Impact of Climate Change on Three Indicator Galliformes Species in The Northern Highlands of Pakistan

Global temperatures are predicted to rise from between 1.4 to 5.8°C by 21st century, which could result in a 20 to 30% extinction of species. The negative impacts of climate change on the northern highlands of Pakistan (NHP) could change the species composition. Range shifts and range reduction in the forested landscapes will dramatically affect the distribution of forest dwelling species, including the Galliformes (ground birds). Three Galliformes (e.g., Lophophorus impejanus, Pucrasia macrolopha and Tragopan melanocephalus) are indicator species of the environment and currently distributed in NHP. For this study, we used Maximum Entropy Model (MaxEnt) to simulate the current and future (in 2050 and 2070) distributions of the species using three General Circulation Models (GCMs) and two climate change scenarios, i.e., RCP4.5 (moderate carbon emission scenario) and RCP8.5 (peak carbon emission scenario). Our results indicated that (i) all the three species would be negatively affected by the climate change in 2050 and in 2070. (ii) Under all three climate scenarios, species distribution was predicted to both reduce and shift towards higher altitudes. (iii) Across the provinces in the NHP, the species were predicted to lose over one quarter in 2050 and one-third by 2070 of the current suitable habitat. (iv) The maximum area of climate refugia was projected between the altitudinal range of 2000 m to 4000 m and predicted to shift towards higher altitudes primarily >3000 m in the future. The proposed implications such as establishment and upgradation of the protected areas, ban on hunting, timber mafia and temporary settlements of the local people in the forested landscapes should be under special consideration to mitigate the impact of climate change.

Dynamics of indigenous community’s food and culture in the time of climate change in the Himalayan region

Global climate change has become the most significant challenge of modern times, confronting the lives and security of vulnerable societies around the world. The anticipated impact of climatic variability will be severe on local communities, particularly those residing near high-risk prone zones such as coastal areas and mountain regions. The indigenous knowledge and locally-held beliefs act as a refuge, which also prompt and prohibit the responsiveness towards climatic instabilities. Subsequently, ensuring food and nutritional security is the primary task of strategy makers. Hence, comprehensive knowledge of the indigenous traditional food habits and cultural values, beliefs, and gendered norms need to be explored on a priority basis to address the adverse impact of environmental changes, emphasizing the urgency of the Himalayan societies. Despite that, the integration of indigenous knowledge is not on the priority list of the researcher. Thus, this article reviews the existing literature on customary food habits to analyze the bidirectional association between climate change and the dietary practice of the indigenous communities for adaptation policy. PRISMA Statement technique is used for a systematic review of Scopus and Web of Science databases identified 24 related studies from 14 countries, with a specific focus on the Himalayan region, which resulted into four themes viz. impact of climatic variability of indigenous societies, the impact of climate change on community’s customary food beliefs, the impact of climate change on gender defined norms, climate change adaption strategies. The findings show that the current literature has failed to include the socio-ecological beliefs of traditional communities associated with dietary habits. Thus, the focus should be given to integrate the locally held beliefs of customary societies for the successful adoption of climate change adaptation and food security programs.

The Impact of Climate Change on Primary Air Treatment Processes and Energy Demand in Air Conditioning Systems—A Case Study from Warsaw, Poland

This article presents the impact of climate change on air treatment processes and energy demand in a selected air-conditioning system. The analysis was performed for a system supplying rooms with pre-treated primary air. Further treatment occurred directly in the rooms with individual devices such as fan coils or chilled beams. The analysis of the second stage of air treatment was not part of this study. The calculations were made for the city of Warsaw, where, according to the climate analysis for the period 1961–2020, an increase in outside temperature by 0.4 °C per decade and an increase in air humidity by 0.2 g/kg per decade were observed. The system analysis was divided into two stages. The first, including calculations made for monthly average climate data for the entire period of 1961–2020, shows changes in the energy demand of the system, resulting from progressive climate change. This analysis confirmed the general tendency of increasing demand for cooling energy and decreasing demand for heating energy, which is also observed in many other regions of the world. The second stage, based on calculations for hourly climate data in selected years, is an analysis of the operation of all elements of the system equipment. Research has identified areas that will have an increasing impact on the energy efficiency of the whole air condition system during further climate change.