UFP-Integrating action for cleaner air and climate protection

The background information related to health effects and damage caused to ecosystems by PM atmospheric pollution, particularly by its fine fraction, will be summarisedCurrent international policy instruments for reducing airborne emissions and, consequently, improving air quality, will be reviewed. In particular the EU clean air package and the UN/ECE initiatives under the Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution Convention (LRTAP), including the recentlyadopted Long-term Strategy, will be considered. The air policy initiatives by EFCA related to improve air quality in relation to PM and its ultrafine fraction/Black Carbon will be described and assessed. Combustion of all kinds produces PM pollution, including its ultrafine fraction (UFP). Carbonaceous particles in form of Black Carbon (BC) and Organic Aerosols (OA) are of particular concern. UFPs are also formed as secondary pollutants. The latter have substantial influence on particle formation and their growth generates half of the cloud condensation nuclei in the atmosphere. Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases (NCGG), however, are underestimated as pollutants by the climate policy community and deserve to be treated as equally important. UFPs play an important role in policy to reduce toxic air pollution and climate forcers. The series of UFP Symposia has provided strong evidence of impact, and information on sources and effective control techniques. EFCA therefore believes it is now timely to consider policy aspect. It fully supports UFP/BC regulation, including new ceilings in the EU NEC Directive and the revised Gothenburg Protocol under the LRTAP. Moreover, a new metric is urgently needed for UFPs, expressed in weight and by number of particles. Also, dual policy, integrating cleaner air and climate protection criteria, to combat UFPs can be more effective and generate co-benefits for both. The role of integrated policy, as opposed to the current practice of separate sectoral policies in combatting air pollution will be considered with reference to concrete examples, including from the energy system

Trends in extreme weather events in Europe: implications for national and European Union adaptation strategies

This report, based on a comprehensive collection of scientific data from the last 20 years, provides a rallying call for Europe’s policy makers to come together to devise common strategies to help mitigate the physical, human and economic costs of the rising number of extreme weather events in Europe, such as extreme heat and cold, extremes of precipitation, storms, winds and surges, and drought. Highlights refer to the nature of the evidence for climate-driven changes in extreme weather in the past, the potential impact of further climate change in altering the pattern of these extremes, and possible adaptation strategies for dealing with extreme weather impacts. It first provides information on extreme weather events and trends in recent decades as well as related impacts upon society. It is followed by an introduction to the scientific background on global warming and weather extremes, and the projections of future trends of meteorological extreme events that emerge from climate models under various scenarios of future greenhouse gas emissions. Finally, approaches to adaptation are introduced and recommendations provided. Readers wishing to obtain full source details for the figures, tables and references are recommended to consult the full report, which also includes more detailed analyses of the climatic conditions in various sub-regions of the EU

Northern Fennoscandia via the British Isles: evidence for a novel postglacial recolonization route by winter moth (Operophtera brumata)

The frequency and severity of outbreaks by pestiferous insects is increasing globally, likely as a result of human-mediated introductions of non-native organisms. However, it is not always apparent whether an outbreak is the result of a recent introduction of an evolutionarily naïve population, or of recent disturbance acting on an existing population that arrived previously during natural range expansion. Here we use approximate Bayesian computation to infer the colonization history of a pestiferous insect, the winter moth, Operophtera brumata L. (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), which has caused widespread defoliation in northern Fennoscandia. We generated genotypes using a suite of 24 microsatellite loci and find that populations of winter moth in northern Europe can be assigned to five genetically distinct clusters that correspond with 1) Iceland, 2) the British Isles, 3) Central Europe and southern Fennoscandia, 4) Eastern Europe, and 5) northern Fennoscandia. We find that the northern Fennoscandia winter moth cluster is most closely related to a population presently found in the British Isles, and that these populations likely diverged around 2,900 years ago. This result suggests that current outbreaks are not the result of a recent introduction, but rather that recent climate or habitat disturbance is acting on existing populations that may have arrived to northern Fennoscandia via pre-Roman traders from the British Isles, and/or by natural dispersal across the North Sea likely using the Orkney Islands of northern Scotland as a stepping-stone before dispersing up the Norwegian coast. © 2021. The authors, CC-BY 4.0 license.</p

The structure of a turbulent boundary layer at low Reynolds number

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Are we on target? Audit of UK Greenhouse Gas emissions to 2020: will current Government policies achieve significant reductions?

The UK Government has set targets to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by at least 12.5% by 2012 and 60% by 2050 compared with the baseline emissions of 1990. Compared with other countries these are very ambitious targets and provide international leadership in tackling global warming. It has also set policy aims to achieve significant cuts in GHG emissions by 2020. In the DEFRA Climate Change Review (2006) the policy projection was to achieve a cut in GHGs of ~20% by 2020. In the subsequent DTI Energy Challenge Report (2006) additional policies are estimated to add an extra 19.5-25.3 MtC savings which would achieve a total cut in GHG emissions of ~30% by 2020. This report assesses the UK Government’s current policies to reduce carbon emissions and the likelihood of achieving their stated targets and policy aims. First the report provides a historic policy audit to assess whether Government policies have been able to reduce carbon emissions since their introduction. Second the current portfolio of policies will be assessed in terms of whether they will deliver significant reductions in the future. The report focus’ on the carbon reduction targets of the UK Government for 2012 and 2020. It reviews the four major sectors of Energy Supply, Business, Domestic and Transport. Minor sectors such as agriculture, forestry and land use changes and the public sector are not dealt with in this report as their contribution is small. In 2004 these sectors contributed less than 3% of the UK total carbon dioxide emissions

Northern Fennoscandia via the British Isles: evidence for a novel postglacial recolonization route by winter moth (Operophtera brumata)

The frequency and severity of outbreaks by pestiferous insects is increasing globally, likely as a result of human-mediated introductions of non-native organisms. However, it is not always apparent whether an outbreak is the result of a recent introduction of an evolutionarily naïve population, or of recent disturbance acting on an existing population that arrived previously during natural range expansion. Here we use approximate Bayesian computation to infer the colonization history of a pestiferous insect, the winter moth, Operophtera brumata L. (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), which has caused widespread defoliation in northern Fennoscandia. We generated genotypes using a suite of 24 microsatellite loci and find that populations of winter moth in northern Europe can be assigned to five genetically distinct clusters that correspond with 1) Iceland, 2) the British Isles, 3) Central Europe and southern Fennoscandia, 4) Eastern Europe, and 5) northern Fennoscandia. We find that the northern Fennoscandia winter moth cluster is most closely related to a population presently found in the British Isles, and that these populations likely diverged around 2,900 years ago. This result suggests that current outbreaks are not the result of a recent introduction, but rather that recent climate or habitat disturbance is acting on existing populations that may have arrived to northern Fennoscandia via pre-Roman traders from the British Isles, and/or by natural dispersal across the North Sea likely using the Orkney Islands of northern Scotland as a stepping-stone before dispersing up the Norwegian coast.publishedVersio