Direct measurement of salt–mineral repulsion using atomic force microscopy

The disjoining pressure between a mineral and soluble salt crystal in concentrated aqueous solution has been successfully measured with atomic force microscopy

High Temperature Superfluidity in Double Bilayer Graphene

Exciton bound states in solids between electrons and holes are predicted to form a superfluid at high temperatures. We show that by employing atomically thin crystals such as a pair of adjacent bilayer graphene sheets, equilibrium superfluidity of electron-hole pairs should be achievable for the first time. The transition temperatures are well above liquid helium temperatures. Because the sample parameters needed for the device have already been attained in similar graphene devices, our work suggests a new route towards realizing high-temperature superfluidity in existing quality graphene samples.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, effect of screening on superfluidity include

THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE ON HOLIDAY DESTINATION CHOICE

The holiday destination choice is analysed for tourists from 45 countries, representing all continents and all climates. Tourists are deterred by distance, political instability and poverty, and attracted to coasts. Tourists prefer countries with a sunny yet mild climate, shun climes that are too hot or too cold. A country’s tourists’ aversion for poverty and distance can be predicted by that country’s average per capita income. The preferred holiday climate is the same for all tourists, independent of the home climate. However, tourists from hotter climates have more pronounced preferences.Climate change, impacts, adaptation, acclimatisation, domestic tourism, international tourism

The Impact of Climate Change on Domestic and International Tourism: A Simulation Study

We use an updated and extended version of the Hamburg Tourism Model to simulate the effect of development and climate change on tourism. Model extensions are the explicit modelling of domestic tourism and the inclusion of tourist expenditures. We also use the model to examine the impact of sea level rise on tourism demand. Climate change would shift patterns of tourism towards higher altitudes and latitudes. Domestic tourism may double in colder countries and fall by 20% in warmer countries (relative to the baseline without climate change). For some countries international tourism may treble whereas for others it may cut in half. International tourism is more (less) important than is domestic tourism in colder (warmer) places. Therefore, climate change may double tourist expenditures in colder countries, and halve them in warmer countries. In most places, the impact of climate change is small compared to the impact of population and economic growth. The quantitative results are sensitive to parameter choices, but the qualitative pattern is robust.Climate Change, International Tourism, Domestic Tourism

THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL TOURISM: A SIMULATION STUDY

We use an updated and extended version of the Hamburg Tourism Model to simulate the effect of development and climate change on tourism. Models extensions are the explicit modelling of domestic tourism, and the inclusion of tourist expenditures. Climate change would shift patterns of tourism towards higher altitudes and latitudes. Domestic tourism may double in colder countries and fall by 20% in warmer countries (relative to the baseline without climate change). For some countries international tourism may treble whereas for others it may cut in half. International tourism is more (less) important than is domestic tourism in colder (warmer) places. Therefore, climate change may double tourist expenditures in colder countries, and halve them in warmer countries. In most places, the impact of climate change is small compared to the impact of population and economic growth.The quantitative results are sensitive to parameter choices, both for the baseline and the impact of climate change. The qualitative pattern is robust, however. Climate change is more important to tourism than is sea level rise, because the latter heavily affects only a few places where beach nourishment is a viable option.Climate change, international tourism, domestic tourism

Climate Change and Tourism in the Mediterranean

tourism, mediterranean, climate change

The Effect of Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events on Tourism

Tourism is an industry of primary importance for the world economy. For some countries, tourism is the first source of income and foreign currency, and many local economies heavily depend on tourism. Tourists are sensitive to climate and to climate change, which will affect the relative attractiveness of destinations and hence the motive for international tourists to leave their country of origin. Yet, until recently, the attention devoted by the tourism literature to climate change and by the climate change literature to tourism has been quite limited. This paper is divided in two parts. The first part reviews the literature on the relationship between climate change and tourism. We find that the existing studies have but started unveiling the complexities of this relationship, by means of very heterogeneous approaches and scarcely comparable studies. A comprehensive, coherent quantitative message cannot yet be drawn from the literature. The broad qualitative message is clear, however: climate change will affect tourism, and the consequences for the economy might be wide and pervasive. The second part analyses empirically the relationship between climate characteristics, weather extremes and domestic and international tourism demand across Europe, with a focus on Italy. This study draws on the results on the Italian tourist sector of the WISE project, a multi-sector research project that investigates the impacts of extreme weather events on the socio-economic systems of some European countries by means of both quantitative and qualitative analyses. In general, temperature is the strongest indicator of domestic tourism. The relationship between tourism and temperature is generally positive in the same-month all across Europe, except in winter sports regions. The climate impact depends as well on destination type: for example coastal resorts respond more favourably to summer temperature increases than inland resorts. Moreover, it is not just temperature that counts, but also the expectations about future temperature levels; not just the presence of weather extremes, but also the expectations about their future occurrence. Qualitative results, based on individual surveys, show that during an unusually hot summer day trips are more climate-responsive than short breaks, that short breaks are more climate-responsive than main holidays, and that most people tend not to change plans for their main vacation: those that do change either stay at home or in their own country. On the basis of our literature survey and of our empirical study’s results, the paper concludes by indicating the most urgent gaps to be filled in the knowledge about the relationship between climate change and tourism and by pointing at the most promising directions for further research.Tourism, Climate change, Extreme weather events

Discussion of "Predicting water permeability in sedimentary rocks from capillary imbibition and pore structure" by D. Benavente et al., Engineering Geology (2015) [doi: 10.1016/j.enggeo.2015.06.003]

The relation between permeability and sorptivity has not received much attention in the literature of porous materials. Therefore the paper of Benavente et al. (Benavente et al., 2015) is a valuable contribution, both for its theoretical analysis and for providing new data on these properties in a test set of rocks, mostly carbonates. In this Discussion we make some related observations on the topic. We employ the quantities and notation of (Benavente et al., 2015), except that we use the sorptivity S rather than the water absorption coefficient C by capillarity” in describing imbibition. The two are simply related since S = C/ρw where ρw is the density of water

A Global Database of Domestic and International Tourist Numbers at National and Subnational Level

We present a new, global data base on tourist destinations. The data base differs from other data bases in that it includes both domestic and international tourists; and it contains data, for the most important destinations, data at national level as well as at lower administrative levels. Missing observations are interpolated using statistical models. The data are freely accessible on the internet.Tourism, Data