21 research outputs found
The environmental impact of climate change adaptation on land use and water quality
Encouraging adaptation is an essential aspect of the policy response to climate change1. Adaptation seeks to reduce the harmful consequences and harness any beneficial opportunities arising from the changing climate. However, given that human activities are the main cause of environmental transformations worldwide2, it follows that adaptation itself also has the potential to generate further pressures, creating new threats for both local and global ecosystems. From this perspective, policies designed to encourage adaptation may conflict with regulation aimed at preserving or enhancing environmental quality. This aspect of adaptation has received relatively little consideration in either policy design or academic debate. To highlight this issue, we analyse the trade-offs between two fundamental ecosystem services that will be impacted by climate change: provisioning services derived from agriculture and regulating services in the form of freshwater quality. Results indicate that climate adaptation in the farming sector will generate fundamental changes in river water quality. In some areas, policies that encourage adaptation are expected to be in conflict with existing regulations aimed at improving freshwater ecosystems. These findings illustrate the importance of anticipating the wider impacts of human adaptation to climate change when designing environmental policies
Gardening in the global greenhouse The impacts of climate change on gardens in the UK : technical report November 2002
Printout. [Boston Spa : British Library], printed 18th July 2003. ix, 139 p. : ill., maps ; 30 cm.. Includes bibliographical referencesAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:m03/29014 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo
Climate change Assessing the impacts - identifying responses; the first three years of the UK Climate Impacts Programme
SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:m00/31588 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo
Climate adaptation Risk, uncertainty and decision-making
Includes bibliographical references. Also available via the InternetAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:m03/34091 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo
RegIS Regional climate change impact and response studies in East Anglia and North West England
The RegIS project (CC0337) is part of the UK Climate Impacts Programme. Full final summary report and full report are avail. via the InternetAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:m02/18303 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo
Useful global-change scenarios: current issues and challenges
"Scenarios are increasingly used to inform global-change debates, but their connection to decisions has been weak and indirect. This reflects the greater number and variety of potential users and scenario needs, relative to other decision domains where scenario use is more established. Global-change scenario needs include common elements, e.g., model-generated projections of emissions and climate change, needed by many users but in different ways and with different assumptions. For these common elements, the limited ability to engage diverse global-change users in scenario development requires extreme transparency in communicating underlying reasoning and assumptions, including probability judgments. Other scenario needs are specific to users, requiring a decentralized network of scenario and assessment organizations to disseminate and interpret common elements and add elements requiring local context or expertise. Such an approach will make global-change scenarios more useful for decisions, but not less controversial. Despite predictable attacks, scenario-based reasoning is necessary for responsible global-change decisions because decision-relevant uncertainties cannot be specified scientifically. The purpose of scenarios is not to avoid speculation, but to make the required speculation more disciplined, more anchored in relevant scientific knowledge when available, and more transparent."http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64189/1/erl8_4_045016.pd
Preliminary evaluation of the benefits of a participatory regional integrated assessment software.
This paper provides a preliminary evaluation of the Regional Impact Simulator—a
user-friendly, PC-based tool designed with stakeholders for stakeholders wishing
to assess the effects of climate and/or socio-economic change on the important
sectors and resources in the UK at a regional scale, in particular, impacts to
coastal and river flooding, agriculture, water resources and biodiversity. While
integrated assessments are relatively new, simulators that help stakeholders
visualize and think about potential changes in the environment or society at a
regional scale are very new. An earlier project, RegIS1, was the first local/
regional integrated assessment conducted in the UK. It developed a method for
engaging stakeholders in a “stakeholder-led” integrated assessment process. The
RegIS2 project developed a simulation tool and followed the same “stakeholder-
led” principle in designing and testing the tool. The role of stakeholders in
informing the design of the simulator is discussed here, as is a stakeholder
evaluation survey on its success in meeting its objectives. We also reflect on
the need and desire of stakeholders to have such a tool. And because the
Steering Committee – made up of stakeholders – was so invaluable in ensuring the
usefulness of research outputs, a series of Steering Committee ‘rules’ is
proposed intending to maximise the benefits of this valuable resource. Finally,
we outline how our experience with the ‘Regional Impact Simulator’ serves as a
test-bed for further studies of stakeholder-led, regional
Implications of Global Climate Change for Tourism Flows and Seasonality
Objective: Volcanic eruptions are a serious threat to the environment. In order to assess more accurately the state of a volcanic zone, spatially distributed measurements are required.
Methodology: An electronic nose (eNose), a quadcopter drone with gas, temperature, and humidity sensors was developed. The drone was assembled with 3D printed parts and tested for properties like structural rigidity. The eNose samples gases, manages a sensor array, acquires data, extracts features, and classifies them with suitable classification algorithms.
Results: The eNose drone system provides a versatile technology for autonomous monitoring of diverse environments. A logarithmic calibration curve was observed for the CO sensor.
Conclusions: The implementation of a eNose drone system and its application to the detection and study of gases in volcanic areas would be innovative in Argentina. The system can access remote dangerous areas and is versatile. Different gas sensors like H2S or SO2 can be added.Objetivo: Las erupciones volcánicas son una grave amenaza para el ambiente. La ceniza de un volcán puede contaminar el agua, la vegetación, el ganado y a las personas. Con el fin de evaluar con mayor precisión el estado de la zona volcánica, se requiere la aplicación de mediciones distribuidas espacialmente.
Metodología: Se desarrolló una nariz electrónica (eNose) y un dron cuadricóptero con sensores de gas, temperatura y humedad. El dron fue ensamblado con una estructura realizada con impresora 3D y se comprobó su correcta rigidez. La nariz electrónica toma muestra de gases, controla el array de sensores, adquiere datos, extrae características de los datos y clasifica las muestras con los algoritmos correspondientes.
Resultados: El sistema de dron eNose provee una tecnología flexible para el monitoreo de diferentes entornos. Para el sensor de gas de CO se observó una curva de calibración logarítmica.
Conclusiones: La implementación de un sistema drone eNose y su aplicación a la detección y estudio de gases en áreas volcánicas resultaría innovador en Argentina. El sistema puede acceder a zonas remotas y peligrosas, y es muy flexible. Se pueden agregar diferentes sensores de gas como por ejemplo H2S o SO