Search results for " warming"

Changes to processes in estuaries and coastal waters due to intense multiple pressures:an introduction and synthesis

2015

From the 2013 ECSA conference ‘Estuaries and Coastal Areas in Times of Intense Change’ a theme emerged that has ended up being the focus of this Special Issue of Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science, namely ‘Changes to processes in estuaries and coastal waters due to intense multiple pressures’. Manyparts of the world are continuing to experience unprecedented rates of economic growth, and those responsible for managing coastal and estuarine areas must respond accordingly. At the same time, global climate change and sea level rise are also continuing, placing new or more intense pressures on coastal areas that must be dealt with in ways that are as far as possible managed as a result of good…

A review of soil carbon dynamics resulting from agricultural practices

2019

Abstract Literature related to the carbon cycle and climate contains contradictory results with regard to whether agricultural practices increase or mitigate emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs). One opinion is that anthropogenic activities have distinct carbon footprints – measured as total emissions of GHGs resulting from an activity, in this case, “agricultural operations”. In contrast, it is argued that agriculture potentially serves to mitigate GHGs emissions when the best management practices are implemented. We review the literature on agricultural carbon footprints in the context of agricultural practices including soil, water and nutrient management. It has been reported that the ma…

Unwanted effects of European Union environmental policy to promote a post-carbon industry. The case of energy in the European ceramic tile sector

2016

Global warming combined with low carbon transition plans is threatening the future of high energy consumption industry sectors in the European Union (EU). The need to respond to environmental challenges is demonstrated by support for international level energy policies and legal requirements, such as the Kyoto Protocol which the EU supports, and increased EU-level environmental legislation and energy policies. The effect of these initiatives is gradually transforming industrial activities in the EU. However, since not all countries have adopted these policies, evaluation of their net effect needs to take account also of side-effects such as delocalization of industry activity and the legal …

Global Warming: Human Intervention in World Climate

2010

In the preceding chapter, we described climate changes that have occurred over very long geological periods. We concluded that Earth is currently in an interglacial interval within a rather long period of glaciations. Indeed, average carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have been slowly decreasing over the past 600,000 years, with accompanying cooling (Fig. 6.3). There have been, of course, many periodic changes in the CO2 concentrations and average temperature over this period (see Fig. 7.1). However, very recently, something quite unique and startling has occurred. As Fig. 7.1 shows, there has been a remarkable increase in CO2 levels, actually during the past 200 years, from 28…

A mechanistic approach reveals non linear effects of climate warming on mussels throughout the Mediterranean sea

2016

There is a dire need to forecast the ecological impacts of global climate change at scales relevant to policy and management. We used three interconnected models (climatic, biophysical and energetics) to estimate changes in growth, reproduction and mortality risk by 2050, for three commercially and ecologically important bivalves at 51 sites in the Mediterranean Sea. These results predict highly variable responses (both positive and negative) in the time to reproductive maturity and in the risk of lethality among species and sites that do not conform to simple latitudinal gradients, and which would be undetectable by methods focused only on lethal limits and/or range boundaries.

Environment-sensitivity functions for gross primary productivity in light use efficiency models

2022

International audience; The sensitivity of photosynthesis to environmental changes is essential for understanding carbon cycle responses to global climate change and for the development of modeling approaches that explains its spatial and temporal variability. We collected a large variety of published sensitivity functions of gross primary productivity (GPP) to different forcing variables to assess the response of GPP to environmental factors. These include the responses of GPP to temperature; vapor pressure deficit, some of which include the response to atmospheric CO2 concentrations; soil water availability (W); light intensity; and cloudiness. These functions were combined in a full fact…

Historical analysis of rainfall-triggered rockfalls: the case study of the disaster of the ancient hydrothermal Sclafani Spa (Madonie Mts, northern-c…

2017

Abstract. In 1851, the region of Sicily experienced many rainstorm-induced landslides. On 13 March 1851, a rainstorm brought about a severe rockfall disaster near the small town of Sclafani (Madonie Mountains, northern-central Sicily, Italy). Rocks detached from the carbonate crest of Mt Sclafani (813 m above sea level) and fell downslope, causing the collapse of the ancient hydrothermal spa (about 430 m above sea level) and burying it. Fortunately, there were no injuries or victims. Given its geological, geomorphological and tectonic features, the calcareous–dolomitic and carbonate–siliciclastic relief of Mt Sclafani is extremely prone to landsliding. This study combines the findings of de…

2018

Ever since the beginning of international climate conservation politics there has been variation across nations in political traditions in debating the climate issue. Political decision-makers have interpreted the scientific findings on global warming with different emphases, thereby giving rise to variation in views on preferred national or international solutions. These tensions first became evident before and during the Earth Summit of the United Nations in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, when the United Nations Climate Change Convention was prepared and eventually signed. This article discusses the historical background of international climate conservation politics and illustrates the tensions…

Genomic basis of drought resistance inFagus sylvatica

2020

In the course of global climate change, central Europe is experiencing more frequent and prolonged periods of drought. These drought events have severe and detrimental impacts on the forest ecosystem. The drought years 2018 and 2019 affected European beeches (Fagus sylvatica L.) in noticeably different ways: even in the same local stand, badly drought damaged trees immediately neighboured apparently healthy trees. This led to the hypothesis that the genotype rather than the environment was responsible for this conspicuous pattern. We used this natural experiment to study the genomic basis of drought resistance in a Pool-GWAS approach. Contrasting the extreme phenotypes, we identified 106 si…

Temporal variations in microclimate cooling induced by urban trees in Mainz, Germany

2016

Abstract Global warming is likely to increase the frequency and magnitude of heat waves. As the urban geometry and material amplifies warming, city dwellers will face an intensification of heat-induced health problems and mortality. Although increased vegetation cover is frequently used in urban planning to mitigate excessive heat, temporal variations, as well as the influence of synoptic weather conditions and surrounding urban geometry on the vegetation cooling effect, are still unclear. In this study, we monitored the transpiration-induced cooling from trees over two summers in five urban settings characterized by varying levels of greenness and urban geometry in the city of Mainz (Germa…