Climate change in Hong Kong : observations and projections

The Hong Kong Observatory has been making meteorological observations at its headquarters in Tsim Sha Tsui since 1884. Analysis of the extensive past records reveals that the temperature rise in Hong Kong during the past 125 years is in accord with the global rising trend. In last few decades anthropogenic influences, especially urbanization, have contributed significantly to the accelerated rising trend. A similar increasing trend is also observed for rainfall but the trend after 1947 is not statistically significant. Other observations such as increasing cloud amounts, decreasing total global solar radiation and rising sea level are all consistent with the global trend. Studies of past occurrences of extreme temperature and rainfall have recently been carried out. It is observed that cold episodes have become rarer while very hot days and heavy rain events are becoming more frequent. The corresponding return periods of heavy rain and very hot days are decreasing while those of very cold days are increasing. The Observatory also makes use of the data from the latest assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and employs statistical downscaling techniques to carry out projections of temperature and precipitation in the 21st century. In gist, the findings are that the rise in temperature will be slightly higher than the global mean in the 21st century. There will also be a significant decrease in the number of cold days and an increase in the number of very hot days and hot nights. The annual rainfall in Hong Kong is also expected to rise by the end of the 21st century, so is the year-to-year variability

Climate change, water management and stakeholder analysis in the Dongjiang River basin in South China

This article proposes a systematic analysis of water management and allocation on the scale of a river basin, considering climate impacts and stakeholder networks in the Dongjiang River basin in South China. Specific approaches are integrated to explore various subtopics. Findings indicate a slight increase of precipitation in the basin and strong fluctuations in this century due to climate extremes, which may lead to seasonal or quality-related water shortages. It is highlighted that alternative options for holistic water management are needed in the basin, and participatory water allocation mechanisms and establishment of a basin-wide management framework could be helpful

A systematic review of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of peer education and peer support in prisons.

BACKGROUND: Prisoners experience significantly worse health than the general population. This review examines the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of peer interventions in prison settings. METHODS: A mixed methods systematic review of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness studies, including qualitative and quantitative synthesis was conducted. In addition to grey literature identified and searches of websites, nineteen electronic databases were searched from 1985 to 2012. Study selection criteria were: Population: Prisoners resident in adult prisons and children resident in Young Offender Institutions (YOIs). INTERVENTION: Peer-based interventions Comparators: Review questions 3 and 4 compared peer and professionally led approaches. OUTCOMES: Prisoner health or determinants of health; organisational/ process outcomes; views of prison populations. STUDY DESIGNS: Quantitative, qualitative and mixed method evaluations. RESULTS: Fifty-seven studies were included in the effectiveness review and one study in the cost-effectiveness review; most were of poor methodological quality. Evidence suggested that peer education interventions are effective at reducing risky behaviours, and that peer support services are acceptable within the prison environment and have a positive effect on recipients, practically or emotionally. Consistent evidence from many, predominantly qualitative, studies, suggested that being a peer deliverer was associated with positive effects. There was little evidence on cost-effectiveness of peer-based interventions. CONCLUSIONS: There is consistent evidence from a large number of studies that being a peer worker is associated with positive health; peer support services are also an acceptable source of help within the prison environment and can have a positive effect on recipients. Research into cost-effectiveness is sparse. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO ref: CRD42012002349

Organisational participation and women - an attitude problem?

Employee participation is a dynamic and contested area of organisational behaviour, attracting continuing academic, practitioner and policy interest and debate. This chapter focuses on organisational participation and women

Life-history innovation to climate change:Can single-brooded migrant birds become multiple breeders?

When climatic conditions change and become outside the range experienced in the past, species may show life-history innovations allowing them to adapt in new ways. We report such an innovation for pied flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca. Decades of breeding biological studies on pied flycatchers have rarely reported multiple breeding in this long-distance migrant. In two populations, we found 12 recent incidents of females with second broods, all produced by extremely early laying females in warm springs. As such early first broods are a recent phenomenon, because laying dates have gradually advanced over time, this innovation now allows individual females to enhance their reproductive success considerably. If laying dates continue advancing, potentially more females may become multiple breeders and selection for early (and multiple) breeding phenotypes increases, which may accelerate adaptation to climatic change

Against the odds: an investigation into student persistence in UK higher education

© 2019, © 2019 Society for Research into Higher Education. This article focuses on student persistence in Higher Education. It examines qualities that enable students to persist in their studies despite the challenges they face, and key factors interplaying with and affecting these qualities. This study utilised the explanatory mixed-methods approach. It comprised a faculty-wide survey which explained the relationships between and across variables. Focus group interviews explored significant predictors of students’ persistence. Results from this study showed that, among other things, key drivers of student persistence were personal optimism, academic engagement, and positive relationships. Students’ decision to stay on and complete their studies determines their persistence; but there also remains a major role to be played by institutions. Successful student persistence tends to be a result of an intricate interaction between the student’s personal factors and their environment–and the institution is a key component of that environment