Assessing atmospheric temperature data sets for climate studies

Observed near-surface temperature trends during the period 1979–2014 show large differences between land and ocean, with positive values over land (0.25–0.27 °C/decade) that are significantly larger than over the ocean (0.06–0.12 °C/decade). Temperature trends in the mid-troposphere of 0.08-0.11 °C/decade, on the other hand, are similar for both land and ocean and agree closely with the ocean surface temperature trend. The lapse rate is consequently systematically larger over land than over the ocean and also shows a positive trend in most land areas. This is puzzling as a response to external warming, such as from increasing greenhouse gases, is broadly the same throughout the troposphere. The reduced tropospheric warming trend over land suggests a weaker vertical temperature coupling indicating that some of the processes in the planetary boundary layer such as inversions have a limited influence on the temperature of the free atmosphere. Alternatively, the temperature of the free atmosphere is influenced by advection of colder tropospheric air from the oceans. It is therefore suggested to use either the more robust tropospheric temperature or ocean surface temperature in studies of climate sensitivity. We also conclude that the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis Interim can be used to obtain consistent temperature trends through the depth of the atmosphere, as they are consistent both with near-surface temperature trends and atmospheric temperature trends obtained from microwave sounding sensors

Nationwide population-based cohort study of psychiatric disorders in individuals with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or hypermobility syndrome and their siblings

Background: To assess the risk of psychiatric disorders in Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) and hypermobility syndrome. Methods: Nationwide population-based matched cohort study. EDS, hypermobility syndrome and psychiatric disorders were identified through Swedish national registries. Individuals with EDS (n = 1,771) were matched with comparison individuals (n = 17,710). Further, siblings to individuals with EDS who did not have an EDS diagnosis themselves were compared with matched comparison siblings. Using conditional logistic regression, risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, attempted suicide, suicide and schizophrenia were estimated. The same analyses were conducted in individuals with hypermobility syndrome (n = 10,019) and their siblings. Results: EDS was associated with ASD: risk ratio (RR) 7.4, 95 % confidence interval (95 % CI) 5.2–10.7; bipolar disorder: RR 2.7, CI 1.5–4.7; ADHD: RR 5.6, CI 4.2–7.4; depression: RR 3.4, 95 % CI 2.9–4.1; and attempted suicide: RR 2.1, 95 % CI 1. 7–2.7, but not with suicide or schizophrenia. EDS siblings were at increased risk of ADHD: RR 2.1, 95 % CI 1.4–3.3; depression: RR 1.5, 95 % CI 1.1–1.8; and suicide attempt: RR 1.8, 95 % CI 1.4–2.3. Similar results were observed for individuals with hypermobility syndrome and their siblings. Conclusions: Individuals with EDS and hypermobility syndrome are at increased risks of being diagnosed with psychiatric disorders. These risk increases may have a genetic and/or early environmental background as suggested by evidence showing that siblings to patients have elevated risks of certain psychiatric disorders.NonePublishe

Caste, Kinship, and Life Course: Rethinking Women's Work and Agency in Rural South India

This paper reexamines the linkages between women's work, agency, and well-being based on a household survey and in-depth interviews conducted in rural Tamil Nadu in 2009 and questions the prioritization of workforce participation as a path to gender equality. It emphasizes the need to unpack the nature of work performed by and available to women and its social valuation, as well as women's agency, particularly its implications for decision making around financial and nonfinancial household resources in contexts of socioeconomic change. The effects of work participation on agency are mediated by factors like age and stage in the life cycle, reproductive success, and social location – especially of caste – from which women enter the workforce

The Revolutionary City:Socialist Urbanisation and Nuclear Modernity in Cienfuegos, Cuba

During the Cold War, Havana symbolised the struggle for national liberation in Latin America. Yet in few other places on the island of Cuba did the Revolution’s visions of development materialise as they did in the southern city of Cienfuegos. This article examines why two half-finished nuclear reactors and a decaying ‘nuclear city’ still remain in Cienfuegos. Through a comprehensive spatial and infrastructural transformation of Cuba, the revolutionary government sought to remedy the evils of dependency and unequal exchange. Cienfuegos, and its shifting place in the Cold War political economy, demonstrates how a radical critique of urbanisation merged with the spatiality of centralised energy infrastructure in the pursuit of ultimately-failed nuclear modernity. The history of Cienfuegos draws the academic gaze away from Latin America’s major cities to broaden the ‘geographies of theory’ in urban, energy and Latin American studies

Thermodynamics revisited:The political ecology of energy systems in historical perspective

This chapter addresses new territory for political ecologists: the politics of energy systems. It brings concepts from thermodynamics and systems ecology into dialogue with the history of electrification to make a case for a historically grounded political ecology. The chapter centres on the assumption that fossil fuels must be substituted for an equal amount of renewable energy sources to withstand climate change and peak oil. But this conjecture is misleading. By examining the turbulent histories of electrification in the USA, the Soviet Union and the former Third World – notably in India and Cuba – it is argued that electricity systems are fundamentally historical products that represent political and economic rationales. Energy, in turn, behaves in specific ways depending on the energy system’s geographical outlay – an outlay contingent on the interests manifest in the system. The centralized long-distance transmission grids that are prevalent in the world today demand high energy input; yet this energy demand is not linked to the technology ‘itself’ but to the interests it represents. To ask how we are to replace fossilized energy potential with renewable neglects this political ecology of the energy system. Instead the interests embodied in energy systems can be challenged to achieve a low-carbon transformation. The chapter ends with suggestions for future research into the remarkably underexplored political ecology of energy systems

Tax Increment Financing: A History and Analysis of its Success and Failure

Tax increment financing (TIF) is used by cities and towns to subsidize projects within their jurisdictions. The name derives from the growth in the tax base that a (re)development is theoretically responsible for. The increase in tax revenue is directed to funds to pay for the project. TIF is used in 49 U.S. states and each state has unique legislation for its use of it, though there are large similarities between states on how it’s implemented. Research suggests mixed results with whether or not the increase in the tax base is enough to pay off how much money went toward the project in the form of TIF. Since TIF differs depending upon the state, looking at patterns of policy may lead to discerning which traits increase the likelihood of success or failure. This paper suggests that there are policies that can improve use of TIF: requiring that project sites be deemed in need for subsidizing developments for projects to occur, involvement of local government agencies that will be affected by the project, and quality financial decisions/oversight

On PetroCaribe:Petropolitics, Energopower, and Post-Neoliberal Development in the Caribbean Energy Region

This article examines PetroCaribe; a regional oil trading bloc spearheaded by Venezuela and Cuba. PetroCaribe has been an attempt at establishing an anti-imperial energy region in the Caribbean, enabling post-neoliberal development. We argue that two complementary modalities of power—petropolitics and energopower—have operated through PetroCaribe as a territorial-infrastructural energy region. Petropolitics frames PetroCaribe as a means for geopolitical manoeuvring around the supply of oil, enhancing the regional influence of Venezuela while empowering the Caribbean island-nations vis-à-vis oil exporting states. Energopower defines energy not as a geostrategic commodity but as a relation that binds places together, shaping political possibility, identity, and social relations. As an exercise of energopower, PetroCaribe has been motivated by visions of post-neoliberal development and anti-imperialism, seeking to reconfigure historically-entrenched power relations within the neoliberal petropolitical paradigm. In these terms, the article traces Venezuela’s long and ambivalent relationship with oil, Cuba’s efforts to secure oil for its socialist revolution, and the development of the Greater Caribbean as an energy region. It examines how PetroCaribe has been operationalized through oil and medical infrastructure. Even as PetroCaribe and Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution are in decline, the trade bloc prompts us to conceptualize energy and oil as generative of subjects and space

It Takes a Village: Building Faculty Connections to Support Student Learning in the Education and Skills Training (ESTR) Program During COVID-19

Q: What do an ESTR Instructor, a Reference Librarian, a Coordinator of Educational Technologies and Innovation, and a Coordinator of Learning and Faculty Development have in common? A: A deep commitment to student learning! Due to COVID-19, ESTR students were unable to do in-community practica: instead, they engaged in transferable skill development in their safety bubbles. To broaden and enrich these experiences, small groups of students and their instructor had regular, structured consultations with a Reference Librarian. These sessions were, like all of the other content from the course, delivered virtually. While the technology and design of the course were ultimately the responsibility of the instructor, the development of both were supported and facilitated by the faculty development opportunities and one-on-one support offered by an Educational Technology Coordinator and a Coordinator from TRU’s Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT). Through the Facilitating Learning in Moodle course offered last summer, the Coordinator from CELT shared the Community of Inquiry Framework, which became the model for the ESTR Instructor’s course development. As well, the Educational Technology Coordinator provided training on the use of the WordPress platform, as well as other systems and tools—notably Moodle and H5P. Therefore, while the ESTR Instructor worked to build community with and for her learners, an informal faculty learning community was simultaneously forming around her and her course. In this session, we will share how our individual contributions built a whole that was greater than the sum of its parts. During the pandemic, faculty with various roles have done their part to ensure that students still have the best possible learning experience, and in the process we have discovered elements of virtual instruction that can be used to broaden and enrich educational experiences long after COVID-19. Finally, we have re-discovered how our roles are interconnected as we all work towards the common goal of student success

Undergraduate student perceptions of assessment and feedback practice: fostering agency and dialogue

Assessment and feedback practices sit at the heart of education and the student experience. This paper reports on undergraduate perceptions of assessment and feedback in the Department of Geography at King’s College London, UK. Twenty-eight first and second year students across six focus groups provided comments on their understanding of feedback, their feedback experiences, and what they felt could be improved. It was clear that students desired feedback that would help them improve summative performance, but were unsure of how best to use it and consequently had high expectations that led to dissatisfaction. Particular concern was expressed about marking and feedback consistency, and the inherent variation in practice they experienced. Many comments indicated a lack of student agency, which may reflect the power relations that students find themselves in within their community of practice. Finding ways of fostering agency and improving dialogue over perceptions and expectations are suggested to be important steps in improving assessment and feedback practice, and student satisfaction