Glacier response to Holocene warmth inferred from in situ ¹⁰Be and ¹⁴C bedrock analyses in Steingletscher's forefield (central Swiss Alps)

Mid-latitude mountain glaciers are sensitive to local summer temperature changes. Chronologies of past glacier fluctuations based on the investigation of glacial landforms therefore allow for a better understanding of natural climate variability at local scale, which is relevant for the assessment of the ongoing anthropogenic climate warming. In this study, we focus on the Holocene, the current interglacial of the last 11 700 years, which remains a matter of dispute regarding its temperature evolution and underlying driving mechanisms. In particular, the nature and significance of the transition from the early to mid-Holocene and of the Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM) are still debated. Here, we apply an emerging approach by combining in situ cosmogenic 10Be moraine and 10Be–14C bedrock dating from the same site, the forefield of Steingletscher (European Alps), and reconstruct the glacier's millennial recession and advance periods. The results suggest that, subsequent to the final deglaciation at ∼10 ka, the glacier was similar to or smaller than its 2000 CE extent for ∼7 kyr. At ∼3 ka, Steingletscher advanced to an extent slightly outside the maximum Little Ice Age (LIA) position and until the 19th century experienced sizes that were mainly confined between the LIA and 2000 CE extents. These findings agree with existing Holocene glacier chronologies and proxy records of summer temperatures in the Alps, suggesting that glaciers throughout the region were similar to or even smaller than their 2000 CE extent for most of the early and mid-Holocene. Although glaciers in the Alps are currently far from equilibrium with the accelerating anthropogenic warming, thus hindering a simple comparison of summer temperatures associated with modern and paleo-glacier sizes, our findings imply that the summer temperatures during most of the Holocene, including the HTM, were similar to those at the end of the 20th century. Further investigations are necessary to refine the magnitude of warming and the potential HTM seasonality.

Predicting the pulmonary effects of long-term e-cigarette use: are the clouds clearing?

Commercially available since 2007, e-cigarettes are a popular electronic delivery device of ever-growing complexity. Given their increasing use by ex-smokers, smokers and never-smokers, it is important to evaluate evidence of their potential pulmonary effects and predict effects of long-term use, since there has been insufficient time to study a chronic user cohort. It is crucial to evaluate indicators of harm seen in cigarette use, and those potentially unique to e-cigarette exposure. Evaluation must also account for the vast variation in e-cigarette devices (now including at least five generations of devices) and exposure methods used in vivo and in vitro.Thus far, short-term use cohort studies, combined with in vivo and in vitro models, have been used to probe for the effects of e-cigarette exposure. The effects and mechanisms identified, including dysregulated inflammation and decreased pathogen resistance, show concerning overlaps with the established effects of cigarette smoke exposure. Additionally, research has identified a signature of dysregulated lipid processing, which is unique to e-cigarette exposure.This review will evaluate the evidence of pulmonary effects of, and driving mechanisms behind, e-cigarette exposure, which have been highlighted in emerging literature, and highlight the gaps in current knowledge. Such a summary allows understanding of the ongoing debate into e-cigarette regulation, as well as prediction and potential mitigation of future problems surrounding e-cigarette use.

Functional Prediction of Biological Profile During Eutrophication in Marine Environment

In the marine environment, coastal nutrient pollution and algal blooms are increasing in many coral reefs and surface waters around the world, leading to higher concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), nitrogen (N), phosphate (P), and sulfur (S) compounds. The adaptation of the marine microbiota to this stress involves evolutionary processes through mutations that can provide selective phenotypes. The aim of this in silico analysis is to elucidate the potential candidate hub proteins, biological processes, and key metabolic pathways involved in the pathogenicity of bacterioplankton during excess of nutrients. The analysis was carried out on the model organism Escherichia coli K-12, by adopting an analysis pipeline consisting of a set of packages from the Cystoscape platform. The results obtained show that the metabolism of carbon and sugars generally are the 2 driving mechanisms for the expression of virulence factors.

PROBLEMS OF DRIVE MECHANISMS OF TECHNOLOGICAL SECTION OF FIRING AND GRINDING DURING CEMENT PRODUCTION

The analysis of conditions of long operation of driving mechanisms of technological sites of firing and grinding at cement production is carried out in the work. Typical variants of mutual arrangement of crown pair elements in case of rectilinear axis of rotation of technological unit body and axial beating of gear ring, as well as variant of mutual arrangement of crown gear elements in case of curved axis of rotation of rotary unit body are considered. A technique for determining the total angle of skew of the teeth of the crown pair, taking into account the errors of manufacture and the relative position of the wheels of the open gear. On the basis of experimental data the dependences of the total skew angle of the teeth of the crown pair as a function of the rotation angle of the gear crown are constructed and the possible range of the total skew angle under different operating conditions of the considered large rotating units is determined. To assess the stress-strain state of the elements of the ring gear mounted on the furnace body, a solid model was created in the software environment Solid Works Simulation. As an example, the dependences of the change in the magnitude of the deformation of the teeth of the toothed crown in the plane of action of a uniformly distributed normal force are determined. Practical recommendations for improving the design of the crown gear pair are offered. Keywords: rotary kilns; mills; crown gear; toothed crown; the angle of skew of the teeth; finite element method

Assessing the role of compound drought and heatwave events on unprecedented 2020 wildfires in the Pantanal

The year 2020 had the most catastrophic fire season over the last two decades in the Pantanal, which led to outstanding environmental impacts. Indeed, much of the Pantanal has been affected by severe dry conditions since 2019, with evidence of the 2020’s drought being the most extreme and widespread ever recorded in the last 70 years. Although it is unquestionable that this mega-drought contributed significantly to the increase of fire risk, so far, the 2020’s fire season has been analyzed at the univariate level of a single climate event, not considering the co-occurrence of extreme and persistent temperatures with soil dryness conditions. Here, we show that similarly to other areas of the globe, the influence of land-atmosphere feedbacks contributed decisively to the simultaneous occurrence of dry and hot spells (HPs), exacerbating fire risk. The ideal synoptic conditions for strong atmospheric heating and large evaporation rates were present, in particular during the HPs, when the maximum temperature was, on average, 6 ºC above the normal. The short span of the period during those compound drought-heatwave (CDHW) events accounted for 55% of the burned area of 2020. The vulnerability in the northern forested areas was higher than in the other areas, revealing a synergistic effect between fuel availability and weather-hydrological conditions. Accordingly, where fuel is not a limiting factor, fire activity tends to be more modelled by CDHW events. Our work advances beyond an isolated event-level basis towards a compound and cascading natural hazards approach, simultaneously estimating the contribution of drought and heatwaves to fuelling extreme fire outbreaks in the Pantanal such as those in 2020. Thus, these findings are relevant within a broader context, as the driving mechanisms apply across other ecosystems, implying higher flammability conditions and further efforts for monitoring and predicting such extreme events.

The determinants of ESG in the banking sector of MENA region: a trend or necessity?

Purpose As reporting environmental, social and governance (ESG) information is not yet mandatory in all countries, it is intriguing to understand ESG’s underlying driving mechanisms. This study aims to investigate ESG determinants in the banking sector of the Middle East and North Africa countries. Design/methodology/approach The authors gather data for 38 listed banks for the period 2011–2019. The data used is threefold as follows: data related to ESG; firm-level; and country-level data. While ESG and firm’s level data are taken from Refinitiv, country-level data are extracted from the World Bank. Using panel regression, the authors test the effect of firm- and country-specific variables on the overall ESG score and its pillars. Findings Results indicate that banks’ ESG scores are negatively affected by performance and positively affected by size. The level of economic development exerts a negative impact on the environmental pillar while the social development exerts a positive impact on ESG and governance pillar. Corruption is the only country-level that gathers a homogenous effect on ESG scores. Finally, the three pillars follow heterogeneous patterns. Originality/value This study extends the scope of previous studies by introducing new country-level independent variables to contribute to the understanding of ESG antecedents.

Global Change Modulated Asian Inland Climate Since 7.3 Ma: Carbonate Manganese Records in the Western Qaidam Basin

Late Cenozoic drying of the Asian inland has not only exerted a profound impact on the regional environment but also affected global climate as an important source of global atmospheric dust. Continuous and accurately dated sediment records from the Asian interior are pivotal to a better understanding of the evolutionary history of Asian inland drying and the associated driving mechanisms. In this study, we present a continuous record of climate change in the Asian interior spanning the past 7.3 Myr, reconstructed by the redox evolution of a paleolake in the western Qaidam Basin, NE Tibetan Plateau. The paleolake redox conditions are linked to the oxygen concentration of lake bottom water and lake level, and were revealed by the manganese (Mn) concentration in the carbonate fraction (leached by the diluted acetic acid) of the carbonate-rich lacustrine sediments retrieved from two drill-cores (SG-1 and SG-1b). The reconstructed regional climate in the western Qaidam Basin shows long-term fluctuations, consistent with the secular evolution of the coeval global climate, especially the sea surface temperature variation in the high latitude North Atlantic. Three transitions of the paleolake hydrochemical system occurred at 6.2, 5.3, and 2.6 Ma, with a short drying stage at 6.2–5.3 Ma and prolonged Quaternary drying since 2.6 Ma. We argue that drying of the Asia interior has been dominantly forced by global cooling, in particular, the high-latitude cooling of the Northern Hemisphere.

Quantitative Assessment of the Contributions of Climate Change and Human Activities to Vegetation Variation in the Qinling Mountains

Quantitative assessment of the contributions of climate change and human activities to vegetation change is important for ecosystem planning and management. To reveal spatial differences in the driving mechanisms of vegetation change in the Qinling Mountains, the changing patterns of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in the Qinling Mountains during 2000–2019 were investigated through trend analysis and multiple regression residuals analysis. The relative contributions of climate change and human activities on vegetation NDVI change were also quantified. The NDVI shows a significant increasing trend (0.23/10a) from 2000 to 2019 in the Qinling Mountains. The percentage of areas with increasing and decreasing trends in NDVI is 87.96% and 12.04% of the study area, respectively. The vegetation change in the Qinling Mountains is caused by a combination of climate change and human activities. The Tongguan Shiquan line is a clear dividing line in the spatial distribution of drivers of vegetation change. Regarding the vegetation improvement, the contribution of climate change and human activities to NDVI increase is 51.75% and 48.25%, respectively. In the degraded vegetation area, the contributions of climate change and human activities to the decrease in NDVI were 22.11% and 77.89%, respectively. Thus, vegetation degradation is mainly caused by human activities. The implementation of policies, such as returning farmland to forest and grass, has an important role in vegetation protection. It is suggested that further attention should be paid to the role of human activities in vegetation degradation when formulating corresponding vegetation protection measures and policies.