Exploring culturally acceptable, nutritious, affordable, and low climatic impact diet for Japanese diets: Proof of concept of applying a new modelling approach using Data Envelopment Analysis

A future sustainable dietary pattern for Japanese is yet undefined. This study aimed to explore more sustainable Japanese diets, that are nutritious, affordable, and with low greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) and particular emphasis on cultural acceptability. A newly developed Data Envelopment Analysis diet model was applied to 4-d dietary record data among 184 healthy Japanese men and 185 women volunteers aged 21–69 y. Alternative diets were calculated as the linear combinations of observed diets. Firstly, for each individual, four modelled diets were calculated that maximised cultural acceptability (i.e. minimize dietary change from observed diet), maximised nutritional quality assessed by the Nutrient-Rich Food Index (NRF), minimized monetary diet costs, or minimized diet-related GHGE. The final modelled diet combined all four indicators. In the first four models, the largest improvement was obtained for each targeted indicator separately, while relatively small improvements or unwanted changes were observed for other indicator. When all indicators were aimed to optimize, the NRF score and diet-related GHGE was improved by 8–13% with the lower monetary cost than observed diets, although the percentage improvement was a bit smaller than the separate models. The final modelled diets demanded increased intakes for whole grains, fruits, milk/cream/yoghurt, legumes/nuts, and decreased intakes for red and processed meat, sugar/confectionaries, alcoholic and sweetened beverages, and seasonings in both sexes. In conclusion, more sustainable dietary patterns considering several indicators are possible for Japanese while total improvement is moderate due to trade-offs between indicators and methodological limitation of DEA diet model.

The sensitivity of simulated aerosol climatic impact to domain size using regional model (WRF-Chem v3.6)

Domain size can have significant impact on regional modeling results, but few studies examined the sensitivities of simulated aerosol impact to regional domain size. This study investigates the regional modeling sensitivities of aerosol impact on the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) to domain size. The simulations with two different domain sizes demonstrate consistently that aerosols induce the cooling of the lower troposphere that leads to the anticyclone circulation anomalies and thus the weakening of EASM moisture transport. The aerosol-induced adjustment of monsoonal circulation results in an alternate increase and decrease pattern of precipitation over China. Domain size has a great influence on the simulated meteorological fields. For example, the simulation with larger domain size produces weaker EASM circulation, which also affects aerosol distributions significantly. This leads to the difference of simulated strength and area extent of aerosol-induced changes of lower-tropospheric temperature and pressure, which further results in different distributions of circulation and precipitation anomalies over China. For example, over southeastern China, aerosols induce the increase (decrease) of precipitation from the smaller-domain (larger-domain) simulation. Different domain sizes consistently simulate an aerosol-induced increase in precipitation around 30∘ N over eastern China. This study highlights the important influence of domain size on regional modeling results of aerosol impact on circulation and precipitation, which may not be limited to East Asia. More generally, this study also implies that proper modeling of meteorological fields with appropriate domain size is one of the keys to simulating robust aerosol climatic impact.

A Mass Balance Approach in Sediment Budgeting of Large Alluvial Rivers with special emphasis on the Brahmaputra in Assam

Morphology of an alluvial river channel is the consequence of erosion, sediment transport and sedimentation in a river. Sediment budget accounts for the sources, sinks and redistribution pathways of sediments, solutes and nutrients in a unit region over unit time. Human activities are the most important factors that affect the variation in the pattern of river sediment load. This paper discusses sediment budget of a few large rivers by review of literature and estimation of sediment budget of Brahmaputra River in Assam using mass balance approach. An attempt has also been made to discuss human and climatic impact on sediment load of major rivers of the world. Total sediment load in the Brahmaputra River at downstream location (India-Bangladesh border) was estimated to be 814×106 t/year. Considering 10% of sediment load of the Brahmaputra as bed load, suspended sediment load at downstream was estimated to be 733×106 t/year. Tributaries, bank erosion and scouring of river bed were found to contribute 52%, 27% and 21% respectively to sediment load of Brahmaputra at downstream locations. In spite of limitations of the dependable data, future complexity due to climate change impact and hydropower dam initiative in upstream of the River, the study is a simplified approach in sediment budgeting of the Brahmaputra.

Climatic impact on atmospheric turbidity at some Indian stations

Data from four Indian BAPMoN stations in different climatic regions were analysed using principal component analysis (PCA) for the evaluation of climatic impact upon turbidity. Spectral analysis (FFT) of the data for these stations has helped to bring out the sub-seasonal, seasonal and annual cycles. It is found that the atmospheric turbidity is predominantly controlled by climatic factors through surface fluxes, transport of dust or rain washout and is mainly a lower tropospheric phenomenon. The performance of the PCA regression model is found satisfactorily in reproducing the annual cycle and long period variations.

The opening and closure of oceanic seaways during the Cenozoic: pacemaker of global climate change?

The opening and constriction of oceanic gateways played an essential role in shaping global climate throughout Earth's history. In this review we provide an overview of the best documented feedbacks between gateway dynamics and climate change throughout the Cenozoic. The discussed tectonically induced events comprise (i) the opening of the Tasmanian Gateway and the glaciation of Antarctica during the Eocene/Oligocene, (ii) the water mass exchange between Atlantic and Mediterranean via the Strait of Gibraltar since the Miocene, (iii) the closure of the American Seaway, as well as (iv) the constriction of the Indonesian Throughflow, both argued to have been instrumental for intensification of the Northern Hemisphere Glaciation during the late Pliocene and early Pleistocene. Lastly, we look at (v) the climatic impact of the flooding and submergence of the Bering Strait during the Plio-Pleistocene and its influence on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. While different in underlying mechanisms, geographic scale and temporal evolution, these case studies demonstrate that even seemingly small-scale changes in the configuration of ocean seaways fundamentally altered the global climate system via their impact on oceanic currents, global heat transfer, and carbon storage.

Strong control of effective radiative forcing by the spatial pattern of absorbing aerosol

Over the coming decades it is expected that the spatial pattern of anthropogenic aerosol will change dramatically and that the global composition of aerosols will become relatively more absorbing. However, despite this the climatic impact of the evolving spatial pattern of absorbing aerosol has received relatively little attention, in particular the impact of this pattern on global-mean effective radiative forcing. Here we use novel climate model experiments to show that the effective radiative forcing from absorbing aerosol varies strongly depending on their location, driven by rapid adjustments of clouds and circulation. Our experiments generate positive effective radiative forcing in response to aerosol absorption throughout the midlatitudes and most of the tropical regions and a strong ‘hot spot’ of negative effective radiative forcing in response to aerosol absorption over the Western tropical Pacific. We show that these diverse responses can be robustly attributed to changes in atmospheric dynamics and highlight the importance of this previously unknown ‘aerosol pattern effect’ for transient forcing from regional biomass-burning aerosol.

Simulating the Climatic Impact on Vehicle Engine Function Parts

The paper describes the assessment of the influence of climatic conditions, temperature and relative humidity on the lifespan of the cylinder forming the functional part of the vehicle TATRA 815 6x6 VVN. Based on the measured notch-toughness value in the test temperature range -80 °C to +100 °C, the corrosion effect on specimens with and without corrosion protection was evaluated. A condensation chamber was used to simulate corrosion conditions which can cause corrosion and degradation process in the material leading to lifetime reduction and limit state development. The duration of the corrosion laboratory tests in the condensation chamber considered the real time when the TATRA 815 6x6 VVN vehicle is exposed to climate change on an open area in the fleet. There were three sets of samples for simulations with different number of cycles (9, 18 and 27 cycles).

The Cascading Climate Crisis

• Risk cascades are where an adverse climatic impact or trend triggers or amplifies a set of risks, including through maladaptive responses. • Climate risk cascades have already occurred and are set to increase going into the future. Some of these could be non-linear and high impact. • Risk cascades can occur through a unilinear chain – a ‘domino’ effect—or when the cascades reinforce the initial risk or driver – a ‘spiral’ or ‘cycle effect. At worst, these can snowball into crises that cross sectors and countries. • Predicting risk cascades will be inherently difficult, if not impossible. Yet we can likely understand the different pathways they may take, and the thresholds past which they are likely to occur. • Protecting again risk cascades means faster decarbonisation, supporting the most vulnerable, and building more resilient socio-economic systems. This will require indirect measures, such as remedying inequalities.

Fire Resistance of Steel Structures with Epoxy Fire Protection under Cryogenic Exposure

Cases of fire with highly flammable, combustible liquids and combustible gases with high potential heat emission at oil and gas facilities are assumed to develop as a hydrocarbon fire, which is characterized by the temperature rising rapidly up to 1093 ± 56 °C within five minutes from the test start and staying within the same range throughout the test, as well as by overpressure being generated. Although various fireproof coating systems are commonly used to protect steel structures from high temperatures, a combination of fire protection and cryogenic spillage protection, i.e., protection from liquefied natural gas (LNG), is rather an international practice novelty regulated by standards ISO 20088. Thanks to their outstanding features, i.e., ability to sustain chemical and climatic impact, these epoxy-based materials are able to ensure positive fireproof performance for steel structures in the case of potential cryogenic impact. The article discusses tests on steel structures coated with epoxy fireproof compounds, specifically PREGRAD-EP, OGRAX-SKE and Chartek 2218. The test records show the time from the start of cryogenic exposure to the said sample reaching the limit state, as well as the time from the start of heat impact to the sample reaching the limit state in case of hydrocarbon fire temperature.