions, experiences and their climate adaptive strategies. The findings showed that the farmers experienced annual heat waves, protracted droughts, chaotic rain seasons, frost and floods, which led to environmental degradation. Traditional farming systems or practices have been abandoned in favour of buying and selling and gold panning, among other alternative livelihood options, because of climate-related threats and misconceptions around the subject of climate change. Farmers fail to access timely and comprehensive weather forecasts, resulting in annual crop and livestock losses, as decision-making is compromised. Given that the smallholder farming system sustains the bulk of the population in Matabeleland South Province in Zimbabwe, climate education and capital investment is needed to change traditional farmer perceptions about climate change impacts on the farming practices. Increased climate awareness initiatives, establishment of village-based weather stations and the marrying of traditional farming climate knowledge to modern practices are highly recommended to enhance resilience to climate.

scholarly journals Climate change in rural Pakistan: evidence and experiences from a people-centered perspective

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amber Ajani ◽  
Kees van der Geest
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
National Geographic Society ◽  
Weather Patterns ◽  
Climate Resilience ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Study Sites

AbstractPakistan is home to a wide range of geographical landscapes, each of which faces different climate change impacts and challenges. This article presents findings from a National Geographic Society funded project, which employed a people-centered, narratives-based approach to study climate impacts and adaptation strategies of people in 19 rural study sites in four provinces of Pakistan (N = 108). The study looked at six climate-related stressors—changes in weather patterns, floods, Glacial Lake Outburst Floods, drought, heat waves, and sea-level rise—in the coastal areas of Sindh, the desert of Thar, the plains of Punjab, and the mountains of Hunza, Gilgit, and Chitral. Speaking to people at these frontlines of climate change revealed much about climate suffering and trauma. Not only is the suffering induced by losses and damages to property and livelihood, but climate impacts also take a heavy toll on people’s psycho-social wellbeing, particularly when they are displaced from their homes. The findings further demonstrate that people try to adapt in various ways, for instance by altering their agricultural practices, but they face severe barriers to effective adaptation action. Understanding people’s perceptions of climate change and incorporating their recommendations in adaptation planning can help policy-makers develop a more participatory, inclusive, and holistic climate resilience framework for the future.

scholarly journals 2.O. Workshop: Climate change and the impact on public and occupational health

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Private Life ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Health Advisories

Abstract Objectives Climate change has an impact on people’s physical, mental, and community health. This impact can arise directly and indirectly. Some natural disasters are exacerbated by climate change, like floods, heat waves, storms, wildfires, and landslides. Some effects occur more gradually for example from changing temperatures. Heat waves can weaken the infrastructure (transport, construction) and make food systems less secure (infections, less access). But heat waves can also directly cause severe health effects. Heat waves are examples of direct and indirect climate impacts on society’s physical and mental health. Climate change creates visible impacts in many countries. The number of heat waves increased across the globe the last few decades. This change has an impact on communities’ health both in private life settings as in occupational settings. There is an overlap of impact which influences the effects seen in both settings. The awareness of this overlap is not clear for most stakeholders. Health advisories before, during and after heat waves do not consider this issues in their health promotion activities. This workshop aims at describing different ways how public health could benefit of a more integrative approach of health promotion by linking messages directed at the general public and the occupational work force. Therefore, examples on national as well as regional and local level are presented discussed with specific emphasis on requirements and processes for success on one hand and obstacles on the other. The examples reflect different European regions and country heat waves plans as well as results from the EU-funded projects HEATSHIELD and SCORCH. Key messages Heat will be an increasing issue in public health. Health advisories need to be improved during periods of heat.

scholarly journals Securing Horticulture in a Changing Climate—A Mini Review

Horticulturae ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehdi B. Bisbis ◽  
Nazim S. Gruda ◽  
Michael M. Blanke
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Elevated Temperatures ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Cold Temperatures ◽  
Climate Conditions

(1) Background: Climate change is on the rise due to continuous greenhouse gas emissions from anthropogenic activities ever since the industrial revolution. Changing weather conditions are likely to have consequences for horticulture. (2) Objective and Methods: A short literature review was conducted, gathering findings on climate change and the impacts on the yield and product quality of special crops. (3) Results: Global warming will result in elevated temperatures and CO2 concentrations in all seasons. Extreme weather events such as heat waves are also on the increase. In vegetables, physiological processes such as vernalization and winter chilling strongly rely on temperature. Therefore, heat stress may cause irregularities in yield production and planning the harvest. For fruit crops, frost poses a risk that is enhanced through climate change, as does a lack of chilling, as cold temperatures in the winter are required for flowering in the spring. Abiotic disorders in horticulture are also related to changing temperatures and humidity. The nutritional quality of special crops may be threatened by increasing rates of plant development and premature ripening at high temperatures. Quality traits such as sugars, acids, or antioxidant capacity may also shift as well. (4) Conclusions: Adapting to these new climate conditions means developing new climate-resilient varieties to maintain high production levels with superior quality. In this mini review, cultivation measures to mitigate adverse climate impacts are also discussed. Current developments and recent findings are presented, pointing out further steps toward adaptation and sustainable production.

Building Sector & Climate Change: The Case of Hungary

2014 ◽  
Vol 899 ◽  
pp. 99-104
Author(s):  
Attila Talamon
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Building Sector ◽  
Energy And Environment ◽  
Low Energy Buildings

Building sector plays an important role in climate impacts mitigation, as it is responsible for 40% of global energy use and global GHG emissions. Climate change has a dual implication on the built environment: on one hand human settlements and buildings are vulnerable to the effects of changing climate and on the other hand the building sector has a significant climate change mitigation potential. Although nowadays the trends are positive, the share of newly built low-energy buildings is very low, the near-zero-energy building market is in its early phase. Simultaneously the optimizing technologies in the building design are strongly highlighted. The presence of the energy and environment efficient buildings and the stringent building energy regulations of the EU need more accurate building design. The constant design parameters will come to foreground and their role will be appreciated. The relevant sustainable development and building policies, as well as the building design, construction and maintenance should jointly respond both to adaptation to and mitigation of climate change. This paper focuses the relevance of the main constant design parameter: How to take into account the increasing outdoor temperature in the building energy design.

Latin America climate change progress requires aid

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Economic Factors ◽  
Budget Deficits ◽  
Content Type ◽  
International Pressure ◽  
20Th Session ◽  
Binding Agreement ◽  
Future Commitments

Subject Latin America's climate change action. Significance The agreement reached during the 20th session of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 20) held in Lima in December 2014 committed all countries, developed and developing, to make public their commitments to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These will form the basis for the crucial next session (COP 21) in Paris this December. However, political and economic factors reduce the chances of a legally binding agreement emerging from the process, providing wriggle room for those governments not wanting to meet their future commitments. Impacts Countries in the region will face growing international pressure to publicise new or revised commitments to cutting emissions post-2020. If targets are to be met, countries with significant rainforests will have to improve on their logging records. The increasing budget deficits of many countries in the region will make the adaptation to climate impacts even harder.

scholarly journals Legal Aspects of Urban Climate Change Adaptation

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Riccardo Stupazzini
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Urban Climate ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Geographic Location ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Adaptation Measures

Much of the climate discourse of today is held the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and reducing humanity’s ecological footprint on Earth. However, as climate change is already impacting our planet, adaptation measures to climate change are also required. Rising temperatures, the multiplication of intense precipitation events and related pluvial and river floods, drought events and water scarcity, the increase of frequency of wildfires represent a few of the multiple climate change impacts that governments and citizens have to deal with. For ecological reasons, climate change affects areas very differently based on geographic location and urban centers represent climate ‘hotspots’ as areas with high vulnerability. As a consequence of this, cities and towns play a crucial role in tackling climate change effects. The aim of this essay is to analyze the legal aspects of climate change adaptation set by local governments to prevent and manage damages related to climate-related risks. More in detail, after determining the international, European and national legal framework on adaptation, the purpose of the article is to identify the legal instruments used by local administrations to develop adaptation measures. In particular, the analysis focuses on the legal aspects related to three dimensions of local adaptation: urban greening as a nature-based solution for heat waves risks; the management of water-related risks; the civil protection planning function of municipalities. Considering the impacts of the mainstreaming process on planning tools, special attention is directed towards the integration and coordination issue between the different urban and sectoral planning instruments required by the Italian multi-level governance legal system.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document