Adaptation technologies for coastal erosion and flooding: a review

Coastal change can cause a serious threat to the large populations living in coastal areas around the world and in many situations, appropriate adaptation responses are required. In this paper, the changes, impacts and risks associated with coastal change, especially due to climate change, are reviewed, and a range of the technical options available for addressing resulting coastal flooding and erosion are evaluated. These are classified and compared across three potential adaptation strategies – (1) protect, (2) accommodate and (3) retreat – and considered from developed and developing country perspectives. It is emphasised that adaptation is an ongoing process which requires consideration and assessment of all drivers of risk, and monitoring of the risks and opportunities of the selected risk reduction measures, as well as review of their effectiveness. Further, adaptation needs to be integrated with wider coastal planning and managemen

Impacts of lagoon opening and implications for coastal management: case study from Muni-Pomadze lagoon, Ghana

Lagoon-barrier systems are a dynamic coastal environment. When an ephemeral connection between a lagoon and the ocean develops, it has significant impact on hydrology, sedimentology and ecology. Increasingly, human actions and sea level rise also influence lagoons with the potential to increase their connectivity with the ocean. TheMuni-Pomadze lagoon in central Ghana is a small lagoon-barrier system that is intermittently open to the ocean. Following opening in 2014 the lagoon was open to the ocean for more than two years. Causes for the unusually long period of lagoon opening are unclear although human intrevention has played a role. Field observation, digital mapping and GIS analysis of the shoreline during the two year period of lagoon opening has enabled an understanding of how the lagoon-ocean connection has impacted coastal morphology, erosion and sedimentation. Opening has resulted in rapid changes to the location of the barrier breaching (tidal inlet), erosion on the barrier and sedimentation in the lagoon. Such modifications have implications for local resources and ecosystem services that underpin the livelihood and wellbeing of local communities. Elucidating how a connection to the ocean impacts lagoons and the coastal communities they support are important to managing lagoons not only in Ghana but across West Africa.University of Derby Environmental Sustainability Research Centr

What Is the Best Sequential Treatment Strategy in the Treatment of Depression? Adding Pharmacotherapy to Psychotherapy or Vice Versa?

<p>Background: Insufficient response to monotreatment for depression is a common phenomenon in clinical practice. Even so, evidence indicating how to proceed in such cases is sparse. Methods: This study looks at the second phase of a sequential treatment algorithm, in which 103 outpatients with moderately severe depression were initially randomized to either short-term supportive psychodynamic therapy (PDT) or antidepressants. Patients who reported less than 30% symptom improvement after 8 weeks were offered combined treatment. Outcome measures were the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), the Clinical Global Impression of Severity and Improvement, the SCL-90 depression subscale and the EuroQOL questionnaire. Results: Despite being nonresponsive, about 40% of patients preferred to continue with monotherapy. At treatment termination, patients initially randomized to PDT had improved more than those initially receiving antidepressants, as indicated by the HAM-D and the EuroQOL, independently of whether the addition was accepted or not. Conclusions: Starting with psychotherapy may be preferable in mildly and moderately depressed outpatients. For patients who receive either PDT or antidepressants, combined therapy after early nonresponse seems to be helpful. Nevertheless, this sequential strategy is not always preferred by patients. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel</p>