Prescriptive conflict prevention analysis:An application to the 2021 update of the Austrian flood risk management plan

Flood events have become more frequent in Europe, and the adaptation to the increasing flood risks is needed. The Flood Directive set up a series of measures to increase European resilience, establishing Flood Risk Management Plans (FRMPs) at the level of the river basin district as one relevant action. In order to efficiently fulfil this objective, the involvement of stakeholders as well as the analysis of their roles, responsibilities, and demands has been considered to be crucial to develop FRMPs. As a result, the hypothesis tested in this paper is that a consensus solution for the 2021 update Austrian Flood Risk Management Plan is feasible. To demonstrate this, both in-depth interviews and questionnaires to key Austrian stakeholders are implemented. The information collected in both participatory techniques are then used to run a conflict prevention analysis. The results show that (a) improving the coordination among regions and including better land-use planning approaches are preferable to a hypothetical business as usual scenario; and (b) a consensus solution for the 2021 update Austrian FRMP might be achievable on the basis of both a deep discussion on the state-of-the art and green infrastructure development

Perspectives on contentions about climate change adaptation in the Canary Islands: a case study for Tenerife

This case study is aimed at exploring climate change adaptation scenarios as well as concrete actions to increase climatic resilience in a small European island: Tenerife, Canary Islands (Spain), the largest and most populated of the seven islands of the Canaries. The effects of climatic and non-climatic hazards on local population health and ecosystems are reviewed, such as heatwaves, air pollution and the atmospheric dust which comes from the Saharan dessert. The potential combination or overlapping effects of these hazards are also explored. According to the literature reviewed, heatwaves, air pollution, and Saharan dust events have been producing negative effects on the population, in terms of both morbidity and mortality, as well as the environment, such as forest fires related impacts. In terms of health impacts, elderly and local people with chronic diseases are those more vulnerable to the previous hazards. As a consequence of both population ageing and the expected increasing extreme weather events, vulnerability is believed to worsen. There are currently a certain number of policies at both the Canary Islands scale and at Tenerife scale that, either directly or indirectly, might deal with the multiple hazards analysed here. However, most of these policies have neither been specifically developed to increase the resilience against heatwaves, Saharan dust events, and climate change, nor to deal with their potential interactions. Therefore, their possible capability need to be explored along with other potential adaptation options. In order to do so, a participatory integrated assessment is proposed based on three steps: (1) a first one intended to define the issue under analysis and frame the problematique of adaptation to climate change in Tenerife; (2) a second step envisioned to explore scenarios to increase the island resilience as well as concrete actions to reduce the vulnerability to heatwaves, Saharan dust intrusion, and air pollution, and (3) a last step projected to assess the proposed scenarios and run a multi-criteria analysis so as to rank adaptation actions (this third phase will be carried out in a later stage). Local key stakeholders as well as citizens and lay people have been engaged from the beginning of the process for this purpose. Different participatory techniques have been applied, such as questionnaires, in-depth interviews and focus group sessions. One of the findings of the analysis is that there is a lack of institutions in the Islands in charge of climate change issues. According to most of the participants in the participatory techniques applied, the islands need an institutional structure in charge of mainstreaming climate change policy into private and public institutions. A second finding indicates that an integrated climate change risk management plan is also needed as well as the investment in high-resolution climatic models. Part II of this research project will be devoted to build scenarios for Tenerife. As will be presented, local citizens are not only concerned about adaptation to climate change, but how to be more resilient against external shocks, including extreme weather events as a consequence of climate change. Thus, those scenarios, still to be built, will propose paths that Tenerife may walk through from current times to 2040 in order to increase its resilience. These scenarios would concentrate on energy, agriculture, and food dependency, as well as other elements that might affect Tenerife’s resilience. Multi-criteria evaluation of adaptation actions will also be carried out in Part II, so as to compare concrete adaptation policy actions that could be implemented in certain periods of time. Thus, any alternative option could be associated to certain scenarios, such that the implementation of one alternative may put Tenerife on a concrete path to increase its resilience

Perspectives on contentions about climate change adaptation in the Canary Islands. A case study for Tenerife - Study

This technical report describes a case study on policy for adaptation to climate change delivered to DG-CLIMA. It is aimed at exploring climate change adaptation scenarios as well as concrete actions to increase climatic resilience in a small European island: Tenerife, Canary Islands (Spain), the largest and most populated of the seven islands of the Canaries. The effects of climatic and non-climatic hazards on local population health and ecosystems are reviewed, such as heatwaves, air pollution and the atmospheric dust which comes from the Saharan dessert. The potential combination or overlapping effects of these hazards are also explored. According to the literature reviewed, heatwaves, air pollution, and Saharan dust events have been producing negative effects on the population, in terms of both morbidity and mortality, as well as the environment, such as forest fires related impacts. In terms of health impacts, elderly and people with chronic diseases are those more vulnerable to the previous hazards. As a consequence of both population ageing and the expected increasing extreme weather events, vulnerability is believed to worsen. There are currently a certain number of policies at both the Canary Islands scale and at Tenerife scale that, either directly or indirectly, might deal with the multiple hazards analysed here. However, most of these policies have neither been specifically developed to increase the resilience against heatwaves, Saharan dust events, and air pollution, nor to deal with their potential interactions. Therefore, their possible capability need to be explored along with other potential adaptation options. In order to do so, a participatory integrated assessment is proposed based on three steps: a first one intended to define the issue under analysis and frame the problematique of adaptation to climate change in Tenerife by means of in-depth interviews and a questionnaire; a second step envisioned to explore scenarios to increase the island resilience as well as concrete actions to reduce the vulnerability to heatwaves, Saharan dust intrusion, and air pollution, by means of focus group sessions; and a last step projected to build the scenarios for resilience (this third phase will be carried out in a later stage). For this purpose, different participatory techniques have been applied, such as questionnaires, in-depth interviews and focus group sessions, involving local key stakeholders as well as citizens and lay people. One of the findings of the analysis is that there is a lack of institutions in charge of climate change policy issues. According to most of the participants, the Islands need an institutional structure in charge of mainstreaming climate change policy into private and public institutions. A second finding indicates that an integrated climate change risk management plan is also needed as well as the investment in high-resolution regional climatic models. The following part of this study will be devoted to build scenarios for Tenerife. As it emerged from the present study, local citizens are not only concerned about adaptation to climate change, but also about how to be more resilient against external shocks, including extreme weather events as a consequence of climate change. Thus, those scenarios, still to be built, will propose paths that Tenerife may walk through from current times to 2040 in order to increase its resilience. These scenarios would concentrate on energy, agriculture, and food dependency, as well as other driving forces that might affect Tenerife’s resilienceEste informe técnico describe un estudio de caso sobre la política de adaptación al cambio climático entregado a la DG-CLIMA. Su objetivo es explorar los escenarios de adaptación al cambio climático así como las acciones concretas para aumentar la resistencia climática en una pequeña isla europea: Tenerife, Islas Canarias (España), la mayor y más poblada de las siete islas de las Canarias. Se revisan los efectos de los peligros climáticos y no climáticos sobre la salud de la población local y los ecosistemas, como las olas de calor, la contaminación del aire y el polvo atmosférico procedente del desierto del Sahara. También se exploran los posibles efectos combinados o superpuestos de estos peligros. De acuerdo con la literatura revisada, las olas de calor, la contaminación del aire y el polvo sahariano han estado produciendo efectos negativos en la población, tanto en términos de morbilidad como de mortalidad, así como en el medio ambiente, tales como los impactos relacionados con los incendios forestales. En cuanto a los impactos sobre la salud, los ancianos y las personas con enfermedades crónicas son los más vulnerables a los peligros anteriores. Como consecuencia tanto del envejecimiento de la población como del aumento previsto de los fenómenos meteorológicos extremos, se cree que la vulnerabilidad empeorará. Actualmente existe un cierto número de políticas tanto a escala de las Islas Canarias como a escala de Tenerife que, directa o indirectamente, podrían abordar las múltiples amenazas aquí analizadas. Sin embargo, la mayoría de estas políticas no se han desarrollado específicamente para aumentar la resiliencia frente a las olas de calor, los fenómenos de polvo sahariano y la contaminación atmosférica, ni para hacer frente a sus posibles interacciones. Por lo tanto, su posible capacidad debe ser explorada junto con otras opciones potenciales de adaptación. Para ello, se propone una evaluación participativa integrada basada en tres pasos: uno primero destinado a definir la cuestión analizada y enmarcar la problemática de la adaptación al cambio climático en Tenerife mediante entrevistas en profundidad y un cuestionario; un segundo paso previsto para explorar los escenarios para aumentar la resiliencia de la isla, así como acciones concretas para reducir la vulnerabilidad a las olas de calor, la intrusión de polvo sahariano y la contaminación atmosférica, mediante sesiones de grupos focales; y un último paso previsto para construir los escenarios de resiliencia (esta tercera fase se llevará a cabo en una etapa posterior). Para ello se han aplicado diferentes técnicas participativas, como cuestionarios, entrevistas en profundidad y sesiones de grupos focales, con la participación de los principales interesados locales, así como de ciudadanos y laicos. Una de las conclusiones del análisis es que hay una falta de instituciones a cargo de los temas de políticas de cambio climático. Según la mayoría de los participantes, las Islas necesitan una estructura institucional encargada de la incorporación de la política sobre el cambio climático en las instituciones públicas y privadas. Una segunda conclusión indica que también se necesita un plan de gestión integrada de los riesgos del cambio climático, así como la inversión en modelos climáticos regionales de alta resolución. La siguiente parte de este estudio estará dedicada a la construcción de escenarios para Tenerife. Tal y como se desprende del presente estudio, los ciudadanos locales no sólo están preocupados por la adaptación al cambio climático, sino también por la forma de ser más resistentes a los impactos externos, incluidos los fenómenos meteorológicos extremos como consecuencia del cambio climático. Así, estos escenarios, aún por construir, propondrán caminos que Tenerife podrá recorrer desde la época actual hasta el año 2040 para aumentar su resiliencia. Estos escenarios se concentrarían en la energía, la agricultura y la dependencia alimentaria, así como en otras fuerzas motrices que podrían afectar a la resiliencia de Tenerife

Saharan Air Layer (SAL) over Tenerife: summertime statistic analysis from lidar measurements

Comunicación presentada en: 2012 European Aerosol Conference (EAC-2012), B-WG01S2P30, celebrada del 2 al 7 de septiembre de 2012 en Granada.This work is supported by the Spanish Ministry for Research and Innovation (MICINN) under grant CGL2011-24891 (project AMISOC)

An empirical relationship to estimate mineral dust concentration from visibility observations

Comunicación presentada en: 2012 European Aerosol Conference (EAC-2012), B-WG01S2P30, celebrada del 2 al 7 de septiembre de 2012 en Granada

MicroPulse Lidar and Ceilometer inter-comparison during Saharan dust intrusions over the Canary Islands

Comunicación presentada en: V Reunión Española de Ciencia y Tecnología de Aerosoles – RECTA 2011 celebrada del 27 al 29 de junio de 2011 en CIEMAT, Madrid.This study presents an inter-comparison between a Vaisala CL51 ceilometer and a Micro Pulse Lidar (MPL) of both the Boundary Layer (BL) and the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) top heights during Saharan dust events from January to April 2011. This inter-comparison was performed at the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Observatory in Tenerife, Canary Islands, within the Marine Boundary Layer. From January to April the Saharan dust intrusions usually occur at lower altitudes within the BL. One of the main goals of this study is to determine whether the CL51 ceilometer is capable to detect mineral dust within the SAL. To our knowledge, this is the first time this kind of study is attempted on a site close to Saharan dust sources

Planetary boundary layer and Saharan air layer top height determination using ceilometer and micro pulse lidar. Intercomparison for two case studies

Comunicación presentada en: 2012 European Aerosol Conference (EAC-2012), B-WG01S2P30, celebrada del 2 al 7 de septiembre de 2012 en Granada

Age, Origin and Functional Study of the Prevalent LDLR Mutation Causing Familial Hypercholesterolaemia in Gran Canaria

The p.(Tyr400_Phe402del) mutation in the LDL receptor (LDLR) gene is the most frequent cause of familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) in Gran Canaria. The aim of this study was to determine the age and origin of this prevalent founder mutation and to explore its functional consequences. For this purpose, we obtained the haplotypic information of 14 microsatellite loci surrounding the mutation in one homozygous individual and 11 unrelated heterozygous family trios. Eight different mutation carrier haplotypes were identified, which were estimated to originate from a common ancestral haplotype 387 (110–1572) years ago. This estimation suggests that this mutation happened after the Spanish colonisation of the Canary Islands, which took place during the fifteenth century. Comprehensive functional studies of this mutation showed that the expressed LDL receptor was retained in the endoplasmic reticulum, preventing its migration to the cell surface, thus allowing us to classify this LDLR mutation as a class 2a, defective, pathogenic variant.This work was supported by grants from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII): PI20/00846, INT21/00032 (RMS), CM19/00116 (AMGL) with the participation of the European Union through European Regional Development Funds (“A way to make Europe”), the Fundación Canaria del Instituto de Investigaciones Sanitarias de Canarias (FCIISC): PIFIISC20/16 and the Fundación Mapfre Guanarteme (Beca Investigación 2020). NMS was supported by a María Zambrano Fellowship funded by the Spanish Ministry of Universities within the “Next Generation EU” scheme

Coastal-ocean variability in primary production in the Canary Current upwelling region: comparison among in situ and satellite-derived estimates

Poster.-- Conferencia sobre los Sistemas de Afloramiento de Borde Oriental (EBUS): Pasado, Presente y Futuro & Segunda Conferencia Internacional sobre el Sistema de Corrientes de Humboldt, 19-23 de Septiembre de 2022, Lima, PerúThe Canary Current Eastern Boundary Upwelling Ecosystem (CanC-EBUE), unlike other EBUE, has been unabatedly warming, and decreasing (or at least not increasing) in wind intensity during the last 60 years. However, past trends in net primary production are uncertain, due to differences in the outputs of remote sensing models and the lack of in situ data to validate these models in the region. Here we compare four widely-used models – the Vertically Generalized Production Model (VGPM) and its variant based on Eppley’s description of the growth function (Eppley-VGPM), the Carbon-based Production Model (CbPM), and the Carbon, Absorption and Fluorescence Euphotic-resolving model (CAFE)- with in situ primary production (PP) data. Together with chlorophyll a concentration (Chl a) and phytoplankton biomass (B), we measured PP by 14C and 13C uptake, and oxygen evolution inside incubation bottles, along 11 stations across the transition zone expanding from the coastal upwelling to the open ocean waters at the Cape Verde Frontal Zone (17-23ºN; 16-26ºW). We compared in situ PP, Chl a and B with models’ outputs (NPP) and inputs (satellite derived Chl a and B), respectively. Although carbon and oxygen –based in situ PP estimates were frequently correlated, we found that only the Chl a-based VGPMs were significantly correlated with in situ estimates, yet these are among the the first-described models in the literature. Models based on B, however, did not correlate with in situ PP estimations, in spite that satellite-derived B presented better correlations than Chl a with the in situ dataN

Aplicación móvil para la corrección automática de tests y encuestas con visión artificial

Memoria ID-197. Ayudas de la Universidad de Salamanca para la innovación docente, curso 2018-2019