Climate Change and Potential Economic Impacts in Ireland: The Case for Adaptation

This thesis explores a number of key economic impacts associated with climate change in Ireland. It begins by examining the idea of climate change as a so called “wicked problem”, and in turn investigates uncertainty, the importance of ethics in economic valuation, and the complexities associated with creating economic assessments, formulating policy and carrying out appropriate action. Drawing on sustainability science the terms resilience, vulnerability and adaptive capacity are also discussed, defined and engaged with. Key results, associated with both potential climate impact and adaptation costs, are presented from global and regional integrated assessment models and in turn vulnerable Irish sectors are uncovered. The following bottom-up approach explores key vulnerabilities in Ireland in the areas of coastal exposure, wetland vulnerability and inland flooding. Digital Terrain Modelling is used in conjunction with a range of datasets to examine vulnerabilities relating to coastal land, commercial and residential property addresses, insurance claim costs, as well as wetland and species vulnerability. It should be noted that the results presented are cognisant of the limitations of monetary evaluation alone as a measure of potential climate impacts. The bottom up approach has the added advantage of providing geographically distributed impacts in discrete sectors as apposed to the often highly aggregated regional Integrated Assessment Modelling approach. Finally, the implications of these results for decision-making in relation to adaptation planning are discussed, along with avenues for potential future work

Management and protection of Mediterranean groundwater-related coastal wetlands and their service

In the framework of the GEF/UNEP-MAP Strategic Partnership for the Mediterranean Sea Large Marine Ecosystem, UNESCO-IHP executed a component on “Management of coastal aquifers and groundwater”, which included an activity on “Implementation of eco-hydrogeology applications for management and protection of coastal wetlands”. The aim of the activity was to reverse degradation trends in coastal aquifers and groundwater-related coastal wetlands and enhance human wellbeing, namely by providing appropriate capacities for the integration of an ecosystem services approach into groundwater and wetlands assessment and management. To this end, UNESCO-IHP sought the cooperation of experts in order to design and carry out actions aiming to generate a new conceptual framework integrating hydrogeological, ecosystem, and management considerations in the management of Mediterranean groundwater-related coastal wetlands. Among key actions, a background document was prepared, detailing the basic aspects to be considered for an improved management of Mediterranean groundwater-related coastal wetlands through the assessment of the interlinkages between groundwater ows, wetlands services, and human wellbeing. This book sets forth the conceptual and empirical aspects that must be examined and followed to better understand the relationships between groundwater-associated wetlands, geology, hydrology, and services to human well-being. It also presents methods for inventorying the basic information needed to characterize wetlands and aquifer functioning and to assess wetlands’ contribution to human well-being. Finally, it proposes guidelines and recommendations for the evaluation and integrated management of Mediterranean groundwater-related coastal wetlands in order to preserve the sustaining role of groundwater in relation the many environmental services that wetlands provide.Global Environmental Facility (GEF) United Nations Environmental Programme/Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP/MAP

Review of Published Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Measures Related with Water

Stronger manifestation of climate change impact on global water cycle, water resources, and aquatic ecosystems has given a strong impetus to the development of adaptation measures in water management. The present report gives an insight to potential and planned water related measures tackling climate change causes and consequences, which have been included in the Member States River Basin Management Plans, published in various reports and scientific literature mostly within the last decade. The database of about 450 measures analysed in this report and given in a separate Annex as an Excel spreadsheet, constitutes the most important part of this deliverable. In the context of this report, measures are defined as practical steps or actions taken to (i) reduce the sources or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases, (ii) to decrease the vulnerability of water resources and aquatic ecosystems to climate change, or (iii) enhance the knowledge base on climate-water relationships and increase the societal capacity to take right decisions on this matter. By strategic approach, the measures belong either to planned adaptation, which specifically focuses on climate change and variability, and autonomous adaptation, which goals are not specifically climate related, but have an added value in improving resilience to climate change. Separate chapters are dedicated to each of the five specific adaptation strategies addressed in the REFRESH Project. The present report is of relevance to the 7th EU Framework Programme, Theme 6 (Environment including Climate Change) project REFRESH (Adaptive strategies to Mitigate the Impacts of Climate Change on European Freshwater Ecosystems, Contract No.: 244121), to JRC Thematic Area 3 (Sustainable management of natural resources) foci on CC, to the European Clearing House mechanism on CC, and to the EC Blueprint on Water.JRC.DDG.H.5-Rural, water and ecosystem resource

Integrated Environmental Modelling Framework for Cumulative Effects Assessment

Global warming and population growth have resulted in an increase in the intensity of natural and anthropogenic stressors. Investigating the complex nature of environmental problems requires the integration of different environmental processes across major components of the environment, including water, climate, ecology, air, and land. Cumulative effects assessment (CEA) not only includes analyzing and modeling environmental changes, but also supports planning alternatives that promote environmental monitoring and management. Disjointed and narrowly focused environmental management approaches have proved dissatisfactory. The adoption of integrated modelling approaches has sparked interests in the development of frameworks which may be used to investigate the processes of individual environmental component and the ways they interact with each other. Integrated modelling systems and frameworks are often the only way to take into account the important environmental processes and interactions, relevant spatial and temporal scales, and feedback mechanisms of complex systems for CEA. This book examines the ways in which interactions and relationships between environmental components are understood, paying special attention to climate, land, water quantity and quality, and both anthropogenic and natural stressors. It reviews modelling approaches for each component and reviews existing integrated modelling systems for CEA. Finally, it proposes an integrated modelling framework and provides perspectives on future research avenues for cumulative effects assessment

Celebrating 25 Years of World Wetlands Day

The purpose of this Special Issue is to celebrate 25 years of “World Wetlands Day”. There is no other ecosystem that has its very own Ramsar Convention or such a challenge impacting ecosystem sustainability. Papers for this Special Issue provide an overview of wetland status and function within different regions of the world. The papers in this Special Issue of Land consist of three review papers, ten research articles and one perspective paper. Edward Maltby’s review paper provides us with an overview of the paradigm shift of how we value and assess wetlands over time. Ballut-Dajud et al. provide us with a worldwide perspective on factors affecting wetland loss. Finally, Jan Vymazal provides us with a historical overview of the development of water quality treatment wetlands in Europe and North America. The research papers can be grouped into four groups: 1) use of remote sensing to analyze stability and dynamic factors affecting wetlands; 2) factors affecting the wetlands’ ability to store carbon; 3) assessment of wetlands effect on water quality; and 4) understanding historical use and value of wetlands, farmer’s attitudes about wetland management, and how we can value wetland ecosystem services. Finally, Bryzek et al. remind us that, as wetland researchers and managers, we should minimize damage to wetlands even through field monitoring work

Eighth International Symposium “Monitoring of Mediterranean Coastal Areas. Problems and Measurement Techniques”

The 8th International Symposium "Monitoring of Mediterranean Coastal Areas. Problems and Measurements Techniques" was organized by CNR-IBE in collaboration with FCS Foundation, and Natural History Museum of the Mediterranean and under the patronage of University of Florence, Accademia dei Geogofili, Tuscany Region and Livorno Province. It is the occasion in which scholars can illustrate and exchange their activities and innovative proposals, with common aims to promote actions to preserve coastal marine environment. Considering Symposium interdisciplinary nature, the Scientific Committee, underlining this holistic view of Nature, decided to celebrate Alexander von Humboldt; a nature scholar that proposed the organic and inorganic nature’s aspects as a single system. It represents a sign of continuity considering that in-presence Symposium could not be carried out due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Subjects are related to coastal topics: morphology; flora and fauna; energy production; management and integrated protection; geography and landscape, cultural heritage and environmental assets, legal and economic aspects

Analysis of relevant technical issues and deficiencies of the existing sensors and related initiatives currently set and working in marine environment. New generation technologies for cost-effective sensors

The last decade has seen significant growth in the field of sensor networks, which are currently collecting large amounts of environmental data. This data needs to be collected, processed, stored and made available for analysis and interpretation in a manner which is meaningful and accessible to end users and stakeholders with a range of requirements, including government agencies, environmental agencies, the research community, industry users and the public. The COMMONSENSE project aims to develop and provide cost-effective, multi-functional innovative sensors to perform reliable in-situ measurements in the marine environment. The sensors will be easily usable across several platforms, and will focus on key parameters including eutrophication, heavy metal contaminants, marine litter (microplastics) and underwater noise descriptors of the MSFD. The aims of Tasks 2.1 and 2.2 which comprise the work of this deliverable are: • To obtain a comprehensive understanding and an up-to-date state of the art of existing sensors. • To provide a working basis on “new generation” technologies in order to develop cost-effective sensors suitable for large-scale production. This deliverable will consist of an analysis of state-of-the-art solutions for the different sensors and data platforms related with COMMONSENSE project. An analysis of relevant technical issues and deficiencies of existing sensors and related initiatives currently set and working in marine environment will be performed. Existing solutions will be studied to determine the main limitations to be considered during novel sensor developments in further WP’s. Objectives & Rationale The objectives of deliverable 2.1 are: • To create a solid and robust basis for finding cheaper and innovative ways of gathering data. This is preparatory for the activities in other WPs: for WP4 (Transversal Sensor development and Sensor Integration), for WP(5-8) (Novel Sensors) to develop cost-effective sensors suitable for large-scale production, reducing costs of data collection (compared to commercially available sensors), increasing data access availability for WP9 (Field testing) when the deployment of new sensors will be drawn and then realized