The Belt and Road Initiative in North Eurasia: Changing Geographies and the UNECE Multilateral Environmental Agreements

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), launched by China in 2013 to increase economic and transport connectivity along the Eurasian continent and beyond, has posed unprecedented environmental and social risks, many of which are transboundary in nature. International legal tools contained in Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) can play an important role in mitigating such transboundary risks across space and time, as well as reduce the negative impacts of large infrastructure projects, such as are being developed under the auspices of the BRI. However, the adoption of MEA policy tools has been very uneven across the continent. Three conventions in particular, the 1991 Espoo Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment, the 1998 Aarhus Convention, and the 1992 Helsinki Water Convention (the UNECE MEAs) - have the least amount of ratifications by BRI countries. In this paper we discuss these three conventions and demonstrate their relevance in addressing the transboundary risks of large infrastructure projects which require complex coordination and long-term planning.Extended ratification of these UNECE MEAs by nations along the BRI corridors should significantly assist in positively changing geographies by minimizing BRI environmental risks and threats on a transboundary and national dimension, but simultaneously (i) create a more unified approach towards sustainability across the BRI, (ii) raise involvement (and likely subsequent) support within communities for BRI projects, (iii) help to reduce related economic risks throughout Eurasia.

Identification of Coxiella burnetii molecular markers in ticks harboring at forest zones in Saint-Petersburg

The prevalence of Q fever agent, Coxiella burnetii in blood-sucking ixodid ticks in the forest zones of St-Petersburg was investigated. Molecular markers of pathogen were determined in approximately 5 % of vectors, which could suggest of infection foci subsistence close to megalopolis. Data on Coxiella infection rates of arthropod vectors across the North Eurasia were analyzed.

Impacts of Late-Spring North Eurasian Soil Moisture Variation on Summer Rainfall Anomalies in Northern East Asia

This paper reports findings from a diagnostic and modeling analysis that investigates the impact of the late-spring soil moisture anomaly over North Eurasia on the boreal summer rainfall over northern East Asia (NEA). Soil moisture in May in the region from the Kara-Laptev Sea coasts to Central Siberian Plateau is found to be negatively correlated with the summer rainfall from Mongolia to Northeast China. The atmospheric circulation anomalies associated with the anomalously dry soil are characterized by a pressure dipole with the high-pressure center located over North Eurasia and the low-pressure center over NEA, where an anomalous lower-level moisture convergence occurs, favoring rainfall formation. Diagnoses and Modeling experiments demonstrate that the effect of the spring low soil moisture over North Eurasia may persist into the following summer through modulating local surface latent and sensible heat fluxes, increasing low-level air temperature at higher latitudes, and effectively reducing the meridional temperature gradient. The weakened temperature gradient could induce the decreased zonal wind and the generation of a low-pressure center over NEA, associated with a favorable condition of local synoptic activity. The above relationships and mechanisms are vice versa for the prior wetter soil and decreased NEA rainfall. These findings suggest that soil moisture anomalies over North Eurasia may act as a new precursor providing an additional predictability source for better predicting the summer rainfall in NEA.

Plan for the development of specialized climate forecasting in NEACC

The possibility of developing specialized seasonal forecasting within the framework of the North Eurasia Climate Centre is discussed. The purpose of these forecasts is to access the impacts of significant large-scale anomalies of meteorological elements on various economic sectors for the timely informing of government services and private businesses to select optimal strategies for planning preventive measures. A brief overview of the groups of climatic risks in the context of the impacts on the socio-economic sphere is given according to the Russian and foreign bibliographic sources. Examples of the activities of some Regional Climate Centers that produce forecast information with an assessment of possible impacts of weather and climate conditions at seasonal scales on various human activities are given. Keywords: climate services, regional climate forums, weather and climate risks, North Eurasia Climate Centre

Ice nucleation by glaciogenic dust and cloud climate feedbacks

<p>Although most of the dust present in the atmosphere originates from low-latitude arid deserts, it has been increasingly recognised that there are significant sources of High-Latitude Dust (HLD) in locations such as Iceland, Greenland, North American Arctic or North Eurasia [1]. The emission, transport and deposition of HLD can interact with the atmosphere, cryosphere and the marine ecosystem in several ways. Particularly, HLD has the potential to act as significant source of atmospheric Ice-Nucleating Particles (INP), competing with other sources such as dust and other INP types from lower-latitude arid sources [2, 3]. INPs are the fraction of aerosol particles that can trigger ice-formation in supercooled water droplets, that otherwise would remain unfrozen until temperatures of about -36 <sup>o</sup>C.</p><p>Ice formation initiated by the presence of INPs dramatically affects the amount of solar radiation reflected by clouds containing both liquid water and ice, known as mixed-phase clouds. However, ice-related processes in mixed-phase clouds such as the INP concentration are commonly oversimplified in most climate models, which leads to large discrepancies in the amount of water and ice that the models simulate at mid- to high-latitudes [4]. These present-day divergences in simulated mixed-phase clouds lead to a large uncertainty in the cloud climate feedback. This feedback is associated to the fact that mid- to high-latitude mixed-phase clouds dampen a part of the of the global temperature rise associated with greenhouse gases [5] [6].</p><p>Here we will explain the importance of understanding the chemical and ice-nucleating properties of HLD, as well as how it is emitted, transported and deposited for the cloud climate feedback. We will present new results from aircraft studies of the ice nucleating ability of HLD as well as modelling work which shows that this dust can be transported to altitudes and regions where it has the potential to influence mixed-phase clouds and climate.</p>

Recent changes of atmospheric composition in background and urban Eurasian regions

<p>An<strong> </strong>analysis of the CO and CH<sub>4</sub> total column (TC) as well as aerosol optical depth (AOD) data in background and urban Eurasian regions for different time-periods and seasons from 1998 to 2018 years is presented. Trend estimates based on long-term spectroscopic datasets of OIAP RAS for Moscow, Zvenigorod (ZSS, Moscow province), Beijing (joint site of OIAP RAS and IAP CAS) and NDACC stations located in Eurasia are compared between themselves and with similar assessments obtained from satellite data. The comparison of satellite and ground-based trend estimates was provided for the days of synchronous measurements only. Analysis results of the satellite observations of AIRS v6 of CO and CH<sub>4</sub> TC and MODIS AOD data are confirmed by ground-based trend estimates. Significant decrease of anthropogenic CO in the megacities Moscow (2.9±0.6%/yr) and Beijing (1.2±0.2%/yr) for autumn months of 1998−2018 was found according to ground-based spectroscopic observations. In spite of total anthropogenic CO emission decrease (for Europe and China) and the decrease of wild-fires emissions in Central North Eurasia (0−90° E, 42−75° N) in 2008−2018 we found CO TC stabilization or even its increase in background regions of Northern Eurasia in summer and autumn months of 2008−2018. Decrease of AOD over Central and Southern Europe as well as over China (1−5%/yr) was observed since 2007. Since 2007-2008 an increase in CH<sub>4</sub> TC positive trend values over Northern Europe as well as for tropical belt of Eurasia was obtained.</p><p>Additionally some results of comparison of orbital (AIRS, MODIS, TROPOMI) and ground-based spectroscopic diurnal and 10-days averaged data are presented.</p><p>This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation under grant № 20-17-00200 (analysis orbital information and trend distributions).</p>

Development of database “North Eurasia forest vegetation” in Center for Forest Ecology and Productivity RAS

Published information about databases of digitized geobotanical relevés promotes cooperation between researchers who analyze vegetation biodiversity, exchange of used data and, therefore, the representativeness of research. The article provides an overview of the history, how the database of forest relevés was created, and considers the tasks in the solution of which it was used. The current stage of work is characterized: the improvement of the database structure, features of the stored information, replenishment of the database, the issues of administration and organization of cooperation. Based on the analysis of modern trends in vegetation science and taking into account the peculiarities of the information stored in the database, actual scientific problems are formulated, in the work on which the use of the base is promising, and technical tasks that need to be solved.

Cartographic atlas of frequency variation for 45 pharmacogenetic markers in populations of Russia and its neighbor states

The lack of information about the frequency of pharmacogenetic markers in Russia impedes the adoption of personalized treatment algorithms originally developed for West European populations. The aim of this paper was to study the distribution of some clinically significant pharmacogenetic markers across Russia. A total of 45 pharmacogenetic markers were selected from a few population genetic datasets, including ADME, drug target and hemostasis-controlling genes. The total number of donors genotyped for these markers was 2,197. The frequencies of these markers were determined for 50 different populations, comprised of 137 ethnic and subethnic groups. A comprehensive pharmacogenetic atlas was created, i.e. a systematic collection of gene geographic maps of frequency variation for 45 pharmacogenetic DNA markers in Russia and its neighbor states. The maps revealed 3 patterns of geographic variation. Clinal variation (a gradient change in frequency along the East-West axis) is observed in the pharmacogenetic markers that follow the main pattern of variation for North Eurasia (13% of the maps). Uniform distribution singles out a group of markers that occur at average frequency in most Russian regions (27% of the maps). Focal variation is observed in the markers that are specific to a certain group of populations and are absent in other regions (60% of the maps). The atlas reveals that the average frequency of the marker and its frequency in individual populations do not indicate the type of its distribution in Russia: a gene geographic map is needed to uncover the pattern of its variation.