Are British Muslims alienated from mainstream politics by Islamophobia and British foreign policy?

This paper uses the 2010 Ethnic Minority British Election Study to look at the political attitudes of Muslims in Britain. It tests the relationship between political alienation and political participation on the one hand, and Islamophobia and disapproval of British military involvement in Afghanistan on the other. The principal findings are that perceptions of Islamophobia are linked to greater political alienation, to a greater likelihood of non-electoral participation and to a lower likelihood of voting among Muslims. Likewise, disapproval of the war in Afghanistan is associated with greater political alienation and a greater likelihood of some types of non-electoral participation. There is strong evidence that British Muslims are more likely to interpret discrimination they experience as motivated by their religion and that they perceive more prejudice at the group level. These findings have two theoretical implications. First, they support the theory that non-electoral participation is motivated by dissatisfaction with the party political system. Second, they suggest that perceptions of sociotropic discrimination (for minorities) and a rare salient political issue in which all parties are in opposition to most voters can lead to negative affect towards the political system and stimulate non-electoral participation at the expense of voting. </jats:p

Typhoon Haiyan Overwash Sediments From Leyte Gulf Coastlines Show Local Spatial Variations With Hybrid Storm and Tsunami Signatures

Marine inundation associated with the 5 to 8 m storm surge of Typhoon Haiyan in 2013 left overwash sediments inland on the coastal plains of the northwestern shores of Leyte Gulf, Philippines. The Haiyan overwash deposit provides a modern sedimentary record of storm surge deposition from a Category 5 landfalling typhoon. We studied overwash sediments at two locations that experienced similar storm surge conditions but represent contrasting sedimentological regimes, namely a siliciclastic coast and a mixed siliciclastic-carbonate coast. The contrasting local geology is significantly reflected in the differences in sediment grain size, composition and sorting at the two sites. The Haiyan overwash sediments are predominantly sand and silt and can be traced up to ~ 1.6 km inland, extending farther beyond the previously reported \u3c 300 m inland limit of sedimentation. Sites with similar geology, topographic relief, and overland flow conditions show significant spatial variability of sediment thickness and inland extent. We infer that other local factors such as small-scale variations in topography and the type of vegetation covermight influence the spatial distribution of overwash sediments. The Haiyan overwash deposits exhibit planar stratification, a coarsening upward sequence, a non-systematic landward fining trend, and a sharp depositional (rarely erosional) basal contact with the underlying substrate. Overall, the Haiyan deposits have sedimentologic and stratigraphic characteristics that show a hybrid signature common to both storm and tsunami deposits

Incorporating temporal and spatial variability of salt-marsh foraminifera into sea-level reconstructions

Foraminifera from salt-marsh environments have been used extensively in quantitative relative sea-level reconstructions due to their strong relationship with tidal level. However, the influence of temporal and spatial variability of salt-marsh foraminifera on quantitative reconstructions remains unconstrained. Here, we conducted a monitoring study of foraminifera from four intertidal monitoring stations in New Jersey from high marsh environments over three years that included several extreme weather (temperature, precipitation, and storm surge) events. We sampled four replicates from each station seasonally (four times per year) for a total of 188 samples. The dead foraminiferal assemblages were separated into four site-specific assemblages. After accounting for systematic trends in changes in foraminifera over time among stations, the distribution of foraminiferal assemblages across monitoring stations explained ~87% of the remaining variation, while ~13% can be explained by temporal and/or spatial variability among the replicate samples. We applied a Bayesian transfer function to estimate the elevation of the four monitoring stations. All samples from each station predicted an elevation estimate within a 95% uncertainty interval consistent with the observed elevation of that station. Combining samples into replicate- and seasonal-aggregate datasets decreased elevation estimate uncertainty, with the greatest decrease in aggregate datasets from Fall and Winter. Information about the temporal and spatial variability of modern foraminiferal distributions was formally incorporated into the Bayesian transfer function through informative foraminifera variability priors and was applied to a Common Era relative sea-level record in New Jersey. The average difference in paleomarsh elevation estimates and uncertainties using an informative vs uninformative prior was minimal

Estimating global mean sea-level rise and its uncertainties by 2100 and 2300 from an expert survey

Sea-level rise projections and knowledge of their uncertainties are vital to make informed mitigation and adaptation decisions. To elicit projections from members of the scientific community regarding future global mean sea-level (GMSL) rise, we repeated a survey originally conducted five years ago. Under Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 2.6, 106 experts projected a likely (central 66% probability) GMSL rise of 0.30–0.65 m by 2100, and 0.54–2.15 m by 2300, relative to 1986–2005. Under RCP 8.5, the same experts projected a likely GMSL rise of 0.63–1.32 m by 2100, and 1.67–5.61 m by 2300. Expert projections for 2100 are similar to those from the original survey, although the projection for 2300 has extended tails and is higher than the original survey. Experts give a likelihood of 42% (original survey) and 45% (current survey) that under the high-emissions scenario GMSL rise will exceed the upper bound (0.98 m) of the likely range estimated by the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is considered to have an exceedance likelihood of 17%. Responses to open-ended questions suggest that the increases in upper-end estimates and uncertainties arose from recent influential studies about the impact of marine ice cliff instability on the meltwater contribution to GMSL rise from the Antarctic Ice Sheet. © 2020, The Author(s)

A new Holocene sea-level record for Singapore

Relative sea-level (RSL) records from far-field regions distal from ice sheets remain poorly understood, particularly in the early Holocene. Here, we extended the Holocene RSL data from Singapore by producing early Holocene sea-level index points (SLIPs) and limiting dates from a new ~40 m sediment core. We merged new and published RSL data to construct a standardized Singapore RSL database consisting of 88 SLIPs and limiting data. In the early Holocene, RSL rose rapidly from −21.0 to −0.7 m from ~9500 to 7000 cal. yrs. BP. Thereafter, the rate of RSL rise decelerated, reaching a mid-Holocene highstand of 4.0 ± 4.5 m at 5100 cal. yrs. BP, before falling to its present level. There is no evidence of any inflections in RSL when the full uncertainty of SLIPs is considered. When combined with other standardized data from the Malay-Thai Peninsula, our results also show substantial misfits between regional RSL reconstructions and glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) model predictions in the rate of early Holocene RSL rise, the timing of the mid-Holocene highstand and the nature of late-Holocene RSL fall towards the present. It is presently unknown whether these misfits are caused by regional processes, such as subsidence of the continental shelf, or inaccurate parameters used in the GIA model

Degradation of mangrove tissues by arboreal termites (\u3cem\u3eNasutitermes acajutlae\u3c/em\u3e) and their role in the mangrove C cycle (Puerto Rico): Chemical characterization and organic matter provenance using bulk δ\u3csup\u3e13\u3c/sup\u3eC, C/N, alkaline CuO oxidation‐GC/MS, and solid‐state \u3csup\u3e13\u3c/sup\u3eC NMR

Arboreal termites are wood decaying organisms that play an important role in the first stages of C cycling in mangrove systems. The chemical composition of Rhizophora mangle, Avicennia germinans, and Laguncularia racemosa leaf, stem, and pneumatophore tissues as well as associated sediments was compared to that of nests of the termite Nasutitermes acajutlae. Nests gave δ13C values of −26.1 to −27.2‰ (±0.1) and C/N of 43.3 (±2.0) to 98.6 (±16.2) which were similar to all stem and pneumatophores but distinct from mangrove leaves or sediments. Organic matter processed by termites yielded lignin phenol concentrations (Λ, lambda) that were 2–4 times higher than stem or pneumatophores and 10–20 times higher than that of leaves or sediments, suggesting that the nests were more resistant to biodegradation than the mangrove vegetation source. 13C NMR revealed that polysaccharide content of mangrove tissues (50–69% C) was higher than that of the nests (46–51% C). Conversely, lignin accounted for 16.2–19.6% C of nest material, a threefold increase relative to living mangrove tissues; a similar increase in aromatic methoxyl content was also observed in the nests. Lipids (aliphatic and paraffinic moieties) were also important but rather variable chemical components of all three mangrove species, representing between 13.5 and 28.3% of the C content. Termite nests contained 3.14 Mg C ha−1 which represents approximately 2% of above ground C storage in mangroves, a value that is likely to increase upon burial due to their refractory chemical composition

Author Correction: Estimating global mean sea-level rise and its uncertainties by 2100 and 2300 from an expert survey

Correction to: NPJ Climate and Atmospheric Science https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-020-0121-5, published online 08 May 202

Testing the Utility of Geochemical Proxies to Reconstruct Holocene Coastal Environments and Relative Sea Level: A Case Study from Hungry Bay, Bermuda

On low-lying, tropical and sub-tropical coastlines freshwater marshes may be replaced by salt-tolerant mangroves in response to relative sea-level rise. Pollen analysis of radiocarbon-dated sediment cores showed that such a change occurred in Hungry Bay, Bermuda during the late Holocene. This well-established paleoenvironmental trajectory provides an opportunity to explore if geochemical proxies (bulk-sediment δ13C and Rock-Eval pyrolysis) can reconstruct known environmental changes and relative sea level. We characterized surface sediment from depositional environments in Bermuda (freshwater wetlands, saline mangroves, and wrack composed of Sargassum natans macroalgae) using geochemical measurements and demonstrate that a multi-proxy approach can objectively distinguish among these environments. However, application of these techniques to the transgressive sediment succession beneath Hungry Bay suggests that freshwater peat and mangrove peat cannot be reliably distinguished in the sedimentary record, possibly because of post-depositional convergence of geochemical characteristics on decadal to multi-century timescales and/or the relatively small number of modern samples analyzed. Sediment that includes substantial contributions from Sargassum is readily identified by geochemistry, but has a limited spatial extent. Radiocarbon dating indicates that beginning at –700 CE, episodic marine incursions into Hungry Bay (e.g., during storms) carried Sargassum that accumulated as wrack and thickened through repeated depositional events until ~300 CE. It took a further ~550 years for a peat-forming mangrove community to colonize Hungry Bay, which then accumulated sediment rapidly, but likely out of equilibrium with regional relative sea-level rise

Micropaleontology of the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan Overwash Sediments from the Leyte Gulf, Philippines

Coastal geologic records allow for the assessment of long-term patterns of tropical cyclone variability. However, the accuracy of geologic reconstructions of tropical cyclones is limited by the lack of modern analogues. We describe the microfossil (foraminifera and testate amoebae) assemblages contained within overwash sediments deposited by Typhoon Haiyan when it made landfall on the islands of Leyte and Samar in the Philippines on 7 November 2013 as a Category 5 super typhoon. The overwash sediments were transported up to 1.7 km inland at four study sites. The sediments consisted of light brown medium sand in a layer \u3c1 to 8 cm thick. We used Partitioning Around a Medoid (PAM) cluster analysis to identify lateral and vertical changes in the foraminiferal and testate amoebae data. The presence of intertidal and subtidal benthic, and planktic foraminifera that were variably unaltered and abraded identify the microfossil signature of the overwash sediments. Agglutinated mangrove foraminifera and testate amoebae were present within the overwash sediments at many locations and indicate terrestrial scouring by Haiyan\u27s storm surge. PAM cluster analysis subdivided the Haiyan microfossil dataset into two assemblages based on depositional environment: (1) a low-energy mixed-carbonate tidal flat located on Samar Island (Basey transect); and (2) a higher-energy clastic coastline near Tanauan on Leyte Island (Santa Cruz, Solano, and Magay transects). The assemblages and the taphonomy suggest a mixed provenance, including intertidal and subtidal sources, as well as a contribution of sediment sourced from deeper water and terrestrial environments. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved