Day 2 :
Keynote Forum
Douglas Ray
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
USA
Keynote: Pathways to net-zero carbon emissions
Time : 09:50-10:15
Biography:
Douglas Ray is Director of Strategic Partnerships at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and serves on the Editorial Advisory Board for the ACS journal Energy & Fuels, the Carbon Capture Simulation and the Joint BioEnergy Institute Boards of Directors, the Advisory Committee for the Dalian (China) National Laboratory for Clean Energy, the International Energy Agency's Experts Group on Science for Energy, and the Scientific Advisory Committee of the DOE's Combustion Research Facility. He holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California-Berkeley.
Abstract:
Limiting global warming requires that net emissions of greenhouse gases ultimately be reduced to zero. It is becoming increasing probable that “negative CO2 emissions” will be required to limit global warming to 2o C. I will discuss this thesis, various approaches to negative CO2 emissions, the scientific challenges associated with these approaches and offer a prognosis.
Keynote Forum
Olga V. Kalashnikova
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
USA
Keynote: Current and future satellite observations of aerosol types affecting human health
Time : 12:10-12:35
Biography:
Olga Kalashnikova is an aerosol scientist on the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and a science team member of MISR, PACE and MAIA satellite teams. She graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder with a Ph.D. degree from the Department of Astrophysical, Planetary and Atmospheric Science (APAS) in 2002, and joined JPL in in the fall of 2002 as a National Research Council postdoc. She has been serving as a vice-chair of COSPAR comission A since October of 2012, and as a member of Atmospheric Observational Climate Panel since March of 2016.
Abstract:
Airborne particulate matter (PM) is currently recognized as a top environmental risk factor worldwide, responsible for ~3 million premature deaths per year. While PM is a well-known cause of heart disease, cardiovascular and respiratory illness, low birth weight, and lung cancer, the relative toxicity of specific PM types—components having different sizes and chemical compositions—is currently poorly understood. Based on solid evidence that health effects depend jointly on PM size and composition, the World Health Organization has stressed the importance of filling this gap in our understanding of the associations between specific sources of PM types (both natural and anthropogenic), particle atmospheric transport, and health impacts on a global scale. That knowledge would help to prioritize PM source-specific intervention and emission control policies to maximize protection of human health.
We will summarize PM information available from current generation of aerosol-specific satellite instruments: MODIS (multispectral), MISR (multispectral, multi-angle), and POLDER (multispectral, multi-angle, polarimetric), and review applications of these measurements for epidemiological studies. In addition, we will discuss a pathway toward identifying the most toxic components of PM that occurred recently with the selection of the Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols (MAIA) investigation as part of the NASA Earth Venture Instruments (EVI) program. MAIA is a targeting instrument that will acquire observations over roughly a dozen globally distributed metropolitan areas with science focused specifically on the PM types/health connection. This means that the MAIA targeted approach is a pathfinder toward a more powerful, global, space-based aerosol and PM measurement system.
Keynote Forum
Norman P. A. Huner
University of Western Ontario
Canada
Keynote: Photosynthetic acclimation and enhanced crop productivity in response to climate change: The grand design of photosynthesis
Time : 09:25-09:50
Biography:
Norman P.A. Huner is a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Environmental Stress Biology and the founder and Principal Scientist of the Biotron Centre for Experimental Climate Change Research, University of Western Ontario focused on the elucidation of the mechanisms by which plants, microbes and insects sense and adjust to climate change. Dr. Hunerwas elected as a Fellow of The Royal Society of Canada in 1995 and was the past Director of the Life Sciences Division, Academy III, the Royal Society of Canada as well as a past president of the Canadian Society of Plant Biologists. Since 1980, his research group has pioneered the concept of excitation pressure as a redox sensing mechanism in plants, algae and cyanobacteria.
Abstract:
Daniel Arnon first proposed the notion of a ‘grand design of photosynthesis’ in 1982 to illustrate the central role of photosynthesis as the primary energy transformer for all life on Earth. However, I suggest that this concept is also consistent with the broad impact of the chloroplast not only in global energy transformation but also in the regulation of plant growth, development and ultimately crop seed yield. I review recent data that support the important roles of chloroplast redox imbalance in governing plant acclimation to abiotic stress through localized, intracellular retrograde signal transduction pathways as well as long distance, intercellular signal transduction pathways within a single plant. We suggest that the family of nuclear C-repeat binding transcription factors (CBFs) may be critical components that link enhanced photosynthetic performance and chloroplast redox regulation with the accumulation of growth-active gibberellins,the dwarf phenotype, and increased seed yield under controlled environment conditions in overwintering cultivars in an array of plant species. We show that the controlled environment data for enhanced wheat seed yields confirm 60 years of seed yield data from the field. These data are discussed in terms of the molecular mechanism underlying the development of semi-dwarf cereals which were the basis of the green revolution of the 1960s. Based on differential seed yield data worldwide, we propose that, in the short term, the gaps in wheat seed yield between Europe, China and North America since 1964 could be reduced by increasing the area seeded with winter versus spring wheat varieties. In the long-term, exploitation of CBF overexpression by either classical plant breeding or through biotechnology may contribute to either the maintenance or perhaps even the enhancement of crop productivity under future climate change scenarios.
Keynote Forum
Paula Fernandez Gonzalez
University of Oviedo
Spain
Keynote: Monitoring trends in EU CO2 emissions: A carbonization index through divisia index
Time : 10:15-10:40
Biography:
Paula Fernández González is an Associate Professor of statistics and econometrics at the department of applied economics, University of Oviedo. She has worked for fourteen years in the fields of Energy and Environmental sciences, focusing on statistical methods, economic modelling and econometrics, and paying particular attention to index-based decomposition methods. She has published a book and more than 10 papers in international reputed journals. She is also a regular reviewer in journals such as Energy, Energy Policy, Energy Economics, Energy Efficiency, etc. She is Editor of the Journal of Economics Studies and Research, and participates in several research projects.
Abstract:
Concerns on rising concentrationsof CO2 in the atmosphere and global warming have increased in recent years. Numerous environmental studies analyze the trends in CO2 emissions and their main drivers. In this paper we focus on the dynamics of the carbonization effect as a driving force for CO2 emissions in the European Union (EU). By implementing the Sato-Vartia logarithmic mean Divisia index method, the trend of European emissions in the 2000-2010 period is factorized by both sector and country. The analysis stresses the relevance of the carbonization and intensity effects in order to reduce emissions. Then, based on so-called attribution analysis we present a new theoretical framework that enables the attribution of both economic sector and individual EU Member State to percentage changes in the carbonization index. Results show strong concentration of this reducing influence in some big economies. In fact, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Italy have contributed by more than 50%. Industry emerges as the most influential sector, contributing to offset any improvement in the carbonization index. Our findings suggest strategies aiming at encouraging innovation, technical change, research on higher quality energies, fuel substitution, and installation of abatement technologies, particularly in the industrial sector of large economies.
Keynote Forum
Neil Holbrook
University of Tasmania
USA
Keynote: Marine heatwaves: Definitions, drivers, and global trends
Time : 09:00-09:25
Biography:
Neil Holbrook is Associate Professor of Climatology and Climate Change, and Deputy Head, Centre for Oceans and Cryosphere within the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania. His interests and expertise are in the ocean's role in climate, ocean and climate dynamics, climate variability, extremes, climate change, and systems science. He led Australia's National Climate Change Adaptation Research Network for Marine Biodiversity and Resources from 2009-2013. Neil is President of the International Commission on Climate of IAMAS/IUGG and Fellow of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society.
Abstract:
Adverse impacts of marine heatwaves (MHWs) include shifts in marine species ranges, local extinctions and economic impacts on seafood industries. Global patterns of MHWs suggest that their magnitude, timing and distribution may be driven by known modes of climate variability. Importantly, drivers represent a combination of both local and remote processes — with the remote, larger-scale processes offering the potential for MHW predictability. Here we have (1) undertaken a systematic and comprehensive search of observed MHW events reported in the peer-reviewed literature, (2) synthesised and critically assessed reported details of the characteristic drivers and oceanographic processes that caused them, classified by ocean climate region and time scale under a common framework, and (3) performed a meta-analysis of these events based on high-resolution global sea surface temperature records – providing unified estimates of MHW event intensity, duration and spatial extent. We have also used historical records of satellite observations, in-situ measurements, and monthly in-situ SSTs to reveal significant global trends in marine heatwaves over the past century. Both the frequency and duration of MHWs have doubled since 1900, resulting in a four-fold increase in the global number of annual MHW days. These increases were generally consistent with average sea surface warming. Continued increases in MHWs, as anticipated with accelerated warming of the Earth during the 21st century, will have serious implications for marine ecosystems, biodiversity and major industries fisheries, aquaculture, and tourism.
Keynote Forum
Sangseom Jeong
Yonsei University
Korea
Keynote: Adaptation technology of infrastructure under climate change
Time : 10:00-10:20
Biography:
Sangseom Jeong is a professor of Yonsei University, a vice president of Korean Society of Civil Engineers (KSCE), a corresponding member of TC212 (Deep foundations) in ISSMGE(International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering), a chair of Asian TC-18 (Mega Foundations), a president of GIT4CC center. He has authored and served as a reviewer for many geotechnical journals. He has co-edited 15 national geotechnical engineering text books and authored about 66 SCI articles in major reputable international journals, 128 national journals, 73 interrnational conference papers, 80 technical consulting reports and 30 patents in deep and shallow foundations, excavation and slope stability.
Abstract:
Climate change causes increase in global temperature, different patterns of precipitation, and sea-level rise, which negatively affect performance of infrastructure. Infrastructure needs to be adapted to the climate change through new design, construction, or rehabilitation methods. For effective planning of infrastructure adaptation, before-and-after-adaptation analysis is important to understand the impact of climate change on infrastructure. In the past ten years, the frequency of natural disaster impacting urban area due to adverse effect of climate change has increased drastically due to flood and slope failure causing live and damaged infrastructure. Adaptation to climate change is a complex process which can be characterized as decision making under uncertainties. Climate hazard for the infrastructure can constitute socio-economic problems. They can result in damage and destruction to residential and commercial properties; and public infrastructures, endangering public safety. The cost associated with the resilience of infrastructure can be quite expensive. The Green Infrastructure Technology for Climate Change (GIT4CC) center aims to develop civil infrastructure adaptation technologies for climate changes based on mid- and long-term predictions of climate changes. To develop the adaptation technologies in planning, design, and maintenance of civil infrastructure, the GIT4CC center is composed of three major subjects; 1) Climate and hydrological scenario creation for understanding the climate change impact on civil infrastructure, 2) Development of civil infrastructure adaptation technologies based on climate scenarios and impact analyses, 3) Optimization of proactive adaptation strategies using probabilistic evaluation. It is expected to guide decision making in prioritizing the most cost-effective adaptation strategies for infrastructure.
- Track: Global Warming Effects and Causes
Track: Climate Change: Biodiversity Scenarios
Track: Climate Hazards
Track: Effective Adaptation
Location: Valentia A
Chair
Christopher Bryant
Universities of Montreal, Canada
Co-Chair
Getachew Agegnehu
James Cook University, Australia
Session Introduction
Christopher Bryant
Universities of Montreal, Canada
Title: Climate change and global food security in the face of other stressors: The challenges for agricultural transformation, adaptation and conservation
Time : 11:50-12:10
Biography:
Christopher R Bryant completed his PhD at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He was Professor in Geography, University of Waterloo, from 1970-1990 and then in Géographie, Université de Montréal, from 1990-2014. He is currently Adjunct Professor at the Universities of Montréal and Guelph. He has published almost 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals, over 30 books and over 150 chapters in books and has made several hundred presentations at conferences.
Abstract:
One of the most important effects of climate change and variability for human society is its impacts upon global food security, through its impacts upon agriculture and agricultural yields. In certain countries and regions, these impacts can be multiplied many times because food production resources, notably farmland, are already vulnerable because of drought conditions. In any investigation of the effects of climate change on human activities such as agriculture and food production, it is also crucial to appreciate the multiple stresssors that these activities must contend with. In particular, even when far, land resources, including climate, are good to very good, even after the effects of climate change and variability (CCV) are taken into account, these activities near cities also often have to face continued urbanization pressures. In several developed countries, such as Canada and much of Western Europe, for instance, major cities are surrounded by good to excellent farmland resources in relatively temperate climates. Food security is also an increasingly important concern for some population segments in these cities and there has been a growing emphasis on local and regional sources of food for these cities and these population segments. Maintaining food production potential in these regions (and also to contribute to food security globally) face some major challenges for agriculture which must be transformed, must adapt to CCV and at the same time the farmland resource must be conserved. We therefore tackle, in the context of CCV, Agricultural Transformation, Adaptation and Conservation (ATAC).
Aleksandra (Sasha) Kosanic
University of Konstanz, Germany
Title: Changes in geographical distribution of plant species as a response to climatic change on the West Cornwall Peninsula (South West England)
Time : 12:10-12:30
Biography:
Aleksandra (Sasha) Kosanic finished her PhD at the University of Exeter (United Kingdom). Her PhD research focused on the use of climatic and vegetation historical records in order to investigate climate change at the local/regional scales (West Cornwall) and to analyze its impact on vegetation. She is a physical geographer interested in interdisciplinary studies and in how anthropogenic drivers (i.e. climate and land use change) affect the changes in geographical distribution of vegetation. Her current research is focused on the effects of climate and land-use change on a distribution of non-native invasive plants in Germany. She is also interested in non-native invasive plants impact on the provisioning of ecosystem services and regional identity.
Abstract:
Recent climate change has had a major impact on biodiversity and has altered the changes in geographical distribution of vascular plant species. This trend is visible globally; however, more local and regional scale research is needed in order to improve understanding of the patterns of climate change and between taxa in order to develop appropriate conservation strategies that can minimize cultural, health and economic losses at these scales. In order to track species response to the climate or environmental change historical records (e.g. archive weather records, herbarium collections) present exceptional scientific and conservation value because they offer the means of tracking changes in climate and species’ geographical distribution over time. Nevertheless, most of such datasets are still locked in museum archives and not available in digitized or geo-referenced form. Therefore, here we present a method to manually geo-reference botanical records from a historical herbarium dataset in order to track changes in the geographical distribution of plant species in West Cornwall (South West England) using both historical (pre-1900) and contemporary (post-1900) distribution records. It will be also assessed weather Ellenberg and environmental indicator values (calibrated for United Kingdom) can be used as markers of responses to climate and environmental change. Using these techniques we detect a loss in 19 plant species, with 6 species losing more than 50% of their previous range. Statistical analysis showed that Ellenberg (L-light, M-moisture and N-nitrogen) and environmental indicator values (Tjan-mean January temperature, Tjul-mean July temperature and RR-mean precipitation) could be used as environmental change indicators. Significant correlations were detected between percentage of area lost and species with lower January temperatures, July temperatures, light, and nitrogen value, as well as higher annual precipitation and moisture values. This study highlights the importance of historical records in examining the changes in plant species’ geographical distributions and also presents a method for manual geo-referencing of such records. Furthermore, it also shows how Ellenberg and environmental indicator values can be used as environmental and climate change indicators and as tools towards appropriate conservation strategies.
Nazan Koluman Darcan
Cukurova University, Turkey
Title: Impacts of climate change on animal farming in the Mediterranean region
Time : 12:30-12:50
Biography:
Nazan Koluman is currently working as an assistant professor at Cukurova University, Turkey. Her research interests are Climate Change & Climatology, Climate,Change effects on the animal farming etc.
Abstract:
Extreme climate change (CC) and atmospheric events have been become nowadays a global issue. Livestock production contributes to global warming. It is estimated that livestock responsible to 9% of human-welded CO2 emission, 35-40% of CH4 emission, 65% of N2O emission and 64% of NH3 emission. In addition, CC (increase in high temperature and drought) has been found to adversely affect livestock production. Consequently, a lot of effort is made to adjust livestock production systems to forecast on future changes in weather according to climate modeling. From this point of view, it is very important that the correct estimation will be made with regard to questions, such as which feed, or which goat breed will be found as most appropriate for different regions. The economic importance of farm animals’ production has been rise-up during last decades in Mediterranean countries. The effect of climatic change (CC) on dairy production are both direct through effects on the animals themselves, and indirect through effects on production of crops and increased exposure to pests and pathogens. These negative impacts occur in face of increasing demands for food, which is related to increase in population on earth. The demand for animal products relate to rapid increase in income in some countries (Haq and Ishaq, 2011) and the perception of dairy products as high quality and gourmet food. On the other hand, there is an increased awareness to the contribution of livestock to the greenhouse effect, and hence to global warming. The animal production systems and concept of climate change which are in mutual interaction with each other has recently become a popular subject on the agenda. In this review, the direct and indirect of climate change on farm animals in Mediterranean region will be determined.
Salvatore La Bella
University of Palermo, Italy
Title: Green walls used as a low-input technology to cool buildings in the Mediterranean area
Time : 13:30-13:50
Biography:
Salvatore La Bella has completed his PhD in Agronomy Science from Sassari University and Post-doctoral studies from Palermo University. Since 2008, he teaches phyto-remediation at the Polytechnic school of the University of Palermo. He works at the University of Palermo as researcher. The main topics are: roof garden, phyto-remediation, aromatic and medicinal plants. He has published more than 30 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an Editorial Board Member of repute.
Abstract:
The building sector – public and private, residential and industrial, plays an important role when seeking to address greenhouse gas emissions. Thermal insulation is a technique which reduces energy consumption due to thermal regulation in buildings, thereby reducing the emission of substances which are damaging to human health and/or to the climate, such as carbon dioxide CO2. Amongst those technologies which can lead to improvements in energy efficiency in buildings, green walls are of considerable interest: a technology as yet little widespread, particularly in the south. Green walls could represent an extremely useful technology in the control of thermal dispersion in buildings. However, research in this area is still very much on-going and mostly regards examples of green walls constructed in central and northern Europe, where the main problem faced by energy efficiency schemes in buildings is that of heating. In the Mediterranean area, however, the main problem is cooling buildings and there is very little scientific data and information on the issue to date. In this paper we consider studies carried out in the Mediterranean area on the identification and characterization of species which are particularly adapted for use in the construction of large-surface green walls.
Getachew Agegnehu
James Cook University, Australia
Title: Biochar, compost and biochar-compost: Influences on yield performance, soil qualityand greenhouse gas emissions in agricultural soils
Time : 13:50-14:10
Biography:
Getachew Agegnehu is currently working at James Cook University, Australia. Getachew Agegnehu research interests are Ecosystems and climate change, Air Quality, Atmospheric Science and Climate Science etc.
Abstract:
Soil nutrient depletion, declining agricultural productivity and climate change due to increased greenhouse gases emissions threaten the ecology and sustainability of agricultural production in the tropics and subtropics. This study investigated the effects of biochar and compost, applied individually or together, on soil fertility, crop yield and greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes in tropical agricultural Ferral-sols of north Queensland, Australia. The treatments comprised 1) control; 2)10 t ha-1 biochar; 3) 25 t compost ha-1; 4) 2.5 t biochar ha-1 + 25 t compost ha-1 mixed on site; and 5) 25 t ha-1 biochar and compost composted together (COMBI). Application of biochar, compost and their mixture increased peanut yield by 17-24% and maize yield by 10-29% compared to fertilizer alone. Significant organic amendment-induced improvements to plant growth and soil available nutrients were observed. Biochar, compost and their mixture significantly improved the availability of plant nutrients, which appeared critical in improving crop performance. Soil organic carbon (SOC), soil water content, nitrate and ammonium contents were significantly higher in biochar treated plots than fertilizer alone, implying that potential exposure of nitrate and ammonium to the soil microbial community was significantly lower in biochar and COMBI plots compared to the fertilizer only and compost treatments. Emissions of CO2 were highest in the fertilizer treatment and lowest in the COMBI treatment, whereas N2O flux was highest in the fertilizer treatment and all amended plots reduced N2O flux compared to the control. In summary, applications of biochar and compost either singly or in combination have strong potential to improve SOC, soil nutrient status, soil moisture content crop yield and reduce GHG fluxes on tropical agricultural soils. However, the amount of conventional fertilizer that could be reduced and the resultant economic benefit because of addition of these amendments need further study for longer-term economic and environmental sustainability.
Marian Mierla
Danube Delta National Institute for Research and Development, Romania
Title: Potential changes in plant species place distribution induced by climatic pattern changes
Time : 14:10-14:30
Biography:
Marian Mierla has completed his PhD from “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University. He works as scientific researcher within the Informational System and Geomatics Department. He has published more than 28 papers in reputed journals. His research work is related with the geographical information system analysis of environmental issues and elements in order to obtain more unrevealed information. He has 14 years of experience working with geospatial data. He has been actively involved in a number of large European research projects sponsored by the European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation.
Abstract:
The work is presenting results of a GIS analyses to derivate habitat requirements of specific species that were taken into account and to predict changes in their distribution as a function of temperature and precipitation dynamics. The studied area is the Eastern side of Romania that includes Dobrogea and Moldova regions in order to have an extended area on the North-South direction. On this extended area the values of the chosen climatic variables may be different from North to South. The data used in this paper consists in gridded data for mean temperature (MeanT), maximum temperature (MaxT) and minimum temperature (MinT) and also annual precipitation amount. The grid is constructed at 0.1 degree regular latitude-longitude for the period 1961-2013 used in the analyses. The results show distribution graphs of specific plant species depending by their characteristics for each cell of the grid in the maps of characteristics temperatures and precipitation for each cell in studied area and average temperatures preferred by selected plant species. Combining data on “evolution” of the average (mean, maximum and minimum) temperatures and also with data regarding the average temperature preference of each species taken into account from the same studied area it may suggest that ascending trend of temperatures amplitude may exceed species tolerance. Thus the positive (increasing) trend will be in that way that can result in a threat on some species in the future. In a normal and gradually change (in natural conditions) of the climatic parameters the adapted species will disappear from a place and appear to another. This will be seen as a movement of their habitats. This could be a way of changes in a climatic changing world.
Annalina Lombardi
University of L’Aquila, Italy
Title: Possible changes of the brown trout habitat suitability in the upper Po basin due to global change
Time : 14:30-14:50
Biography:
Annalina Lombardi has accomplished her PhD in April 2016. She gained scientific and research experience at CETEMPS, University of L'Aquila, Italy, where she obtained several scholarships, aimed at specializing in numerical modeling, especially hydrological modeling. She has taken part in various European projects regarding hydro-meteorological risk prevention and management. During her career at the CETEMPS, she obtained a Post-doc, and has learnt the usage of atmospheric mesoscale models, weather and climate prediction, and the manipulation of a large number of data. At present days, she has collaborated in the publication of two papers on two main journals.
Abstract:
Climatic simulation models predict an increase in temperature and extreme events occurrence. These changes are expected to lead a sensible modification of the hydrological cycle with significant impacts on the ecological integrity of aquatic ecosystems. Changes in temperature regime and in-stream habitat/microhabitat characteristics will also affect the natural distribution of many aquatic species. Within this context it appears strategic to predict the effects of global change on freshwater biodiversity and species distribution in order to propose adequate measures aimed at mitigating the impacts of climate modification on natural systems. To this aim we carried out a simulation based on a chain of deterministic models to predict the distribution of the brown trout in the upper Po River basin (North Italy). A 140-years long simulation, carried out with a Regional climate model, is used to force a hydrological model simulating the hydrological cycle. The results of hydrological simulation, in particular variations in temperature and discharge regimes, are then used to evidence the areas where the target species is expected to occur. The results show how the complex proposed approach is able to reproduce, with a good confidence, the current distribution of the brown trout. The projection for future years indicates a shift of the distribution toward locations of the upper part of the basin, with a sensible decrease of the areas where the brown trout can survive, reproduce and grow. This work also focuses on the potential application of the proposed approach to evaluate the effects of climate changes on more complex ecological systems.
Tianxiang Luo
Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Title: Causes for variable greening responses to warming detected in alpine grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau
Time : 14:50-15:10
Biography:
Tianxiang Luo completed his PhD from Chinese Academy of Sciences. He has been interested in alpine ecosystems and their response to climate change. He has published more than 100 papers in peer review journals and has been serving as Editorial Board Members of Journal of Arid Environments, Chinese Journal of Plant Ecology, Acta Ecologica Sinica etc.
Abstract:
The alpine meadow and steppe on the Tibetan Plateau are the highest pasture in the world, and their formation and distribution are strongly controlled by Indian summer monsoon effects. However, little is known about whether monsoon-related cues may trigger spring phenology of the vast alpine vegetation, and how the cues can influence the greening response to warming. Based on the 7-year phenological observation data at 7 altitudes (4400-5200m) in the central plateau during 2007-2013, we found that leaf unfolding dates of dominant sedge and grass species in alpine meadows synchronized with monsoon rainfall onset, advancing with increasing precipitation regardless of air temperature. Similar results were also found in a 22-year observation data set from two stations in the northeast plateau. In the monsoon-related cues for leaf unfolding, the arrival of monsoon rainfall is crucial, while seasonal air temperatures are already continuously above 0°C. In contrast, the cushion plants in the same community generally leafed out earlier (30-40 days earlier than sedge and grass species) in warmer years regardless of precipitation. We further used meteorological data from 73 weather stations over the plateau and MODIS remote sensing data to calculate both monsoon rainfall onset and vegetation green-up dates during 2001-2013. We found that the onset dates of monsoon rainfall generally controlled the spatiotemporal variations in the satellite-derived green-up dates in alpine grasslands over the plateau consistent with the site observations. Our data provide evidence that leaf unfolding of dominant species in the alpine meadows and steppes senses the arrival of monsoon-season rainfall. Such a phenological pattern suggests a strategy to prevent damage of pre-monsoon drought and frost in alpine plants. These findings also provide a basis for interpreting the fan-shaped distribution pattern of the Kobresia meadow and Stipa steppe as well as the spatially variable greening responses to warming detected in the world’s highest pasture.
Rajani Ganta
Integration Environment & Energy GmbH, India
Title: Climate change adaptation (CCA) measures in industrial areas of Telangana state from India – A pilot study
Time : 15:10-15:30
Biography:
Rajani Ganta has completed her PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad (JNTUH), Telangana. She worked as senior Environmental Engineer at Andhra Pradesh industry department for execution of petro corridor project and also worked with World Bank at disaster management project for implementation of cyclone risk mitigation measures at costal Andhra. Currently she is working as Technical Advisor for the CCA project for Industrial Areas Telangana is assisted by the German Government and is being carried out by INTEGRATION Environment and Energy GmbH. She has published more than 10 papers in reputed journals.
Abstract:
The state of Telangana has over 131 Industrial Parks (IPs) areas ranges from 15 to 2500 acres established throughout the state covering various sectors like bulk drugs, pharmaceuticals, agro-processing, cement & mineral-based industries, high precision engineering, textiles, leather, iron & steel, gems & jewelers, biotechnology, defense, etc. As effects of climate change (CC) are already being felt on plants, animals and sectors worldwide, there is an urgent need to build up preparedness for addressing CCA measures in IPs of state which are having different kind of climate variability and are facing a wide range of challenges based on its exposure to climate hazard, vulnerability and adaptive capacity. To implement the CCA measures in one selected IP as a pilot work, consolidated information on climate exposure of all the existing IPs are essential including secondary data like temperature, rainfall, heat wave, drought etc., Initially screening was done and excluded IPs with minor relevance and shortlisted remaining IPs by following step by step screening criteria and certain minimum capacity and capability to adapt to climate change are considered as relevant and suitable. The screening results found that the severity of climate impact experienced by various IPs are different and some of the general problems faced by IPs are water scarcity and excessive temperature along with some localized water logging issues. The knowledge on climate change and its potential impacts are limited and varying with different people. This indicates a need for extensive capacity building on climate change so that adaption measures can effectively be implemented by IPs.
Clare James
University College London, UK
Title: The inevitability of a role for geoengineering in the post-Paris climate change landscape
Time : 15:30-15:50
Biography:
Clare James is a current Doctoral student at UCL and her research is centered on the relationship between the international regime for climate change, geo-engineering and intergenerational equity. She has an LLM in International Environmental Law. She is a qualified solicitor and has worked in finance in Paris and London with an international law firm and in-house in a dual role as General Counsel and Main Board Director.
Abstract:
After Paris, it is clear that despite the political progress, there remains a gulf between policy and policy goals as current mitigation pledges are calculated to fail to restrain warming to 2oC above pre-industrial temperatures. The next 70-100 years will be a transition period during which the world aims to decarbonize (the ‘Transition’) and without radical policy changes, there is an increasing sense of inevitability to the deployment of large scale geo-engineering. Solar Radiation Management (SRM) is the cheapest and most likely geo-engineering technique to be deployed during the Transition. However, SRM engenders many risks and uncertainties including the possibility of sui generis climatic effects, psychological and technical lock-in and spatially and temporally heterogeneous distribution of benefits (such as uneven regional climate impacts) and harms (economic costs of the deployment, unintended side-effects and so on). Shue warned that climate change may involve “compound injustice” in reference to past inequalities in international relations when some vulnerable nations had a weakened ability to achieve fair treatment in climate negotiations “in an international system characterized by historical injustices.” SRM could exacerbate such injustices, deepen the existing differential moral burden and thus prompt a renewed and necessary interest in the significance of intra-generational and intergenerational equity in the climate change regime. In any event, SRM presents an interesting challenge for international law-making.
Huiping Huang
National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
Title: Individual and societal-level consequences of global warming media use and energy saving and carbon reduction coverage
Time : 16:10-16:30
Biography:
Huiping Huang has completed her PhD from University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is Associate Professor of Institute of Communication Studies at National Chiao Tung University. She has published research articles and comments in reputed journals and newspapers and has served as an Associate Editor and Editorial Board Member of reputed journal in Taiwan.
Abstract:
The impact of global warming is worldwide. However, the consequences it has caused may differ across countries. In Taiwan, the total and per-capita carbon dioxide emissions are among the 20 worst nations. Mitigation effort is desperately needed. My recent research starts from a national survey aiming to identify factors affecting people’s environmental behavior. As people receive information about global warming, energy saving and emission reductions mainly from the media, I first propose a synthetic model to examine the impact of media use on environmental actions. Results show that exposure and attention to global warming media coverage (on TV, newspapers and the Internet) positively affect individuals’ willingness to adopt environmental actions, including accommodating, promotional and proactive actions. Environmental beliefs and self-efficacy also function better in predicting people’s environmental behavior after considering the effects mediated by media use. The findings reveal the central role of global warming media use in the model. Organizations should actively market their mitigation policies or efforts through various media channels to encourage individuals’ environmental actions. After confirming the media’s important roles, I analyze 1,156 news articles on energy savings and emission reductions from Taiwan’s major newspapers and find that the mainstream media cover the subject mainly from local viewpoints and lack international perspectives. The primary target audience of the news reports is the public. The media have overlooked the responsibilities the government and the industry should take, even though the latter contributes the most to carbon emissions. This may hinder the society from making effective mitigation efforts.
Dong Jin Jeon
Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Korea
Title: Developing optimal diffuse pollution management strategies in an agricultural watershed under future climate change
Time : 16:30-16:50
Biography:
Dong Jin Jeon has completed his MS degree from Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST). He is a Doctoral student in School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Engineering at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST).
Abstract:
While best management practices (BMP) are recommended to attain non-point source loads in receiving water bodies, it is still unclear whether their efficiency will be maintained under future climate change. In a present study, Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), a semi-distributed watershed model, was used to determine the best BMP options achieving the necessary pollution reductions as well as to assess changes in the pollution loads in agricultural water shed between the current and future weather conditions. Three weather scenarios for the decade of 2040 (2040–2049), which were developed from the Representative Concentration Pathways 2.6, 4.5 and 8.5 in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report, were projected into the Yeongsan River watershed, Korea. The scenario covering both calibration and validation periods (2000-2009) was used as a reference condition. Specifically, genetic algorithm was applied for obtaining the global solutions for nonlinear problems (i.e., cost vs. efficiency). Results showed that sediment and phosphorus loads were significantly different among various weather scenarios. This implied that the current BMP options which were determined based on the reference scenario needed to be rearranged for the future conditions. While parallel terraces which decreased phosphorus removal efficiency were identified as the worst option under the future weather scenarios, no tillage approach showed the best performance, as compared to that of the current condition, for instance. We expect that the proposed methodology will provide optimal management strategies to achieve the water quality targets in complex watersheds, specifically those with mixed land uses.
Daniel Callo-Concha
University of Bonn, Germany
Title: Farmer climate change adaptation in the West African Sudan Savannah: Reality check and feasible approaches
Time : 16:50-17:10
Biography:
Daniel Callo-Concha is a senior scientist at the Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, Germany. He is an agronomist with 15 years of experience in the interface of agriculture/natural resource management in Latin America and Africa. His latest research focuses on farmers’ climate change adaptation in West Africa, contribution of traditional agro forestry systems to food and nutrition security, agricultural socioecological system resilience and adaptability and complex systems analysis.
Abstract:
Farming is the economic engine of West Africa. Regularly hampered by harsh ecological and institutional conditions, the situation has been worsened by climate change. The West African Science Service on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) enhances scientific knowledge, available data and local capabilities to confront climate change. To these ends, local farmer adaptation appears key by their supposed livelihoods compatibility. This presentation details the perspective of the West African Sudan Savannah farmer, i.e., drivers of their climate change perception, coping measures they carry out, and the suitability of these measures. Furthermore, building upon this knowledge-baseline, the presentation details the outcomes of specific (disciplinary and interdisciplinary) research, gauging the contribution of these studies to the general resilience and adaptability of households. Finally, the operational means and supporting policy decisions to encourage them are explored. Findings highlight the complex character of adaptation, their lack of correlation to climate hazards and extreme events, and that their selection should underline several key factors. These include their short-term economic benefit, appropriateness regarding the local socio-ecological conditions and ongoing traditional practices; and operationally, the engagement with local agricultural extension institutions.
Jae-Min So
Sejong University, Korea
Title: Projection of drought characteristics according to future climate and hydrological changes in the Korean Peninsula
Time : 17:10-17:25
Biography:
Jae-Min So has completed his M.S degree at the age of 27 years from Sejong University, Seoul, Korea. He is a doctoral candidate student in Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Sejong University. He has published 2 papers in academic journal in South Korea.
Abstract:
Drought is one of the serious natural disasters along with the flood in the world. The characteristics of drought are widespread and gradually developed when compared to flood event. In South Korea, drought has been known the 2-3 or 5-7 year cycle for the occurrence. However, South Korea has suffered the drought damage almost every year since 2008 due to the impacts of climate change and some others. It is therefore very urgent to find out the reasons for this phenominon. On the other hand, Korean peninsula has an unique sitution that the South and North Korea are divided with Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and the precipitation trends on these two regions are opposite when analyzed from globally available observation data. The precipitation in South Korea had increasing trend, while decreasing trend in North Korea. It will be useful to figure out the projection of future precipitation change, especially focusing on drought change for better establishment of climate change adapation. The objectives of this study are to project and analyze the meteorological, agricultural and hydrological drought conditions in the Korean peninsula including South and North Korea. The 3 Regional Climate Models (RCMs) for the future projection of climate change and a globl hydrological model for the projections of soil moisture and runoff are used in this study. The changes in Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Standardized Soil moisture Index (SSI) and Standardized Runoff Index (SRI), classified as meteorological, agricultural and hydrological droughts, were estimated from simulation results of precipitation, soil moisture and runoff for both South and North Korea. Mann-Kendal test was used to analyze the change of drought trends for future period. Seasonal drought characteristics for future period were also evaluated in this study.
Deuk-Hwan Lee
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Korea
Title: A case study on determining real-time landslide early warning level by sequentially applying ERI and infiltration-slope stability coupled model
Time : 17:25-17:40
Biography:
Deuk-hwan Lee is currently working at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Republic of Korea. Deuk-hwan Lee research interests are global climate change, Air Quality, Atmospheric Science and Rainfall Index threshold etc.
Abstract:
With the increasing magnitude and number of extreme precipitation events resulting from global climate change, the scale of rainfall-induced landslides and consequent damages has been remarkably enlarged in Korea since the beginning of 21st century. There have been few studies to constitute the landslide early warning framework by sequentially applying an empirical rainfall threshold and a physically-based slope stability model. This research introduces a concept of real-time landslide early warning scheme capable of upgrading up to two higher warning levels by applying two precidictive models of different approaches in consecutive order. A specific area of ‘normal’ state is upgraded to a higher warning level if the predicted or actual rainfall exceeds Extreme Rainfall Index threshold, which has been previously developed to conduct a landslide temporal probabilistic assessment. This empirical semi-rainfall threshold considers soil properties (permeability and storage capacity) as well as the rainfall factors in order to incorporate the effect of spatial variation of the infiltration capacity on the landslide probability. Subsequently, the area can be updated to the highest warning level of the suggested scheme as the factor of safety decreases below 1.3, which is calculated by a coupled model connecting different but sequential processes of slope failure; infiltration and slope stability. The study tested the validity of the landslide early warning scheme for a broad-scale by applying it for several past rainfall events and corresponding landslide historical data which had occurred in Busan, the second largest metropolitan city in Korea.
Olukoya Obafemi A P
Brandenburg Technical University, Germany
Title: Beyond reinventing adobe as a building material: A new paradigm in anthropocene
Time : 17:40-17:55
Biography:
Olukoya Obafemi A P had his Bachelor’s (BSc) and Master’s (MArch) degree in Architecture from Nigeria and Cyprus respectively. He practiced professional architecture for several years holding various positions in different franchise before establishing its own consulting firm in 2011. He had a short stint as a Teaching Assistant at Cyprus International University and a Research Assistant in TUBITAK (Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) under the auspice of a restoration project of Louroujina village (Northern Cyprus) tagged TUBITAK project 112M147. He has written a few scientific publications as concerns the anomie of climate change and also a book. Currently, he is a Doctoral Researcher at Brandenburg Technical University, Institute of Graduate Research: Heritage Studies.
Abstract:
The intractable challenge presented by climate change today has now attained a cusp, such that it ravages on the anthroposphere can no longer be ignored or over emphasized. This has stimulated a lot of debate and attracted researchers to the various economic sectors which are primal contributors of greenhouse gases. In that vein, the building industry which is identified to be producing an alarming figure of 23-40percent of the greenhouse gas emission has been a centre for enormous researches in recent times. This is consequently followed by an avalanche of recommendations which in the real sense, are actually running ahead of even its empirical applications today. Moreover, there is no gain saying in the fact that the sector holds one of the most plausible potentials in the struggle against the terror of climate change, if the non-environmental friendly building envelops are addressed. The plethora of perspectives and recommendations therefore comes with little or no surprise. However, despite this plenitude of professional perspectives, the recommendations stereotypically revolve around the reinvention of traditional building materials as a contributing solution to the mitigation of greenhouse gases in Anthropocene. Sadly, in this era of Anthropocene, this mere position is no longer potent or sufficient enough to address the multi-dimensional vestiges of climate change. In light of this argument, this paper takes a step further beyond the existing blanket assertions by posing and adopting a proposition which addresses the following questions; what is the resisting ability of adobe under acidic rain in Anthropocene? What is the behavior of adobe under extreme soil chlorination as evident today? What is the resisting ability of adobe under seismic conditions rampant today? How does adobe resist the epileptic change in temperature? How much can adobe resist a storm driven rain which is a norm in Anthropocene? Therefore, to organize this paper and answer this question related to the reinvention of adobe in Anthropocene, this paper adopts an analytics approach. Existing argumentations are reviewed, interpreted and a new position is posited. Conclusively, the paper posits that before we continue to peddle cheap perspective of reinventing earthen material in era of climate change, the materials must be adapted to resist and withstand the apparent climate change vestiges which it is reinvented to address.
Alyosha Ezra C Mallari
University of the Philippines, Philippines
Title: Land use exposure analysis in the occurrence of a storm surge event
Time : 17:55-18:10
Biography:
Alyosha Ezra C Mallari is a PhD Student at the School of Urban and Regional Planning, University of the Philippines. He has published as a sole author in an international journal and has been involved in several projects regarding climate disaster risk assessment, geographic information systems and land use planning.
Abstract:
Considering the effects of climate change on preparing the land use plan of an area can be useful in increasing its adaptation. For instance, determining the classification of land uses in areas susceptible to the harmful impacts of climate change can provide useful planning information to the local government units for long-term purposes. This study aims to analyze the existing land uses of areas exposed to a storm surge hazard in Tacloban City. Tacloban City, which has been devastated by the onslaught of Storm Surge in Typhoon Haiyan, is considered to be susceptible to detrimental impacts of climate change. Datasets of the Storm Surge hazard map in Tacloban City are categorized into low, medium and high. On the other hand, the existing land use map of Tacloban City is processed into GIS software to provide information on the city’s land use categories. Using overlay analysis, the extent of land uses exposed in the different hazard levels is classified. The results may provide as inputs for planners and stakeholders in generating programs or projects to alleviate the vulnerable conditions of the area such as risk zoning and other necessary planning interventions.
Moonhyun Hong
Yonsei University, Korea
Title: Susceptibility assessment of climate change-induced geo-disasters in South Korea
Time : 18:10-18:25
Biography:
Moonhyun Hong is a doctoral course student in Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University. He has published 2 paper in academic journal in South Korea and delivered several oral presentations in academic symposium.
Abstract:
Climate change adaptation in infrastructure sector has been great attention in recent years, though there is a difficulty in identifing the most suitable and efficient adaptation options. This paper proposes a framework for assessing the costs and benefits of infrastructure adaptation for the geo-disasters such as landslide and debris flow. In the Asia-Pacific region, there is an evidence of prominent increases in the intensity and/or frequency of extreme events under intense rainfall and severe storms, which trigger more geo-disasters on infrastructure. In this paper, a case study was carried out in Umyeonsan (Mt.), South Korea. Three Representative Concentration Pathways climate scenarios are utilized to estimate the cost of future damage and the conditions of the assessed infrastructure. Susceptibility assessment of geo-disaters were conducted by using physically-based models, YS-slope and ABAQUS/CEL. The climate change scenario was scaled down for Korean circumstances, and then, applied to anayze geo-disaters. It is shown that landslide hazard and debris flow damage are highly influuenced by climate change scenario. Based on this result, possible cost benefit is estimated, and a conceptual methodology for susceptibilty assessment of rainfall-induced geo-disasters is suggested. It is expected to guide decision making in prioritizing the most cost-effective adaptation strategies for infrastructure.
Irma Sveikauskaite
Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania
Title: Past and future changes in trees spring phenology in Lithuania under changing climate conditions
Time : 18:25-18:40
Biography:
Irma Sveikauskaite is a PhD student of Environmental Sciences since 2013. Her field of interest is “Past and Future Changes in Phenology under Changing Climate Conditions”. Currently, she is pursuing her internship at Acadia National Park (Maine, USA) working on some experimental project with Dr. Abraham Miller-Rushing. She investigates chilling importance for the different trees species spring phenology and try to incorporate physiological data to the models.
Abstract:
The analysis of long-term data of spring phenology for different deciduous trees species showed that leaf unfolding for all investigated species is the most sensitive to temperatures in March and April illustrating that forcing temperature is the main driver of spring phenology. The most notable -12.7 days over the investigated 58 year period, advancement in leaf unfolding was detected for early season species birch. The least advancement in leaf unfolding - 9.4 days over was detected for maple, 10.3 and 10.4 days advancement for lime and oak respectively. The projection of climatic parameters for Central Lithuania on the basis of three different Global Circulation Models has shown that under the pesimistic climate change scenario - RCP 2.6, the mean temperature tends to increase by 1.28oC and under the pesimistic scenario – RCP 8.5, by 5.03oC until the end of the 21st century. Recently, different statistical models are used to analyze and to project the changes in spring phenology. Our study has shown that when the data of long-term phenological observations are available, multiple regression models are suitable for the projection of the advancement of leaf unfolding under the changing climate. According to the RCP 8.5 scenario, the projected advancement in leaf unfolding for early-season species birch consists of almost 15 days as an average of all three used GSMs. Markedly less response to the projected far future (2071-2100) climate change is foreseen for other investigated climax species; 9 days for lime, 10 days for oak and 11 days for maple.
Berenice Rojo-Garibaldi
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico
Title: Hurricanes occurrence in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea and its relationship with sunspots
Time : 18:40-18:55
Biography:
Berenice Rojo-Garibaldi finished her Master’s degree in 2015 at the Institute of Marine Sciences and Limnology from National Autonomous University of Mexico, under the minor on Physical Oceanography. Actually she belongs to the PhD program in the same institution working on the paleo-climatic topics, in particular in the non linear analysis on time series. She is also experienced in sport and caves diving with the certificate of 3 star FMAS which is the Mexican federation on underwater. Her professional interests include the ocean-atmosphere interaction and its effects in the climate variability in long and short terms in different time and special scales.
Abstract:
We present the results of the time series analysis of occurrence of hurricanes and sunspots from 1749 to 2012. Exploratory analysis shows that hurricane numbers is declining in total number by year. This decline in the number of hurricanes is related to an increase in the sunspots activity. Spectral analysis shows a relationship between the hurricanes oscillation periods and the sunspot cycles. Several sunspot cycles were identified from the hurricanes time series spectral analysis the most conspicuous being the 4, 11, 22, 60 and 80 year’s cycles; and a 30-year that is related to cosmic rays cycle. The relationship between hurricanes and sunspot is both direct and inverse; the combination of the observed cycles produces seasons in which the number of hurricanes are in phase with sunspots and others which are out of phase.
Sulistyawati Suyanto
Ahmad Dahlan University
Indonesia
Title: Climate change perception among stakeholder and adaptation based on local wisdom in Gunungkidul, Indonesia
Biography:
Sulistyawati has completed her Master at the age of 29 years from Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia and enrolled as a PhD sandwich student in Umea University, Sweden. He is a lecturer and researcher at her university. He has published more than 10 papers in local, national or international journals and has been serving as an editorial board member of the Kes Mas journal.
Abstract:
Adaptation is a process for adjusting with the changing of climate by reducing the risk level to human. A Stakeholder is people who have an interest in climate change neither the actor nor impacted people, included in the stakeholder are the policy maker and the community. This research aim is to know the current situation of climate change in Gunungkidul, Indonesia and assesses stakeholder perception regarding climate change and to capture climate change adaptation in local level. Qualitative approach using FGD and workshop applied as method to encompass perception among stakeholder. The result of FGD strengthened by the secondary data. The current climate change situation in Gunungkidul was known from the precipitation number in the last 10 years that seems to fluctuate. The people said experiencing with climate change restricted to changing of weather and food security. Adaptation model in farmer, i.e. adjusting the plantation time and choose the crop that survive in dry (need less of water). An entrepreneur, they develop adaptation to climate change with creating business that’s not influenced by changing climate. For the breeder, they did an adaptation by making preserved fodder like silage. And for government employees stated that their life didn’t influence by climate change. From this research, we concluded that Gunungkidul is experience with climate change in many sectors. People in Gunungkidul already did adaptation to climate change based on their local wisdom. So that, they need support from the policy maker to improving this adaptation effort.
- Track: Evidence of Climate changes
Track: Sustainability & Climate Change
Track: Risks of Climate Change
Location: Melia Meeting 6
Chair
Denyse Lemaire
Thomas Edison University, USA
Co-Chair
Grahame Oliver
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Session Introduction
Yong Ran
Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Title: Relationship of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with algae-derived organic matter in sediment cores from a subtropical region
Time : 09:00-09:20
Biography:
Yong Ran is a Principal Investigator or co-investigator for 18 research grants totaling 9 million Yuan (RMB) from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences and State Science and Technology Ministry of China. His recent research (1998-2015) has involved in distribution, source, sorption, bioaccumulation and bioavailability of organic contaminants in terrestrial and aquatic systems. His research was awarded with one national prize and one provincial prize. He has been the author of over 70 referred international and national publications.
Abstract:
The influence of algae-derived organic matter (AOM) and climate warming on the historical record of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the subtropical reservoir sediments was investigated. The profiles of PAH concentrations and AOM contents at the eutrophic and meso-eutrophic reservoirs are significantly elevated, and show good correlations with increasing mean air temperature during the past 60 years, suggesting that increasing temperature plays a significant role in increase of algal productivity and PAH deposition. Temperature-mediated AOM is suggested to enhance the deposition and accumulation of pyrogenic PAHs in the sediment cores, also implying an inaccurate estimation on the historical record for atmospheric deposition of PAHs in eutrophic and meso-eutrophic reservoirs. For an oligotrophic reservoir, PAHs decrease as the sediment depth decreases, and are less significantly related to AOM. As the oligotrophic reservoir is phosphorus-limited and its AOM is significantly oxidized, the effect of increasing temperature on AOM and PAHs is insignificant.
Yongqin David Chen
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Title: Faster increases in apparent than air temperature under climate warming
Time : 09:20-09:40
Biography:
Yongqin David Chen is a Professor for the Department of Geography and Resource Management at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. His research and teaching areas include hydrology and water resources management, meteorology and climatology, environmental assessment and modeling, and regional development. In recent years his research activities have been focused on hydrologic impacts of global climate change and regional land-use alteration, low-flow hydrology in the Pearl River basin, hydrologic changes in the Pearl River Delta, and urban water management in Hong Kong and strategic environmental assessment in China.
Abstract:
Apparent temperature, an indicator of temperature human perceives, is mainly determined by air temperature, humidity and wind speed. Global warming indicated by increasing air temperature alters climatic and hydrologic circulations, and hence changes humidity and wind speed, which jointly influence apparent temperature. Here we study the global changes in apparent temperature and compare these changes with air temperature to investigate how human feels about continuous global warming. Results show that under climate warming, apparent temperature increases faster than air temperature. This phenomenon is especially remarkable in the tropics and subtropics and under high emission scenario. During 1981-2000, apparent temperature in the tropics is 0-4oC higher than air temperature, and then increases to 3-6oC higher during 2081- 2100 under Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5. The apparent temperature in the tropics is projected to reach >35oC, implying severe health impacts. Continental average of apparent temperature is 1.5oC lower than air temperature in 2000, and turns to 0.25oC higher by the end of 21st century. The faster increment in apparent temperature is a combined effect of stronger heat stress and weaker cooling effect caused by increasing air temperature with negligible changes in relative humidity and wind speed.
Tamar Trop
University of Haifa, Israel
Title: Towards climate-resilient cities in Israel: Local planning and building measures
Time : 09:40-10:00
Biography:
Tamar Trop has obtained PhD in Urban and Regional Planning since 2001. She is the founder and the Head of the MSc program in Management of Sustainable Built Environment at the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management at the University of Haifa. Since 2012, she is one to the research team leaders in the Israeli Climate Change Information Center (ICCIC). Currently, she is a member of the scientific advisory committee on Smart and Resilient Cities Indicators to the Israeli Standards Institute.
Abstract:
Cities are major contributors to climate change. At the same time, cities, especially at the coastal zone, are heavily vulnerable to this change. In Israel, most of the population is concentrated in coastal areas. In 2001, an Israeli Climate Change Information Center (ICCIC) was setup by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, in the wake of a 2009 government decision on the preparation of a national climate change adaptation program. Since then, a multidisciplinary group of researchers identified the risks and implications of climate change, and highlighted the knowledge gaps. Recently, they have submitted their recommendations on how to address climate change in the urban environment, with regards to various action areas, including local planning and building. The recommended policy in this area includes the following measures: Assessing the specific local risks of climate change and setting priorities for mitigation and adaptation actions; reducing anthropogenic heat sources and air pollutant emissions; advancing public transportation, bike riding and walk ability; developing mixed land uses; incorporating microclimate and human comfort considerations into urban planning to reduce heat island effects; increasing open space ratio and vegetation cover, including green roofs; using building materials which absorb less heat; promoting shaded streets; promoting water-sensitive planning; utilizing the underground space; establishing fire protection zones; adjusting already existing infrastructure and building future infrastructure according to sustainability standards; and promoting green building though institutional, legislative, economic and educational tools. ICCIC team has also identified the knowledge gaps regarding each of these measures, and ranked their research priority.
Maria Giovanna Tanda
University of Parma, Italy
Title: Historical and RCM future trends in Northern Tuscany (Italy)
Time : 10:00-10:20
Biography:
Maria Giovanna Tanda is a Full Professor of Hydraulic Structures in the Department of Civil Engineering (DICATeA), University of Parma (Italy) from 2004 to present. Previously she had teaching experience as Associate Professor of Hydraulics and Fluid Mechanics in the Politecnico di Milano from 1990 to 2001. Her main research topics are mathematical modeling of groundwater: flow and transport problems, forensic consulting about water and flooding problems, analysis of water distribution system, sewer systems, hydrologic models of rural and urban watersheds, impact of climate change on water resources, flood routing in rivers, mathematical modeling of flood routing in lakes and storage systems.
Abstract:
The paper presents some results of a study conducted in northern Tuscany (Italy). The study area is the competence zone of the water company GAIA S P A. It has a surface of about 2900 km2 with a great variety of landscapes with altitude ranging from 0 to 2000m A. S. L. For this study 18 rain and 14 temperature gauges, with the longest series of historical daily observations and excellent continuity (79-97anni for rainfall data and 62-89 years for medium temperatures) were selected for a detailed investigation. With rare exceptions, a downward trend of annual precipitation is noticed; the downward trend seems to be more evident in the first six months of the year and less clear in the remaining period. The tendency is rather opposite as regards the temperature where, with few singularities, an increase of the values can be noticed in recent years and for many stations the trend is significant. The historical trends were compared with the prediction produced by 13 RCM models, developed within the project EURO-Cordex project. For each pair available the simulation results, as daily rain and temperature data, for two future scenarios (RCP 4.5 and 8.5) of forcing agent’s emissions were acquired. As a global result it can be assumed that for all the analyzed rain stations there is a more than acceptable agreement between the trends identified from historical data and predictions of climate models. About the temperature trends the historical outcomes frequently underestimate the RCM model predictions.
Denyse Lemaire
Salish Kootenai College, USA
Title: The confluence of scholarly prediction and popular experience related to global climate change in the wine producing region of Burgundy, France
Time : 10:20-10:40
Biography:
Denyse Lemaire completed her PhD in 1992 from the University of Brussels, Belgium. Having retired as a Full Professor in the Environment and Geography Department at Rowan University in New Jersey, she currently teaches online classes for Thomas Edison University. She served two terms as the President of the Wine Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers. She is a member of the American Geophysical Union, of the Association of American Geographers, and of the American Wine Society.
Abstract:
Burgundy is one of the major wine producing regions of France with more than 31,000 hectares covered in vines. For the past two decades, reports about climate change and the effects it has or may have on viticulture have been published. Because the grape’s cycle of budding, veraison, and maturation is precisely regulated by temperature, Burgundy’s wine growers have clear evidence of the reality of the warming trend climate change scientists have reported; harvest dates are now significantly earlier than in previous years (13 days in Beaune and 12 days in La Rochepot in the Hautes Cotes). This discussion will examine how the confluence of scholarly prediction and popular experience has had an interesting but unfortunate impact on the risk management strategies of many small-scale growers, whose equation of climate and weather has led to an unwarranted assumption of the predictable regularity of destructive environmental events.
Geoffrey Mukwada
University of the Free State, South Africa
Title: Spatiotemporal variability of climate change in the Free State province of South Africa
Biography:
Geoffrey Mukwada completed his PhD from University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa in 2006 and completed his Post-doctoral studies at the University of the Western Cape between 2007 and 2009, before taking up a lectureship position at the University of the Free State. He is currently the coordinator of the Afromontane Research Unit’s research theme: Living and Doing Business in Afromontane Regions. He has published more than 30 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as a reviewer of several journals.
Abstract:
This paper uses gridded precipitation and temperature data to determine if climate change has occurred in the Free State Province of South Africa, in order to generate reliable information for development planning in the province. Gridded precipitation and temperature data, as well as data on drought indices for the 1960-2013 period were extracted from Climate Explorer and analyzed using ArcGIS (Version 10.3) and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (Version 23), as well as shift detection software, first to ascertain if climate change has occurred in the province, and secondly to determine the spatiotemporal characteristics of the changes (if any). Regime Shift Detection Software was used to determine epochs from data extracted from equidistantly spaced grid points within and around the Free State Province, while Hot Spot Analysis was undertaken in an ArcGIS environment to identify climate related spatial patterns. A comparative analysis of the resultant epochs and spatial groupings revealed an average temperature shift of 0.6°C since 2003, while GiZ-Scores from Hot Spots Analysis indicated the existence of five categories of regions within the province, each with its own spatiotemporal characteristics. When Principal Component Analysis was performed on precipitation data for each epoch, the results showed a strong correlation between the climatic conditions in the regions with ENSO. The study therefore concludes that the climate change that has occurred in the province has been induced by exogenous forces. This reality needs to be considered when developing mitigation measures to combat climate change related challenges in the province.
Yong Ran
Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, CAS
China
Title: Effect of climate warming on neutral carbohydrates in sediment cores of subtropical reservoirs, South China
Biography:
Yong Ran is a principal investigator or co-investigator for 18 research grants totaling 9 million Yuan (RMB) from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and State Science and Technology Ministry of China. His recent research (1998-2015) has involved in distribution, source, sorption, bioaccumulation, and bioavailability of organic contaminants in terrestrial and aquatic systems. My research was awarded with one national prize and one provincial prize. I have been the author of over 70 referred international and national publications.
Abstract:
The relationships of neutral carbohydrates with algal organic matter (AOM)and climate change were investigated in three sediment cores of various trophic reservoirs. Neutral monosaccharides and AOM were determined respectively by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAC-PAD) and by Rock-Eval analysis. Neutral sugar concentrations are strongly correlated with AOM in the mesotrophic reservoir cores, where glucose, mannose and galactose are the most abundant monosaccharides. Monosaccharide compositions and diagnostic parameters indicate a predominant contribution of phytoplankton in the mesotrophic reservoirs. The deposited neutral carbohydrates in sediment cores are largely structural polysaccharides derived from algal detritus, and are resistant to degradation. The increasing mean air temperature during the past 40 years has significant influences on the neutral carbohydrates and algal productivity at both meso-eutrophic reservoirs and oligotrophic reservoirs. The hydrogen index (HI) is observed to be a good indicator for monitoring historical changes of primary productivity in aquatic environments. The above evidence shows that even at low latitude regions, the primary productivity in subtropical reservoirs hasbeen significantly elevated by climate warming.
Yee Leung
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Title: Uncertainty on the Global-Warming trend under long-range correlation
Biography:
Yee Leung is currently Research Professor in the Department of Geography and Resource Management and Director of the Institute of Future Cities (IOFC) at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). He has published over 180 papers in reputed journals and serves in several journal editorial boards. Yu Zhou is Research Assistant Professor at IOFC and Stanley Ho Big Data Decision Analytics Research Centre at CUHK. He has published over 20 papers in reputed journals.
Abstract:
Though it is commonly believed that we are on a global-warming trend, uncertainty about the trend still needs to be examined, particularly from the perspective of long-range correlation. In this study, we analyze the effect of long-range correlation in the detection of a significant trend of global warming. We employed the land-surface air temperature anomalies data to obtain the global-mean monthly means, 1880-2015. The estimated trend α Ì‚is 0.71oC/ 100 years. If no auto-correlation is considered in the trend analysis, its 95% confidence interval is [0.68 0.73]. Then we examine if there is any auto-correlation in the global-mean monthly temperature anomalies. Detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) is employed to detect the possible long-range correlation because the external influence like the linear trend can be removed by DFA. The Hurst exponent estimated by DFA is 0.88, other than 0.50, indicative of long-range correlation. Thus, the effect of long-range correlation has to be considered. Our Null hypothesis is that there is no linear trend, i.e., α=0. Then we calculate the probability density function of estimated trend α Ì‚, p(α Ì‚), to see if the obtained value of 0.71 falls in the 95% confidence interval or not. If yes, then no significant trend can be detected. Our analysis result shows that thoughthe variance of p(α Ì‚) is inflated by 8.5 times by the effect of long-range correlation, the trend of temperature increase is still significant under long-range correlation.
Biography:
Golam Newaz received his PhD in Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1981. He is a full Professor in the College of Engineering at Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan and focuses on sustainable materials. He has over 150 engineering publications in journals and similar number in conference publications. He is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME).
Abstract:
Bangladesh is projected to be one of the countries at the frontline of devastating effects due to climate change although its carbon emission level is only 0.3 percent. It will bear the brunt of the excesses that industrialized nations have emitted into the atmosphere. Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world with 160 million people. The country is in the Ganges delta with numerous rivers flowing into the Bay of Bengal. Millions of people live in the coastal regions with cyclones, flood and now sea salinity intruding into the river system slowly but surely affecting livelihood directly as crop production and fish population are directly impacted. Rise in sea level is inevitable and the entire country may be at risk. Climate scientists project that by 2050, 18 million people from the coastal region will move inland. In a worst case scenario, an upward estimate of 50 million people can potentially face unprecedented migration to north. It is already estimated that out of the 5 million poor people in slums in the capital city of Dhaka, 1.5 million are recent displaced migrants from the coastal regions of Bangladesh. Migration of people will put tremendous pressure on cities like Dhaka and others. This paper addresses some of the difficult consequences that Bangladesh will face and discusses strategies to counter the ominous conditions that are likely to affect it for a long time.
Adriadna Chavez-Jimenez
University of Piura
Peru
Title: The impact of climate change in meeting water demands in the Chira-Piura basins, Peru
Biography:
Adriadna Chavez Jimenez has obtained her PhD at the Technical University of Madrid, Spain. Currently, she is Professor and Researcher ath the University of Piura. Her research interests are focused on water resources management, climate change, water scarcity problems, management demands and adaptation. She has published more than six papers in reputed international journals.
Abstract:
The attention of water demands in the Chira-Piura’s basins has been affected as a consequence of water scarcity problems and variability of water resources that characterize to this region. The Poechos reservoir located in the central area of the Chira’s basin has increased the water supply in order to meet the both basins demands.In the long term, these problems may be intensified under climate change scenarios. In this context, the present study evaluates the impact of climate change in meeting water demands for consumptive uses in the system Chira-Piura. The results show a slight increase of water availability in the Piura’s basin and a reduction of water availability in the Chira’s basin. Taking into consideration the connection between these basins through the reservoir,the current water scarcity problems in both basins can be intensified under climate change scenarios, in spite of the water resources increase in the Piura’s basin.
Grahame Oliver
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Title: Storm stranded coral boulders and sea level changes around Thailand since the mid-Holocene
Biography:
Grahame Oliver has lectured and researched at the Universities of Otago, Cambridge, St Andrews, Curtin, Western Ontario, University College Dublin, National University of Singapore and at present, at the Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He has published over a hundred papers in geochronology and geodynamics.
Abstract:
The west coast tourist beaches of peninsular Thailand are vulnerable to tsunamis originating from the Sumatra-Andaman subduction zone. The east coast beaches of peninsular Thailand are thought to be safe from tsunamis. However, our investigations of stranded coral boulders on Koh Samui suggest that east coast tourist beaches are vulnerable to typhoon storm induced inundations. We have estimated the physical processes required to move reef-derived coral boulders on the eastern coast of Koh Samui. Flow velocities of 2.3-8.6 m/s were required to transport the boulders, with individuals deposited up to 4.7 m above mean sea level. U-Th and 14C age-dating of coral boulders, suggest that events capable of the highest flow velocities occurred around AD 1600 and AD 1750. No events of similar magnitude have been experienced in the last 250 years. The non-occurrence of similar events in living memory has implications for hazard perceptions at this important tourist destination. We also presentevidence for Holocene sea-level changes across peninsular Thailand, as observed in raised seanotches in coastal limestone cliffs at KohPhaluai and near Krabi and in emergent fringing reefs at KohSamui. 14C dating of oyster shells and stalactites that grew inside the notches suggest that relative mean sea level was ~2 m higher during the mid-Holocene compared to the present day. Thus, studies using coral boulders as a proxy for past storm-wave conditions must consider the broader sea-level history and are probably best limited to the period post-2000 BP in the Gulf of Thailand.
Vhalinavho Khavhagali
Department of Environmental Affairs, South Africa
Title: The long-term adaptation scenarios flagship research program (LTAS) for South Africa
Biography:
Vhalinavho Khavhagali completed his Master of Science degree in Plant Ecology from University of Cape Town in 2008. He is currently working as Director of Climate Change Adaptation, at the Department of Environmental Affairs. His responsibilities includes managing and provision of climate change support services to sub-national and national sectors, to improve SA’s adaptive capacity to climate change and key sectors such as water, agriculture, biodiversity, and disaster risk reduction. He serves in various project teams to provide guidance in climate change studies, including socio-economic livelihoods, and developing climate change adaptation sectors strategies, and guide their implementation.
Abstract:
The LTAS aims to respond to the South African National Climate Change Response White Paper by developing national and sub-national adaptation scenarios for South Africa under plausible future climate conditions and development pathways. Outcomes and recommendations are used to inform key decisions in future development and adaptation planning. The program developed a consensus view of climate change trends and projections for South Africa. It summarizes key climate change impacts and potential response options identified for primary sectors, namely water, agriculture and forestry, human health, marine fisheries, biodiversity, disaster risk reduction, human settlement, economics of adaptation, food security and early warning systems. The LTAS climate scenario technical work analyzed recent trends in climate, and synthesized a range of potential future climate conditions that plausibly could occur in South Africa over three time frames (2015–2030, 2040–2060 and 2080– 2100). Observed climate trends for South Africa from 1960 to 2010 were analyzed and related to modeled trends for the same period to begin identifying possible strengths and weaknesses in current modeling approaches. South Africa’s climate future from 2025 and beyond was modeled using four broad climate scenarios at national scale, with different degrees of change and likelihood that capture the results of global mitigation action and the passing of time. First scenario as based on a warmer (<3°C above 1961–2000) and wetter, with greater frequency of extreme rainfall events. Second scenario on warmer (<3°C above 1961–2000) and drier is with an increase in the frequency of drought events and somewhat greater frequency of extreme rainfall events. Third scenario is hotter (>3°C above 1961–2000) and wetter, with substantially greater frequency of extreme rainfall events and fourth scenario on hotter (>3°C above 1961–2000) and drier with a substantial increase in the frequency of drought events and greater frequency of extreme rainfall events. Studies conducted on climate change, both internationally and nationally, indicate that the increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme events such as storms, droughts, and floods associated with climate variability and change have a significant impacted on natural and human systems. Additional stressors noted are non-climatic factors such as social inequalities that shape differential risks due to the complex interactions between climate change impacts, exposure and sensitivities. These risks are likely to result in loss of property and damage to infrastructure, disruption of essential services, and reduced agricultural production and a breakdown of food systems. Furthermore, are impacts on terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems, evidenced by species shifting their geographic ranges, seasonal activities and migration patterns. Efforts to employ effective responses for climate change resilience to various external shocks associated with climate change will potentially strengthen the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
You-Cai Xiong
Lanzhou University, China
Title: Coupled soil and water conservation and rainfed agriculture system to cope with climate change in semiarid Africa and China
Biography:
You-Cai Xiong has completed his PhD from Lanzhou University, China and Post-doctoral studies from McGill University and ECORC, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada. He is currently the Deputy Director of MOE (Ministry of Education) Engineering Research Center for Dryland Agriculture and Ecological Conservation, China. He has 20-year research experience in ecosystem sustainability and food security under climate change and has published more than 150 papers in reputed journals. He has been serving as an Editorial Board Member of over 10 international journals.
Abstract:
Improving rainwater resource use efficiency and controlling soil and water loss are the two major challenges under climate change in semiarid Africa and China. The two regions confront an increasing ecological crisis of water and soil loss and vegetation degradation, lowering CO2 sequestration of plant community and field productivity of main crops due to extreme climatic events. It is a critical practical demand to improve food production and soil & water conservation capacity in this region. Our previous work showed that rain fed farming system of northwest China led to significant increase in rainwater use efficiency and crop yield in semiarid Kenya and Ethiopia since 2011 and also made the social-economic investigations on farmers’ livelihood and ecosystem conservation as well. Local community is mainly featured by small household farmers, and the reclamation activities at sloping lands resulted in serious soil and water erosion. We designed and implemented a few successful case studies by introducing micro-field rain-harvesting farming system to improve food production level at flat lowlands, and conducting terrace construction programs to retain rainwater and restore vegetation at sloping highlands in the two regions. By this, social-economic-ecological outputs had been improved simultaneously. We therefore attempted developing a theoretical framework to guide the scientists, farmers and decision-makers to work together to adopt and extend the coupled rain fed agriculture and soil & water controlling system. The coupled system can act as a promising solution to increase vegetation cover, decrease soil & water loss, improve carbon sequestration and food production, and ultimately achieve ecosystem sustainability under climate change in semiarid Africa and China.
Edgar Monroy
Agrarian University Foundation of Colombia, Colombia
Title: Mapping potential sources of water using geophysical methods
Biography:
Edgar Monrroy is currently working at Agrarian University Foundation of Colombia, Colombia Edgar Monrroy research interests are Climate Change, geophysical science and Climate Hazards etc.
Abstract:
In the data processing after a seismic exploration, it is necessary to obtain a plausible image. One of the tools used for this is known as seismic migration target. Seismic migration is based on a wave equation process that eliminates distortions of records reflection, moving events to their correct spatial location, which by the collapse of the energy diffractions, back to their points of dispersion. In Colombia, on the occasion of the effects of climate change, especially the scarcity of water resources in areas with limited economic resources, it is essential to seek new sources of water for which the use of methods of geophysical prospecting, are an interesting alternative in order to map new underground sources that can certainly be an important solution especially for those vulnerable communities not only to effects of this environmental phenomenon but Tamien to the stubble of violence that for years have plagued our territory.
Michele Vurro
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy
Title: Efficacy of managed aquifer recharge to reduce the impact of climate change on coastal aquifers
Biography:
Michele Vurro is the Head of research and is Scientific Coordinator of Integrated Water Resources Management at IRSA-CNR. He has been involved in research on mathematical models of flow, transport and diffusion in groundwater and in unsaturated zone, groundwater artificial recharge. He is carrying out research on impact of climate change to water resources and adaptation strategies to combat climate change condition. He has published more than 30 papers in international peer-review journals.
Abstract:
The best fit of tide-gauge measurements of two monitoring stations, located along Puglia coast (Southern Italy), provided local sea level rise (LSLR) rate of 8.8 mm/y during 2000-2014 years. This local rate matches 21st and 22nd century projections of the rate of mean global sea level rise, which includes ocean thermal expansion, glaciers, polar caps, Greenland and Antarctica’s ice sheets melting and by including changes in soil water storage. Under the assumption that this sea rise rate will remain constant, an increasing of seawater intrusion will be produced into the Puglia and others Mediterranean coastal aquifers. Model simulations have been applied to the Ostuni (Puglia) groundwater in order to quantify seawater encroachment in fractured coastal aquifers due to LSLR. The model implemented the Ghyben-Herzberg’s equation of freshwater/saltwater sharp interface in order to determine the amount of the decrease in groundwater discharge due to the maximum LSLR during 22nd century. Since model results have foreseen an impressive depletion (over 16%) of groundwater discharge, MAR actions have been tested to prevent the seawater intrusion. The study has confirmed the suitability of MAR for enhancing the integrated water resources availability by reducing future groundwater depletions. MAR recovered 80L/s of groundwater as a new source of water supply during summer at the Ostuni area. Therefore, MAR can be a useful measure to mitigate the impact of climate change on coastal aquifers as a direct measure, due to reducing salt water intrusion, and as an indirect one, due to increasing water resource.
Byung Chul Shin
GreenConTech Co., Korea
Title: Mitigation technologies of Non-CO2 greenhouse gas emission in Korea
Biography:
Byung Chul Shin has completed his PhD from Korean Advanced Institute Science and Technology. He is the Director of GreenConTech after 20 years for Samsung Engineering as process researcher and strategic planner. He has developed the waste to energy technologies and air pollution control process at R&D Center and completed a lot of national strategic planning projects on environmental and energy policy. Currently, he has been carrying out the performance evaluation of non-CO2 GHG mitigation R&D project.
Abstract:
This paper introduces the emission status and the mitigation technologies of non-CO2 greenhouse gas (GHG) in Korea. The total emission of GHG is 695 million ton CO2–eq at 2013. About 10 % of them are non-CO2GHGincluding HFCs, SF6, N2O and CH4 which mostly come from energy conversion plant, semiconductor and chemical industry, organic waste treatment facilities. Korean government has finalized its 2030 target of reducing GHG emissions by 37 percent from business-as-usual (BAU) levels of 851 million tons. Above 315 million ton CO2-eq has to be reduced to meet the target. The government has come up with a number of complementary measures in order to successfully implement its plan including an emission trading system. Several non-CO2 GHG mitigation projects from industrial facilities have been already executed by international project base such as CDM utilizing the direct incineration or decomposing technologies at high temperature. Although these incineration technologies are simple for installation and maintenance, the additional CO2 emission to atmosphere cannot be avoided due to CO2productionduring incineration and high energy consumption. The thermal energy consumption to raise the flue gas temperature is large because the non-CO2 GHG concentration from industrial facilities is very low. The various leading technologies are under development to lower the energy consumption for decomposing the non-CO2 GHG or conversion these to the useful by-products.
Tian Xiang Yue
Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, China
Title: Climate scenarios in China, with improved accuracy
Biography:
TianXiang Yue has been working as a leading Professor of Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research (IGSNRR) since 2000 and Geoinformatics Chair of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) since 2015. He is Head of Department for Ecological and Environmental Information Sciences of IGSNRR. He has published more than 200 papers in reputed journals.
Abstract:
Climate scenarios in China, with improved accuracy: Comparing CMIP5 scenarios of RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 during the period 2006-2010 with observations from 735 meteorological stations indicates that mean absolute errors (MAEs) of mean annual temperature were very similar under the three scenarios. All of the MAEs were 2.2°C for the whole of China on average. The actual temperature was underestimated at more than 87% of the meteorological stations. After the downscaling process using a HASM-based method, all of the MAEs for the downscaled mean annual temperature under the three scenarios were reduced to 0.61°C for the whole land mass of China. MAEs of annual mean precipitation under scenarios of RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 were respectively 345.88, 338.18 and 340.93 mm for the whole land mass of China on average. At about 80% of the meteorological stations, the actual precipitation was overestimated by all the three scenarios. The downscaling process made the MAEs of the three scenarios decreased to about 71mm for the whole of China on average. In terms of the downscaled results, almost all China would become warmer and wetter on average under all the three scenarios over the next 30 years.
Dalila Gharbaoui
University of Liege, Belgium
Title: Governance of land security and climate-induced relocation in the Pacific region
Biography:
Dalila Gharbaoui is a PhD Student in Political and Social Sciences, University of Liege (Belgium), in joint-agreement with the Macmillan Brown Center for Pacific Studies, University of Canterbury (New-Zealand) under the Marsden Fund from New Zealand government and the Royal Society of New Zealand. She has completed her Master degree in Human Rights from The University of Sydney, Australia. Her research interests are in Anthropology, Documentary Making, Flamenco and backpacking travel.
Abstract:
Retreating from affected coastal areas through migration as an adaptive strategy to changes in environmental patterns has always been part of the Pacific Islands’ community’s culture and practices. Community-based protection strategies and methods to cope with the adverse effects of natural disasters in the region are integrated in their traditions for millenaries. Local relocation in the Pacific can be either within or beyond the land tenure boundaries of the affected communities, planning for relocation within the customary land minimizes post-relocation vulnerability associated with land-based conflicts and allows a preservation of social cohesion crucial for the Pacific Island community’s survival. Literature on limits to adaptation has shown that loss of culture is unavoidable results of relocation if customary land tenure is not considered at very early stage at relocation process. Good governance and best practice addressing limits to adaptation should include this dimension. Post-relocation vulnerability associated to land-based conflicts and the loss of customary land systems needs to be considered when planning for relocation as sustainable adaptation strategy to climate change in the Pacific region. The research will be based on ethnographic field study of communities affected by land erosions result of sea level rise and land degradation following extreme environmental events (cyclones, flooding, etc) that will be forced to adapt to climate change by relocating within the country in Fiji, New Caledonia and Solomon Islands. Ethnographic study will be conducted before relocation is taking place with the aim to evaluate the role of land ownership and tenure security in the relocation process. Field research will also be carried at the post-relocation phase in order to assess post-relocation vulnerability associated to land-based conflicts and the loss of customary land systems. One major focus will be on the consequences and implications of relocation in terms of conflict, resources distribution and power relations. Customary authorities and institutions are legitimate governance actors holding their own governance mechanisms in the Pacific region. Strategies addressing land governance and climate change adaptation in the Pacific should in clude both state-based governance mechanisms combined with customary non-state institutions. In order to combine those two forms of governance, it is necessary to include traditional authorities to the decision-making process on relocation. This cannot be done without a deep respect for their view of the world, a profound understanding of how they represent climate change and migration within their belief systems and how traditional knowledge directly addresses those questions.
Renalda El-Samra
American University of Beirut, Lebanon
Title: Will extremes become the norm under future climate change?
Biography:
Renalda El-Samra is PhD Candidate in Environmental & Water Resources Engineering at AUB. She has over two decades of professional experience in the environmental sector.
Abstract:
High resolution dynamical precipitation and temperature downscalling is conducted for the past (2008) and the near future (2011-2050) climates under two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) over a complex topographical terrain along the eastern Mediterranean basin using the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model. WRF is run at two nested resolutions of 9 and 3km, forced by the High-Resolution Atmospheric Model (HiRAM) at a resolution of 25km. The future simulations covered eight years (one year per decade per scenario) that were judiciouslly selected based on an anomaly score that depends on the mean annual temperature and accumulated precipitation in order to identify the worst year per decade from a water resources perspective. Climate indices derived from daily simulated precipitation and temperature data show significant decrease in annual precipitation (rain and snow), reaching up to 30% relative to current conditions, in addition to changes in daily maximum summer and minimum winter temperature extremes. Seasonal variability is predicted to increase significantly, with colder winters and warmer summer projected for the study area and with notable increases in the annual occurrence of warm nights and heat wave events. The projected increase in extreme temperatures and reduction in precipitation will have an adverse effect on agriculture, ecosystems, as well as human health and comfort.
Elena Giacomelli
University of Trento, Italy
Title: Environmental change-migration nexus in the Philippines: Overcoming limitations and filling in the gaps
Biography:
Elena Giacomelli obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations, participating in two exchange programs: one in Universidad de Valencia (one year), one in the University of Melbourne (one semester). She is currently enjoying and actively taking part in the Master’s degree in International and European Studies at the University of Trento. Within this program she studied as an exchange student at the Metropolitan University Prague and at the University of Adelaide. She participated in the research project "Current Migration to Europe: Research of Smart Population Dynamics”. She worked as an intern in the Australian Population and Migration Research Center. She developed her Master’s thesis on the theme ‘Environmentally Displaced Persons’ taking as case study the Philippines. She won a scholarship to conduct her research in the Third World Studies Center in the University of the Philippines. She will graduate the 13 of October 2016.
Abstract:
Environmental migration has always been part of human history. The need for prompt actions to overcome the limitation is not due to its novelty, rather to scientific and empirical evidences on the current (and possibly future) effects that environmental change will have on people. In recent years, environmental change and natural hazards increased their intensity and frequency. In countries such as the Philippines and the Pacific Islands, where the environmental problems are categorized as existential and security threats, such challenges need to be tackled and solved in order not to become unmanageable issues. Current researches and work done on environmental migration demonstrate how this issue is still weakly conceptualize and contextualize. The main limitations are: firstly the lack of a common definition and reliable data; secondly the lack of a linkage between environmental change and internal migration in policies measures and practices; thirdly adaptation measures considered as the main (an only) strategy; and lastly the lack of adequate financial resources and operational capacities, especially in developing country such as the Philippines. There is a need to deepen and broaden the range of conceptual tools for researchers interested in the relationship between environmental change and mobility. In particular, in the international debate, there is still missing a clarification of terminology. It is important to underline how to overcome these limitations the measures proposed needs a holistic and simultaneous intervention both from the international community and national states, especially those considered as highly prone to environmental change and natural disasters. The role of this research is to be instrumental within the environmental migration discussion in order to find a way to include this issue inside the international and national political agenda. It is beyond the scope of this thesis to draw definitive conclusions on the nexus between environmental change and its consequent migration impact. Yet, this thesis can be regard as a starting point for potential future investigations on this still hidden phenomenon of migration due to environmental change.