Linking crop yields in Tuscany, Italy, to large-scale atmospheric variability, circulation regimes and weather types

AbstractThe paper presents results from a study examining the relationship between large-scale modes of climate variability with the fluctuations in the yield of barley, durum wheat, olives and sunflower crops in Tuscany, Italy. In particular, the blocking circulation over the growing season, with associated hot and dry conditions, decreased yield for olive crops, barley and durum wheat. The teleconnections analysed in this study are the winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Summer North Atlantic Oscillation (SNAO); the West African Monsoon (WAM) and the Intertropical Front (ITF); and although NAO, SNAO, ITF and WAM are not strictly related to each other, the values of these indices are strongly related to the atmospheric circulation regimes and related weather types. Thus, they have an impact on precipitation and temperature patterns in Italy and on yields of important crops in Tuscany. Results show that the large-scale temperate and tropical variability directly influences the crop yield through three main circulation regimes. These patterns illustrate the importance of the large-scale modes, which, together with the associated weather types, have an impact directly on Tuscan crop yields; both barley and olive yields decline significantly when the ITF is further north with warmer and drier conditions in Italy

The DOE E3SM Coupled Model Version 1: Overview and Evaluation at Standard Resolution

This work documents the first version of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) new Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SMv1). We focus on the standard resolution of the fully coupled physical model designed to address DOE mission-relevant water cycle questions. Its components include atmosphere and land (110-km grid spacing), ocean and sea ice (60 km in the midlatitudes and 30 km at the equator and poles), and river transport (55 km) models. This base configuration will also serve as a foundation for additional configurations exploring higher horizontal resolution as well as augmented capabilities in the form of biogeochemistry and cryosphere configurations. The performance of E3SMv1 is evaluated by means of a standard set of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Characterization of Klima simulations consisting of a long preindustrial control, historical simulations (ensembles of fully coupled and prescribed SSTs) as well as idealized CO2 forcing simulations. The model performs well overall with biases typical of other CMIP-class models, although the simulated Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation is weaker than many CMIP-class models. While the E3SMv1 historical ensemble captures the bulk of the observed warming between preindustrial (1850) and present day, the trajectory of the warming diverges from observations in the second half of the twentieth century with a period of delayed warming followed by an excessive warming trend. Using a two-layer energy balance model, we attribute this divergence to the model’s strong aerosol-related effective radiative forcing (ERFari+aci = -1.65 W/m2) and high equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS = 5.3 K).Plain Language SummaryThe U.S. Department of Energy funded the development of a new state-of-the-art Earth system model for research and applications relevant to its mission. The Energy Exascale Earth System Model version 1 (E3SMv1) consists of five interacting components for the global atmosphere, land surface, ocean, sea ice, and rivers. Three of these components (ocean, sea ice, and river) are new and have not been coupled into an Earth system model previously. The atmosphere and land surface components were created by extending existing components part of the Community Earth System Model, Version 1. E3SMv1’s capabilities are demonstrated by performing a set of standardized simulation experiments described by the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Characterization of Klima protocol at standard horizontal spatial resolution of approximately 1° latitude and longitude. The model reproduces global and regional climate features well compared to observations. Simulated warming between 1850 and 2015 matches observations, but the model is too cold by about 0.5 °C between 1960 and 1990 and later warms at a rate greater than observed. A thermodynamic analysis of the model’s response to greenhouse gas and aerosol radiative affects may explain the reasons for the discrepancy.Key PointsThis work documents E3SMv1, the first version of the U.S. DOE Energy Exascale Earth System ModelThe performance of E3SMv1 is documented with a set of standard CMIP6 DECK and historical simulations comprising nearly 3,000 yearsE3SMv1 has a high equilibrium climate sensitivity (5.3 K) and strong aerosol-related effective radiative forcing (-1.65 W/m2)Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151288/1/jame20860_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151288/2/jame20860.pd

The Atlantic and Gulf Coast Canal and Okeechobee Land Company: chartered by special act of the Legislature of Florida, 1881 : capital, 10,000,000,onemillionshares,parvalue,10,000,000, one million shares, par value, 10.00.

Includes a prospectus and an engineer\u27s report describing efforts for the year 1884 and continuing plans to dredge canals and partially drain Lake Okeechobee and surrounding lands. Some of the other affected waters are Lake Flirt, Lake Hichpochee, the Kissimmee River, Lake East Tohopekaliga, Lake Tohopekaliga, Lake Hatchneha, Lake Cypress, Lake Kissimmee, the Caloosahatchie River, Tiger Creek, Lake Tiger, Lake Rosalie, and Lake Walk-in-the-Water. The purpose of this work was to reduce flooding, claim land for agriculture and open up channels of water transport.https://stars.library.ucf.edu/floridaheritage/1092/thumbnail.jp

Structural and Functional Investigation of FdhC from <i>Acinetobacter nosocomialis</i>: A Sugar <i>N</i>‑Acyltransferase Belonging to the GNAT Superfamily

Enzymes belonging to the GNAT superfamily are widely distributed in nature where they play key roles in the transfer of acyl groups from acyl-CoAs to primary amine acceptors. The amine acceptors run the gamut from histones to aminoglycoside antibiotics to small molecules such as serotonin. Whereas those family members that function on histones have been extensively studied, the GNAT enzymes that employ nucleotide-linked sugars as their substrates have not been well characterized. Indeed, though the structures of two of these “amino sugar” GNAT enzymes have been determined within the past 10 years, details concerning their active site architectures have been limited because of a lack of bound nucleotide-linked sugar substrates. Here we describe a combined structural and biochemical analysis of FdhC from <i>Acinetobacter nosocomialis</i> O2. On the basis of bioinformatics, it was postulated that FdhC catalyzes the transfer of a 3-hydroxybutanoyl group from 3-hydroxylbutanoyl-CoA to dTDP-3-amino-3,6-dideoxy-d-galactose, to yield an unusual sugar that is ultimately incorporated into the surface polysaccharides of the bacterium. We present data confirming this activity. In addition, the structures of two ternary complexes of FdhC, in the presence of CoA and either 3-hydroxybutanoylamino-3,6-dideoxy-d-galactose or 3-hydroxybutanoylamino-3,6-dideoxy-d-glucose, were solved by X-ray crystallographic analyses to high resolution. Kinetic parameters were determined, and activity assays demonstrated that FdhC can also utilize acetyl-CoA, 3-methylcrotonyl-CoA, or hexanoyl-CoA as acyl donors, albeit at reduced rates. Site-directed mutagenesis experiments were conducted to probe the catalytic mechanism of FdhC. Taken together, the data presented herein provide significantly new molecular insight into those GNAT superfamily members that function on nucleotide-linked amino sugars