1,383 research outputs found
Climate change threats to two low-lying South African coastal towns: Risks and perceptions.
Climate change poses a considerable threat to low-lying coastal towns. Possible risks include flooding
induced by sea-level rise, increased discomfort from changes in temperature and precipitation, more frequent
extreme events, biodiversity shifts, and water shortages. For coastal towns that attract many tourists, these
threats can have far-reaching economic effects and may compromise the continued viability of the tourism
sector. A growing number of studies are being published on the inter-relationship between climate change and
tourism in the global North. As yet, little equivalent research has been conducted in developing countries with
economically significant tourism sectors. This paper presents a mixed-method pilot study on two adjacent
coastal towns, St Francis Bay and Cape St Francis, in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. We explored
the climate change threats in this region, and perceptions of these threats within the tourism sector. The
tourism climate index results showed that the towns are climatically well suited to tourism, but a decrease in
these index scores between 1978 and 2014 suggests that climate change experienced in recent decades has
detrimentally affected tourist comfort. A digital elevation model sea-level projection for the towns indicated
a high risk of sea-level induced flooding by 2050, particularly for properties along the coastline. Interviews
with tourism establishment respondents showed that people are aware of climate change threats, yet little
adaptation is forthcoming. Rather the government is deemed responsible for adaptation, despite its limited
capacity. A disjuncture therefore exists between the perceived severity of risk and the risk that is evident from
scientific analyses. This gap results in poor planning for the costs associated with adaptation.NCS201
Vegetative propagation of dieback-tolerant Fraxinus excelsior on
book chapterThis publication is based on the work of Action FP1103 FRAXBACK,
supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology)Ash trees which are tolerant to Hymenoscyphus fraxineus may be selected in all age classes among heavily
infected populations. They may be produced also by controlled crossings of disease tolerant trees, because the
genetic component of inheritance for disease tolerance is high. For mature and juvenile plant material, the
deployment of disease tolerant genotypes could be potentially achieved by vegetatively propagating selected
genotypes. We describe a system to vegetatively propagate selected ash genotypes and we discuss the prospects
and options for using vegetative propagation on all age classes of trees. Mature trees were rejuvenated through
the process of micropropagation to establish mother plants in large trays which were cut back repeatedly
(hedged) to produce at least two crops of cuttings per year.
The rooting capacity of ten genotypes was tested by a commercial nursery over a period of three years, to assess
the feasibility of using hedged mother plants for efficient propagation. Commercial practise was to treat cuttings
with 0.25% IBA, insert them in plug pots and maintain them covered with fine plastic within low plastic tunnels
in a non heated greenhouse and without supplementary heating at the cutting base. In the first year, the mean
rooting rate was 53 % for the first crop of cuttings and 35 % for the second. In the second and third years the
rooting rates improved to over 80% for each crop of cuttings as experience was gained in handling the material.
Rooting rate varied among the genotypes.
We assessed the growth and development of micropropagated ash trees in the field from an observation clonal
trial, consisting of four mature genotypes which had been established in 2002 in five replicate plots. The
micropropagated trees were generally similar in height and dbh to seed derived control trees and developed
normally. These observations are discussed in the context of using vegetative propagation as a tool in breeding
and for the large scale deployment of ash with tolerance to H. fraxineus.European Cooperation in Science and Technolog
Lizzy Lass
Lizzy lass, Lizzy lass,Look but in that keeking glass There the faultless form you\u27ll seeDearest in the world to me;Eye of azure, brow of snow,Cheeks that mock the roses glow,Lips whose smiles surpassThese are thine dear Lizzy lass, Lizzy lass,Lizzy Lass,Look but in that keeking glass,There that faultless form you\u27ll see,Dearest in the world to me.Lizzy lass,Lizzy lass,Deeply in this siller tass,Brimming with the ruby wine,Let me pledge to thee and thine;Youth may vanish eye grow dimAge creep over life and limb,But till life away shall passI will love thee Lizzy lass,Lizzy lass,Lizzy lass,Look but in that keeking glass, There the faultless form you\u27ll see,Dearest in the world to me
Disjunct perceptions? Climate change threats in two-low lying South African coastal towns.
Coastal towns rely heavily on the quality and expanse of their beaches to attract tourists. Climate is an important tourism determinant, controlling the length and timing of peak arrivals. South African tourism is particularly reliant on these factors. Perceptions of tourists and tourist accommodation establishment regarding climate change threats to tourism are explored for the towns of St Francis Bay and Cape St Francis. Tourism accommodation establishments were predominantly concerned with day-to-day changes in weather, investing in small-scale infrastructural changes to improve the comfort of their guests. By contrast, tourists demonstrated greater concern for the risk of flooding, sea-level rise and the degeneration of the beaches. This reflects concerning disjunctures between perceptions of tourists and accommodation establishments regarding climate change threats. This may portray to tourists insufficient investment in adaptation at accommodation establishments, resulting in decreased tourist visitations in the short-term in favour of destinations perceived as better prepared.SP201
The Spectrum of Yang Mills on a Sphere
In this note, we determine the representation content of the free, large N,
SU(N) Yang Mills theory on a sphere by decomposing its thermal partition
function into characters of the irreducible representations of the conformal
group SO(4,2). We also discuss the generalization of this procedure to finding
the representation content of N=4 Super Yang Mills.Comment: 18 pages v2. references added. typos fixe
General 2 charge geometries
Two charge BPS horizon free supergravity geometries are important in
proposals for understanding black hole microstates. In this paper we construct
a new class of geometries in the NS1-P system, corresponding to solitonic
strings carrying fermionic as well as bosonic condensates. Such geometries are
required to account for the full microscopic entropy of the NS1-P system. We
then briefly discuss the properties of the corresponding geometries in the dual
D1-D5 system.Comment: 44 page
Rational foundation of GR in terms of statistical mechanic in the AdS/CFT framework
In this article, we work out the microscopic statistical foundation of the
supergravity description of the simplest 1/2 BPS sector in the AdS(5)/CFT(4).
Then, all the corresponding supergravity observables are related to
thermodynamical observables, and General Relativity is understood as a
mean-field theory. In particular, and as an example, the Superstar is studied
and its thermodynamical properties clarified.Comment: 13 pages, 6 eps figures, latex, some improvements introduced,
reference added, typos correcte
Bubbling Orientifolds
We investigate a class of 1/2-BPS bubbling geometries associated to
orientifolds of type IIB string theory and thereby to excited states of the
SO(N)/Sp(N) N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. The geometries are in
correspondence with free fermions moving in a harmonic oscillator potential on
the half-line. Branes wrapped on torsion cycles of these geometries are
identified in the fermi fluid description. Besides being of intrinsic interest,
these solutions may also occur as local geometries in flux compactifications
where orientifold planes are present to ensure global charge cancellation. We
comment on the extension of this procedure to M-theory orientifolds.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures. v2: few references adde
Black Hole Production from High Energy Scattering in AdS/CFT
In this article we show how to set up initial states in SYM
theory that correspond to high energy graviton collisions, leading to black
hole formation in . For this purpose, we study states in the
gauge theory that are dual to graviton wavepackets localized at the center of
, and carrying large angular momentum along the . These states are
created by exciting only the s-wave mode of one of the complex adjoint scalars
of SYM. For a single graviton, the state is 1/2 BPS and one can show that it is
dual to a linearized 1/2 BPS geometry in the bulk. Exploiting this dictionary,
we show how to localize the particle's wavefunciton so that the dual linearized
metric has the form of a Aichelburg-Sexl shock wave. One can then put two such
shock waves into a head-on collision, which is known to produce a trapped
surface. Finally, we discuss the prospect of studying graviton scattering
directly at strong coupling in the gauge theory using a reduced model of matrix
quantum mechanics.Comment: 11 pages, revtex format, no figure
- …