Spinning in circles?: A systematic review on the role of theory in social vulnerability, resilience and adaptation research

An increasing number of publications focus on social vulnerability, resilience, and adaptation (SVRA) towards natural hazards and climate change. Despite this proliferation of research, a systematic understanding of how these studies are theoretically grounded is lacking. Here, we systematically reviewed 4432 articles that address SVRA in various disciplinary fields (e.g. psychology, sociology, geography, mathematics) for various hazards, including floods, droughts, landslides, storm surges, wildfires, tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcano eruptions. We focus on the extent to which these studies explicate the frameworks, theoretical constructs or theories they rely on. Surprisingly, we found that about 90% of the reviewed studies do not explicitly refer to a theoretical un-derpinning. Overall, theories focusing on individuals' SVRA were more frequently used than those focusing on systems, society, groups, and networks. Moreover, the uptake of theories varied according to the hazard investigated and field of knowledge, being more frequent in wildfire and flood studies and articles published in social science journals. Based on our analysis, we propose a reflexive handling of theories to foster more transparent, comparable, and robust empirical research on SVRA

Reducing Hydro-Meteorological Risk by Nature-Based Solutions: What Do We Know about People’s Perceptions?

Nature-based solutions (NBS) have recently received attention due to their potential ability to sustainably reduce hydro-meteorological risks, providing co-benefits for both ecosystems and affected people. Therefore, pioneering research has dedicated efforts to optimize the design of NBS, to evaluate their wider co-benefits and to understand promoting and/or hampering governance conditions for the uptake of NBS. In this article, we aim to complement this research by conducting a comprehensive literature review of factors shaping people’s perceptions of NBS as a means to reduce hydro-meteorological risks. Based on 102 studies, we identified six topics shaping the current discussion in this field of research: (1) valuation of the co-benefits (including those related to ecosystems and society); (2) evaluation of risk reduction efficacy; (3) stakeholder participation; (4) socio-economic and location-specific conditions; (5) environmental attitude, and (6) uncertainty. Our analysis reveals that concerned empirical insights are diverse and even contradictory, they vary in the depth of the insights generated and are often not comparable for a lack of a sound theoretical-methodological grounding. We, therefore, propose a conceptual model outlining avenues for future research by indicating potential inter-linkages between constructs underlying perceptions of NBS to hydro-meteorological risks

Increasing model vertical resolution may not necessarily lead to improved atmospheric predictability

The widely accepted existence of an inherent limit of atmospheric predictability is usually attributed to weather's sensitive dependence on initial conditions. This signature feature of chaos was first discovered in the Lorenz system, initially derived as a simplified model of thermal convection. In a recent study of a high-dimensional generalization of the Lorenz system, it was reported that the predictability of its chaotic solutions exhibits a non-monotonic dimensional dependence. Since raising the dimension of the Lorenz system is analogous to refining the model vertical resolution when viewed as a thermal convection model, it is questioned whether this non-monotonicity is also found in numerical weather prediction models. Predictability in the sense of sensitive dependence on initial conditions can be measured based on deviation time, that is, the time of threshold-exceeding deviations between the solutions with minute differences in initial conditions. Through ensemble experiments involving both the high-dimensional generalizations of the Lorenz system and real-case simulations by a numerical weather prediction model, this study demonstrates that predictability can depend non-monotonically on model vertical resolution. Further analysis shows that the spatial distribution of deviation time strongly contributes to this non-monotonicity. It is suggested that chaos, or sensitive dependence on initial conditions, leads to non-monotonic dependence on model vertical resolution of deviation time and, by extension, atmospheric predictability. Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.N

Kinetic and Mechanistic Insights into the All-Solid-State Z-Schematic System

An all-solid-state Z-schematic system, CdS/Au/TiO1.96C0.04, has been reported for the efficient H2 generation from water under visible-light irradiation. However, a kinetic and mechanistic study of the directional charge transfer at the interfaces has not been done. In this study, electron pathways were constructed on the basis of steady-state photoluminescence (PL) spectral data, and the rate constants for charge transfer were calculated from time-resolved PL spectra. The PL results revealed that Au core played an important role in capturing the photoexcited electrons in the conduction band (CB) of TiO1.96C0.04 and accelerating the electron transfer to the valence band (VB) of CdS, leading to an efficient quenching of the holes left in the VB of CdS shell. The minimum energy pathways for H2 production on the surfaces of TiO1.C-96(0.04)(101) and CdS(101) were elucidated through first-principles calculations, indicating that the CdS shell has a lower energy barrier (2.81 eV) for the surface reaction than that (3.34 eV) of TiO1.96C0.04. Consequently, CdS/Au/TiO1.96C0.04 showed a vectorial electron transfer of TiO1.96C0.04 -> Au -> CdS in the form of the letter Z, which allowed the photoexcited electrons to be shuttled to a higher energy level, thereby producing a substantial level of H-2 on the CdS(101) surface.11Nsciescopu

Exploring crystal phase and morphology in the TiO 2 supporting materials used for visible-light driven plasmonic photocatalyst

The effects of crystal phase and morphology in TiO2 on photocatalytic performance under visible light were experimentally and theoretically investigated. Results reveal that a rutile crystal phase with a three dimensional (3D) morphology was the most favorable supporting material for visible light driven photocatalyst among Au/TiO(2)s. The prolonged localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) lifetime and plasmonic coupling of Au induced by the 3D morphology of TiO2 played a key role in enhancing photocatalytic activity. In addition, hot electrons generated on Au by LSPR are preferentially transferred to rutile TiO2 due to the overlapping of density of states (DOS) of Au in the conduction band of rutile TiO2 but obstruction of the reverse directional transfer of electrons to Au by large band bending. Our results provide a strategy for designing suitable plasmonic photocatalysts based on the crystal phase and morphology of TiO2 for solar light-driven photocatalysis applications. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. The effects of crystal phase and morphology in TiO2 on photocatalytic performance under visible light were experimentally and theoretically investigated. Results reveal that a rutile crystal phase with a three dimensional (3D) morphology was the most favorable supporting material for visible light driven photocatalyst among Au/TiO(2)s. The prolonged localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) lifetime and plasmonic coupling of Au induced by the 3D morphology of TiO2 played a key role in enhancing photocatalytic activity. In addition, hot electrons generated on Au by LSPR are preferentially transferred to rutile TiO2 due to the overlapping of density of states (DOS) of Au in the conduction band of rutile TiO2 but obstruction of the reverse directional transfer of electrons to Au by large band bending. Our results provide a strategy for designing suitable plasmonic photocatalysts based on the crystal phase and morphology of TiO2 for solar light-driven photocatalysis applications. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.11Nsciescopu

Effects of Lake Baikal on Summertime Precipitation Climatology Over the Lake Surface

Abstract This study investigates the impacts of Lake Baikal, the largest by volume and the deepest freshwater lake in the world, on its nearby precipitation climate. Satellite observations and a reanalysis data set reveal that summertime precipitation amount is smaller over Lake Baikal than around it. A 15‐year regional climate simulation at a cloud‐resolving scale supports the smaller precipitation, and another simulation in which the lake is replaced by forest shows that the lake reduces summertime precipitation over it by 15%. The lake decreases daytime near‐surface air temperature, resulting in more convectively stable atmosphere over the lake. Latent heat flux is reduced along with the weakened convection, and the lower‐level moisture convergence and upper‐level moisture divergence over the lake are weakened

Interfacial Adsorption and Redox Coupling of Li4Ti5O12 with Nanographene for High-Rate Lithium Storage

Despite the many efforts to solve the problem associated with lithium storage at high rates, it is rarely achieved up until now. The design with experimental proof is reported here for the high rate of lithium storage via a coreshell structure composite comprised of a Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) core and a nanographene (NG) shell. The LTO-NG core-shell was synthesized via a first-principles understanding of the adsorption properties between LTO and NG. Interfacial reactions are considered between the two materials by a redox coupling effect. The large interfacial area between the LTO core and the NG shell resulted in a high electron-conducting path. It allowed rapid kinetics to be achieved for lithium storage and also resulted in a stable contact between LTO and NG, affording cyclic performance stability.11Nsciescopu