Gender Ideologies and Climate Risk

Although African cities are nodes of scalable solutions to climate uncertainty, adaptation efforts rarely build on the gender-climate nexus for sustainability. This article examines how gender ideologies intersect with climate risks, based on case study findings from Kampala in Uganda. Climatic hazards in Kampala include prolonged dry spells and seasonal floods; which destroy infrastructure, contaminate air and lead to unprecedented spread of cholera and malaria. Both conventional and emancipatory gender ideologies are characteristic of how the gender-climate nexus shapes adaptation at neighborhood scale. Women, as custodians of domestic hygiene, navigate the health risks of flooding through trade-offs among competing uses of their time and labour, as men comply with the masculinity code of family safety to repair flooded homes and drainages. Emancipatory gender ideologies on the other hand are manifested by women's and men's agency to adopt alternative energy sources and urban greening that have potential for sustainability.

Etude Comparative De La Rentabilité Des Systèmes De Pompage Solaire Et Thermique Sur Le Périmètre Irrigué De Soumarana Au Niger

Le Niger dispose d’important potentiel de terre irrigable et plusieurs formes d’irrigation ont été développées notamment la petite irrigation, afin de réduire la dépendance de la production vis-à-vis des aléas climatiques. L’objectif de ce travail est de justifier le besoin de vulgariser la technologie des équipements de pompage solaire. Pour cela une enquête technicoéconomique a été conduite auprès d’un échantillon de 80 exploitants choisis de manière aléatoire sur le périmètre irrigué de Soumarana, à raison de 40 irrigants utilisant des systèmes de pompage thermique et 40 des systèmes de pompage photovoltaïque. Les cultures de carotte et d’oignon, étant les principales spéculations, ont été retenues pour conduire l’étude afin de comparer les performances de systèmes de pompage en place. Il ressort de l’analyse des résultats que le système de pompage solaire dégage des marges brutes nettement supérieure à celles du système de pompage thermique avec des différences de l’ordre de 402 148 FCFA/ha et 342 812 FCFA/ha respectivement pour la culture de carotte et celle de l’oignon. De même, le coût du pompage du mètre cube d’eau en système de pompage solaire est nettement inférieur à celui du système de pompage thermique avec respectivement 57,27 FCFA/m3 et 80,75 FCFA/m3. Ces résultats indiquent une meilleure performance du système de pompage solaire comparativement au système thermique. Niger Republic has significant potential for irrigable land and several forms of irrigation have been developed, including small-scale irrigation, in order to reduce the dependence of production on climatic hazards. The objective of this study is to justify the need to popularize solar pumping equipment technology. To this purpose, a techno-economic survey was conducted among a sample of 80 farmers chosen randomly in the Soumarana irrigated area, at the rate of 40 farmers under fuel powered pumping system and 40 under photovoltaic pumping system. Carrot and onion crops, being the main speculations, were selected to conduct the study to compare both pumping systems performances. The analysis of the results shows that the solar pumping system has higher gross margins than the fuel powered pumping system with differences of the order of 402 148 FCFA/ha and 342 812 FCFA/ha respectively for carrot and onion crops. Similarly, the cost of pumping per cubic meter in the solar pumping system was clearly lower than that of the fuel powered pumping system with respectively 57.27 FCFA/m3 and 80.75 FCFA/m3. These results indicate a better performance of the solar pumping system compared to the fuel powered ones

Health Risks to the Russian Population from Temperature Extremes at the Beginning of the XXI Century

Climate change and climate-sensitive disasters caused by climatic hazards have a significant and increasing direct and indirect impact on human health. Due to its vast area, complex geographical environment and various climatic conditions, Russia is one of the countries that suffers significantly from frequent climate hazards. This paper provides information about temperature extremities in Russia in the beginning of the 21st century, and their impact on human health. A literature search was conducted using the electronic databases Web of Science, Science Direct, Scopus, and e-Library, focusing on peer-reviewed journal articles published in English and in Russian from 2000 to 2021. The results are summarized in 16 studies, which are divided into location-based groups, including Moscow, Saint Petersburg and other large cities located in various climatic zones: in the Arctic, in Siberia and in the southern regions, in ultra-continental and monsoon climate. Heat waves in cities with a temperate continental climate lead to a significant increase in all-cause mortality than cold waves, compared with cities in other climatic zones. At the same time, in northern cities, in contrast to the southern regions and central Siberia, the influence of cold waves is more pronounced on mortality than heat waves. To adequately protect the population from the effects of temperature waves and to carry out preventive measures, it is necessary to know specific threshold values of air temperature in each city.

Changing Climatic Hazards in the Coast: Risks and Impacts on Satkhira, One of the Most Vulnerable Districts in Bangladesh

Changes in the climate due to anthropogenic and natural variation are indicated by parameters including temperature and rainfall. Climate change variability with changing trends of the two have been unpredictable and unprecedented globally leading to changing weather patterns, natural disasters, leading to sectoral impacts on food and water security, livelihood, human health among others. This research analyses the changing patterns of these parameters over the last 35/37 years of Satkhira district of Bangladesh to assess the state and trend across spatial and temporal dimensions. Such, the study validates to rationalize the observed seasonal changes that persist in Satkhira of Bangladesh. Both in terms of intensity and frequency of the occurrences of natural disasters, the series of natural events have been triangulated, with impacts and vulnerability being assessed from temperature variations, erratic rainfall, cyclone, flood and water logging etc. The study’s prime contribution remains in attribution of climate change in relation contextual circumstances in the region including sea level rise, salinity intrusion. Therefore, the risk and climatic hazards and its resulting impacts over time has been assessed to draw deeper connection between theoretical and practical values. The series of analyses also draw conclusion that assets are at risk from changing climatic condition.

Climate as the Major Factor Controlling Phenology

The witnessed aberrance and irregularities in the timing of pheno-phases is an undeniable evidence of the reality of the climate change and hence proves the complete control of climate over phenology. In fact, some researchers mentioned the advance of blooming and the delay of defoliation to the mid of winter as well as the disappearance of many animal and vegetal species. This would visibly illustrates the impact of climate changes which became a factual reality. These facts a long with the rhythmicity of life under the climate control and seasonality makes the importance of this chapter unequivocal, and a backbone for this very book of “Agrometeorology”. Accordingly, this chapter treats each phenophase from dormancy to fructification to cover all the plant life cycle. For each of which we focus on how climate is intimately controlling the biological processes of each life phase and how climatic elements are the strongest and first factor which induces plant to starts the appropriate phenophase according to the fitting season. Plant is indeed very sensitive to seasonal variation in climate elements which induces the transcription of specific genes to produce specific enzymes which to their turn are with specific act on specific cells and tissues. Hence there is a high harmony between plant physiological response and climate seasonality endorsed by the circadian clock which is merely created by the historical subjection of plants to the impact of climate. Nonetheless, the recent climate changes are seemingly to be against this natural harmony between phenology and climate. This should due to their erraticism which may cause damages to the ecosystem and available resources. Thence, this chapter within this book would be inspiring for some strategies of adaptation to the climate changes to avoid such a prejudice against crops by adjusting the agricultural calendar and planting dates to avoid coincidence of fragile phenophases (germination, flowering, and fructification) with climatic hazards.