Malaco temperature reconstructions and numerical simulation of environmental conditions in the southeastern Carpathian Basin during the Last Glacial Maximum

We investigate the glacial climate conditions in the southeastern Carpathian Basin (Vojvodina, Serbia) based on the reconstruction of malacological palaeotemperatures and results from a high‐resolution regional climate simulation. Land snail assemblages from eight loess profiles are used to reconstruct July temperatures during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The malacological reconstructed temperatures are in good agreement with the simulated LGM July temperatures by the Weather Research and Forecast model. Both methods indicate increasing temperatures from the northwestern towards the southeastern parts of the study area. LGM aridity indices calculated based on the regional climate model data suggest more arid conditions in the southeastern parts compared with more humid conditions in the northwestern parts. However, for present‐day conditions, the moisture gradient is reversed, exhibiting more humid (arid) conditions in the southeast (northwest). An explanation for the reversed LGM aridity pattern is provided by an analysis of the prevailing wind directions over the South Banat district (Serbia). The prevailing moist northwesterly winds during summer are not able to compensate for the annual lack of moisture induced by the dry winds from the southeast that are more frequent during the LGM for the other seasons

Using natural disasters to instigate radical policy changes – the effect of Fukushima nuclear power plant accident on nuclear energy policies

Natural disasters and their effects have evolved to reflect the complexities of the physical and human environments, and their interactions in the modern world. After the earthquake and the tsunami of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors in March 2011 activists, lobbyist and reporters were quick to expose nuclear technology and demand if not an immediate closure, than at least a gradual phasing out of nuclear power plants. Further research on topics such as the safety of nuclear power plants, the environmental and social effects of radioactive contamination, and the potential of nuclear energy as a world power source has a critical role in this ongoing debate in order to reduce consumption of fossil fuels, and continuing rise in national energy demands for providing powerful motivators in the search for alternative energy sources

Special software for aridity indices calculation (AICS); Vojvodina, Serbia case study

Knowledge of aridity is necessary to explain the characteristics of the geographical landscape. Increasing aridity due to global warming can be a real hazard, with the threat of desertification. The main aim of this paper is to introduce special software for aridity indices calculation (AICS), and on the basis of those data to peruse aridity as a natural hazard. These indices were calculated from data obtained from 10 meteorological stations in the Vojvodina region for the period from 1949 to 2006. In order to calculate the De Martonne aridity index, IDM, and the Pinna combinative index, IP, software was created using C# programming language. Not only that this software shows the values of indices, but also it shows to which class it belongs according to the De Martonne climate classification. Graphical presentation of both calculated indices is also enabled. Further development of AICS is planned. As additional software package here was used ArcMap 10.1 for the spatial representation and visualization of the aridity indices. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 176020 i br. 176013

Is hail suppression useful in Serbia? – General review and new results

Anthropogenic influence on weather has been increasingly published and discussed in the last decades. Climate changes caused by inadvertent anthropogenic influence are well underway. Hail suppression, which has been proven to have no influence on weather, will be considered in the article. Even though hail suppression as scientifically ungrounded activity seemed to promise certain success several decades ago, it has spread over the whole territory of the Republic of Serbia after abundant experience, when many developed countries have given up on this activity. Reasons will be presented for the senselessness of hail suppression based on the latest research. By processing all hail data from the territory of Serbia in the period from 1967 to 2010, it was found out that the hail trend is rising which is in contrary to expectations and previous claims that hail suppression decreases hail frequency

Modelling of the Aral and Caspian seas drying out influence to climate and environmental changes

The complete drying out of the Aral and Caspian seas, as isolated continental water bodies, and their potential impact on the climate and environment is examined with numerical simulations. Simulations use the atmospheric general circulation model (ECHAM5) as well as the hydrological discharge (HD) model of the Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie. The dry out is represented by replacing the water surfaces in both of the seas with land surfaces. New land surface elevation is lower, but not lover than 50 m from the present mean sea level. Other parameters in the model remain unchanged. The initial meteorological data is real; starting with January 1, 1989 and lasting until December 31, 1991. The final results were analyzed only for the second, as the first year of simulation was used for the model spinning up.The drying out of both seas leads to an increase in land surface and average monthly air temperature during the summer, and a decrease of land surface and average monthly air temperature during the winter, above the Caspian Sea. The greatest difference in temperature between dry and not dry cases have the same values, about 7–8 °C in both seasons, while daily extremes of temperature are much more pronounced. In the wider local/regional area, close to both seas, drying out leads to a difference in average annual temperatures by about 1 °C. On a global scale, the average annual temperature remains unchanged and the configuration of the isotherms remain unchanged, except for over some of the continents. In winter, Central Asia becomes cooler, while over Australia, southern Africa, and South America, it becomes slightly less warm. Furthermore, a new heat island occurs in western Sahara during summer

A post-IR IRSL chronology and dustmass accumulation rates of the Nosak loess-palaeosol sequence in northeastern Serbia

In the Middle Danube Basin, Quaternary deposits are widely distributed in the Vojvodina region where they cover about 95% of the area.Major research during the last two decades has been focused on loess deposits in the Vojvodina region. During this period, loess in the Vojvodina region has become one of the most important Pleistocene European continental climatic and environmental records.Herewe present the dating results of 15 samples taken from theNosak loess-palaeosol sequence in northeastern Serbia in order to establish a chronology over the last three glacial– interglacial cycles. We use the pIRIR290 signal of the 4–11 lm polymineral grains. The calculated ages are within the error limits partially consistent with the proposed multi-millennial chronostratigraphy for Serbian loess. The average mass accumulation rate for the last three glacial–interglacial cycles is 265 g m�2 a�1 , which is in agreement with the values of most sites in the Carpathian Basin. Our results indicate a highly variable deposition rate of loess, especially during the MIS 3 and MIS 6 stages, which is contrary to most studies conducted in Serbia where linear sedimentation rates were assume

The Impact of Hurricane Katrina on the United States Tourism Industry

The goal of this paper is to present hurricane Katrina in all its stages, from the beginning to the end and to highlight the economic, environmental and social consequences that occurred in the hurricane aftermath with a focus on the tourism industry. This paper also briefly explains the basic mechanism of tropical cyclones and hurricanes and their occurrences through a detailed explanation of hurricane Katrina and its effects on the United States. Some attention is also given to the immense damage and aftermath which is the largest ever made by any hurricane

Assessing average annual air temperature trends using the Mann–Kendall test in Kosovo

The annual trends of surface mean monthly air temperature and monthly extreme temperatures were analyzed from ten meteorological stations in Kosovo. The data refer to observation periods between 1949 and 1999 for four stations, and observation periods between 1965 and 1999 for the remaining six stations. Trends were analyzed for nine time series. Positive trends were found in six series, and negative trends were found in three series. After an assessment of these trends using the Mann–Kendall test, positive trends were confirmed in four series, a negative trend was confirmed in one series, and in one series there was no trend, whereas trends were characterized as slightly positive in two time series and slightly negative in one series