scholarly journals Sustainable Water Flows in Era of Climate Change

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepika Pandey

The flow of water in rivers is of paramount importance to maintain supply of food and energy requirements to a great extent. The minimum flow in perennial rivers is subjected to groundwater availability, it is further replenished by the water added through precipitation. Climate change not only increases the melting of glaciers and sea level rise, but also influences the surface water flow and quality. As agriculture is directly affected by changing precipitation pattern, the reduction in water resources and untimely addition of water, both act havoc to the food production process. This interconnection makes agriculture even more vulnerable to the scenarios of global warming and climate change. Studies on food-energy-water nexus has opened new avenues of research in sustainable water management. The role of sustainable flow of water in rivers is highlighted which needs to be understood in era of climate change.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selina Meier ◽  
Randy Munoz ◽  
Christian Huggel

<p>Water scarcity is increasingly becoming a problem in many regions of the world. On the one hand, this can be attributed to changes in precipitation conditions due to climate change. On the other hand, this is also due to population growth and changes in consumer behaviour. In this study, an analysis is carried out for the highly glaciated Vilcanota River catchment (9808 km<sup>2</sup> – 1.2% glacier area) in the Cusco region (Peru). Possible climatic and socioeconomic scenarios up to 2050 were developed including the interests from different water sectors, i.e. agriculture, domestic and energy.</p><p>The analysis consists of the hydrological simulation at a monthly time step from September 2043 to August 2050 using a simple glacio-hydrological model. For historic conditions (1990 to 2006) a combination of gridded data (PISCO precipitation) and weather stations was used. Future scenario simulations were based on three different climate models for both RCP 2.6 and 8.5. Different glacier outlines were used to simulate changes in glacier surface through the time for both historic (from satellite data) and future (from existing literature) scenarios. Furthermore, future water demand simulations were based on the SSP1 and SSP3 scenarios.</p><p>Results from all scenarios suggest an average monthly runoff of about 130 m<sup>3</sup>/s for the Vilcanota catchment between 2043 and 2050. This represents a change of about +5% compared to the historical monthly runoff of about 123 m<sup>3</sup>/s. The reason for the increase in runoff is related to the precipitation data from the selected climate models. However, an average monthly deficit of up to 50 m<sup>3</sup>/s was estimated between April and November with a peak in September. The seasonal deficit is related to the seasonal change in precipitation, while the water demand seems to have a less important influence.</p><p>Due to the great uncertainty of the modelling and changes in the socioeconomic situation, the data should be continuously updated. In order to construct a locally sustainable water management system, the modelling needs to be further downscaled to the different subcatchments in the Vilcanota catchment. To address the projected water deficit, a new dam could partially compensate for the decreasing storage capacity of the melting glaciers. However, the construction of the dam could meet resistance from the local population if they cannot be promised and communicated multiple uses of the new dam. Sustainable water management requires the cooperation of all stakeholders and all stakeholders should be able to benefit from it so that they will support future projects.</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 88
Author(s):  
Pappu Kumar Dey ◽  
Mohammad Nakib ◽  
Probal Dutta

This study examines the nature and extent of climate change disclosures in the corporate annual reports of the listed companies in Dhaka Stock Exchange, Bangladesh. For this purpose, annual reports related to the year 2014 of the sample 88 listed companies have been scrutinized. In regard to this study, content analysis approach has been conducted considering thirteen different disclosure issues regarding climate change. Our analysis provides the comprehension of below average climate change disclosure practices by the Bangladeshi companies, though 58 percent companies have reported at least one issue on climate change and global warming. ‘Energy saving & efficiency’ and ‘water management & pollution’ are mostly reported issues that are industry specific requirements in some case. From the viewpoint of industry, Banking industry and Cement industry have started to report some issues related to the climate change, where 4 industries out of selected 17 industries have not provided any climate change disclosure. Disseminating climate change disclosure within 10 sentences by most of the reported companies manifests the desideratum of in-depth disclosure practices.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Kehan Li

Climate change is of great importance in modern times and global warming is considered as a significant part of climate change. It is proved that human’s emissions such as greenhouse gases are one of the main sources of global warming (IPCC, 2018). Apart from greenhouse gases, there is another kind of matter being released in quantity via emissions from industries and transportations and playing an important role in global warming, which is aerosol. However, atmospheric aerosols have the net effect of cooling towards global warming. In this paper, climate change with respect to global warming is briefly introduced and the role of aerosols in the atmosphere is emphasized. Besides, properties of aerosols including dynamics and thermodynamics of aerosols as well as interactions with solar radiation are concluded. In the end, environmental policies and solutions are discussed. Keywords: Climate change, Global warming, Atmospheric aerosols, Particulate matter, Radiation, Environmental policy.


Climate Law ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 279-319
Author(s):  
Benjamin J. Richardson

Climate change has multifaceted aesthetic dimensions of legal significance. Global warming alters the aesthetic properties of nature, and further aesthetic changes are precipitated by climate mitigation and adaptation responses of impacted societies. The social and political struggles to influence climate change law are also influenced by aesthetics, as environmental activists and artists collaborate to influence public opinion, while conversely the business sector through its marketing and other aesthetic communications tries to persuade consumers of its climate-friendly practices to forestall serious action on global warming. This article distils and analyses these patterns in forging a novel account of the role of aesthetics in climate change law and policy, and it makes conclusions on how this field of law should consider aesthetic values through ‘curatorial’ guidance.


2013 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 115-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yucheng Cao ◽  
Ewelina Staszewska

Abstract Uncontrolled emissions of landfill gas may contribute significantly to climate change, since its composition represents a high fraction of methane, a greenhouse gas with 100- year global warming potential 25 times that of carbon dioxide. Landfill cover could create favourable conditions for methanotrophy (microbial methane oxidation), an activity of using bacteria to oxidize methane to carbon dioxide. This paper presents a brief review of methanotrophic activities in landfill cover. Emphasis is given to the effects of cover materials, environmental conditions and landfill vegetation on the methane oxidation potential, and to their underlying effect mechanisms. Methanotrophs communities and methane oxidation kinetics are also discussed. Results from the overview suggest that well-engineered landfill cover can substantially increase its potential for reducing emissions of methane produced in landfill to the atmosphere.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6083-6089 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Xu ◽  
D. Zaelke ◽  
G. J. M. Velders ◽  
V. Ramanathan

Abstract. There is growing international interest in mitigating climate change during the early part of this century by reducing emissions of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), in addition to reducing emissions of CO2. The SLCPs include methane (CH4), black carbon aerosols (BC), tropospheric ozone (O3) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Recent studies have estimated that by mitigating emissions of CH4, BC, and O3 using available technologies, about 0.5 to 0.6 °C warming can be avoided by mid-21st century. Here we show that avoiding production and use of high-GWP (global warming potential) HFCs by using technologically feasible low-GWP substitutes to meet the increasing global demand can avoid as much as another 0.5 °C warming by the end of the century. This combined mitigation of SLCPs would cut the cumulative warming since 2005 by 50% at 2050 and by 60% at 2100 from the CO2-only mitigation scenarios, significantly reducing the rate of warming and lowering the probability of exceeding the 2 °C warming threshold during this century.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 205316801771760 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle L Saunders

Given the potential attitudinal and behavioral impact of Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) conspiracy beliefs, it is important to understand their causes and moderators. Here, two explanations for the variation in these beliefs are engaged: the first is the choice among elites to frame AGW using the phrase ‘global warming’ (GW) as opposed to ‘climate change’ (CC); the second is partisan motivated reasoning. A theory is then developed about the role of trust in moderating the impact of the two frames on AGW conspiracy beliefs. In the case of CC, which is perceived as less severe than GW (and is therefore less identity threatening among Republicans), it is hypothesized that trust will moderate hoax beliefs among Republicans. In the case of GW, where the implications of existence beliefs have policy consequences that are more unpleasant, motivated reasoning will ‘win out’, and trust will not moderate conspiracy endorsement among Republicans. The results from an original question framing experiment are consistent with the author’s hypotheses. Whilst trust is a welcome commodity to those looking to persuade citizens to support AGW-ameliorating policies, it is not a cure-all, especially in the face of elite partisan cues that edify pre-existing attitudes/identities and arouse a strong desire to engage in motivated reasoning.


Author(s):  
Sujata Mukherjee ◽  
Arunavo Mukerjee

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report (2007) concluded that the globally averaged net effect of human activities since 1750 has been one of the sources of global warming. The Stern Report (2007) corroborates this statement and states that anthropogenic CO2 influences the climate and stresses that the cost of mitigating against climate change is significantly lower than the cost of climate change. The Tata group companies have been actively seeking out experiences of other global companies to develop an effective action plan against climate change. The present paper seeks to review the role of the Tata group in addressing and abating the climate change. It further looks at the various Tata group companies like Tata Chemicals Limited, Tata Steel Europe, Tata Communications and Tata Motors and their ways to stay the course towards sustainable development


2017 ◽  
pp. 416-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sujata Mukherjee ◽  
Arunavo Mukerjee

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report (2007) concluded that the globally averaged net effect of human activities since 1750 has been one of the sources of global warming. The Stern Report (2007) corroborates this statement and states that anthropogenic CO2 influences the climate and stresses that the cost of mitigating against climate change is significantly lower than the cost of climate change. The Tata group companies have been actively seeking out experiences of other global companies to develop an effective action plan against climate change. The present paper seeks to review the role of the Tata group in addressing and abating the climate change. It further looks at the various Tata group companies like Tata Chemicals Limited, Tata Steel Europe, Tata Communications and Tata Motors and their ways to stay the course towards sustainable development


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