Carbon mapping in Portugal forest and agroforestry systems using direct remote sensing and combine assign approaches

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD and REDD+) recommend specific approaches for quantifying and spatializing ecosystem services (ES). In the context of climate change, REDD recommends the mapping of carbon stocks and its sequestration by vegetation cover to implement more appropriate environmental management practices and policies against global warming. Forest carbon mapping is a current and important environmental tool for a better land management as successful implementation of climate change mitigation (Saatchi et al., 2011). This study presents the mapping of carbon sequestration using two different approaches.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Life goes on : Oblada melanura (Linnaeus, 1758) (Perciformes, Sparidae), the saddled seabream, expands its distribution range westwards to the Azores

A group of 10 individuals of the saddled seabream, Oblada melanura (Linnaeus, 1758), was photographed at Lajes do Pico Bay, on Pico Island, Azores. This finding represents a significant westward expansion of the known range of this species and may be linked to global warming. A call is therefore made for a monitoring program of the coastal fish fauna of the Azores which would improve the understanding of the effects of climate change and other anthropogenic stressors on marine communities.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

European Union's CO2 emission permits market : an experimental study

Global warming is a major issue on international political agendas regardless of the uncertainties and divergences still remaining on the real dimension of the problem. Scientific community disagreement on its true consequences for human life is even bigger but public opinion urges for action. Anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions became the target and its mitigation compulsory, as they are pointed as key responsible for the sudden and severe global climate change we are facing. Therefore, to choose the best policy instrument to achieve this environmental goal while minimizing the consequences for economies competitiveness is a crucial task (...)info:eu-repo/semantics/draf

“ENERGY INDEPENDENCE”: PRESIDENT OBAMA’S RHETORIC OF A SUCCESS STORY

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A survey on the public perception of CCS in France

An awareness and opinion survey on Carbon Capture and Storage was conducted on a representative sample of French aged 15 years and above. About 6\% of respondents were able to provide a satisfying definition of the technology. The key question about `approval of or opposition to' the use of CCS in France was asked twice, first after presenting the technology, then after exposing the potential adverse consequences. Approval rates, 59\% and 38\%, show that there is no a priori rejection of the technology. The sample was split in two to test for a semantic effect: questioning one half about `Stockage' (English: storage), the other about `Sequestration'. Manipulating the vocabulary had no statistically significant effect on approval rates. Stockage is more meaningful, but does not convey the idea of permanent monitoring.Carbon capture and storage; public opinion

Editorial: Phytoplankton dynamics under climate change

Phytoplankton plays an important role in ocean processes, and is well-known to have an enormous positive impact on climate change or more specifically on global warming, by reducing atmospheric CO2 levels through the sinking of produced organic and inorganic matter to the deep ocean (Falkowski, 2012; Beardall and Raven, 2013). However, climate change, with consequences of elevated seawater temperatures and decreased pH levels (Beardall and Raven, 2013), influences phytoplankton dynamics, changing phytoplankton composition, geography and biomass in the oceans (Falkowski and Oliver, 2007; Boyd et al., 2015; Jonkers et al., 2019). Temperature increases could also drive temporal shifts in the onset of the regular annual blooms, their composition, duration and amplitude as well as mismatches in timing between trophic levels (Hinder et al., 2012; Mikaelyan et al., 2015). The overall impact of increased temperature on phytoplankton is not easy to assess due to variable and complex repercussions. For example, increasing temperatures can lead to more stratified waters, especially in summer months, and prevent nutrient replenishment at the ocean surface.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Bioclimatic modeling in the Last Glacial Maximum, Mid-Holocene and facing future climatic changes in the strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.)

Research ArticleIncreasing forest wildfires in Portugal remain a growing concern since forests in the Mediterranean region are vulnerable to recent global warming and reduction of precipitation. Therefore, a long-term negative effect is expected on the vegetation, with increasing drought and areas burnt by fires. The strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) is particularly used in Portugal to produce a spirit by processing its fruits and is the main income for forestry owners. Other applications are possible due to the fruit and leaves’ anti-oxidant properties and bioactive compounds production, with a potential for clinical and food uses. It is a sclerophyllous plant, dry-adapted and fire resistant, enduring the Mediterranean climate, and recently considered as a possibility for afforestation, to intensify forest discontinuity where pines and eucalypts monoculture dominate the region. To improve our knowledge about the species’ spatial distribution we used 318 plots (the centroid of a 1 km2 square grid) measuring the species presence and nine environmental attributes. The seven bioclimatic variables most impacting on the species distribution and two topographic features, slope and altitude, were used. The past, current and future climate data were obtained through WorldClim. Finally, the vulnerability of the strawberry tree to the effects of global climate change was examined in the face of two emission scenarios (RCP 4.5 and 8.5), to predict distribution changes in the years 2050 and 2070, using a species distribution models (MaxEnt). The reduction of suitable habitat for this species is significant in the southern regions, considering the future scenarios of global warming. Central and northern mountainous regions are putative predicted refuges for this species. Forest policy and management should reflect the impact of climate change on the usable areas for forestry, particularly considering species adapted to the Mediterranean regions and wildfires, such as the strawberry tree. The distribution of the species in the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and Mid-Holocene (MH) agrees with previous genetic and paleontological studies in the region, which support putative refuges for the species. Two in the southern and coastal-central regions, since the LGM, and one in the eastcentral mountainous region, considered as cryptic refugiainfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The pathogenesis of the modern climate

This article offers an exploratory semantic analysis of the concept of climate through the lens of Reinhart Koselleck’s theory of historical semantics. After discussing reasons for its absence in Koselleck’s own scholarly investigations into the semantics of modernity, the article argues that the word climate acquired the properties of a freestanding concept in the course of the eighteenth century. The steep rise in the word’s relative frequency at that time is explained in terms of its relevance to contemporary perceptions of time, and more particularly the rise of the progress narrative as a driver of human-made history. The article equally traces the concept’s decline in the course of the nineteenth century by pointing to developments in the sciences and the secularization of eschatology. Finally, the article reflects on the concept’s revival since the latter half of the twentieth century. Focusing specifically on the recent emergence of collocations such as “climate crisis,” the article argues that, in its orientation towards an open future, climate change communication reveals its reliance on the temporal framework of accelerating progress that it at the same time holds responsible for our warming planet. The article concludes with a plea to pay closer attention to the temporal presuppositions underlying climate change communication.Este artículo ofrece un análisis semántico del concepto de clima enfocándolo desde la teoría de la semántica histórica presentada por Reinhart Koselleck. Partiendo de las razones de la ausencia del concepto en las investigaciones acerca de las semánticas de la modernidad del mismo Koselleck, el artículo argumenta que el término clima surge como concepto propio a lo largo del siglo XVIII. El rápido incremento de la frecuencia en la que se usa el término en esa época se explica en base a su relevancia para las nociones contemporáneas del tiempo y sobre todo con respecto al ascenso del relato de progreso como motor de la historia hecha por el hombre. El artículo sigue también el descenso que vive este concepto durante el siglo XIX al indicar los avances en ciencia y la secularización de la escatología. Finalmente, el artículo medita sobre el resurgimiento del concepto desde la segunda mitad del siglo XX. Centrándose especialmente en la emergencia de combinaciones como “crisis climática” el artículo establece que la comunicación del cambio climático, orientada hacia un futuro abierto, confía en el modelo temporal de progreso en aceleración que al mismo tiempo hace responsable del calentamiento del planeta. El artículo concluye comentando la necesidad de prestar más atención a las presuposiciones temporales que subyacen en la comunicación del cambio climático