Global environmental change: local perceptions, understandings, and explanations.

Global environmental change (GEC) is an increasingly discussed phenomenon in the scientific literature as evidence of its presence and impacts continues to grow. Yet, while the documentation of GEC is becoming more readily available, local perceptions of GEC- particularly in small-scale societies-and preferences about how to deal with it, are still largely overlooked. Local knowledge and perceptions of GEC are important in that agents make decisions (including on natural resource management) based on individual perceptions. We carried out a systematic literature review that aims to provide an exhaustive state-of-the-art of the degree to and manner in which the study of local perceptions of change are being addressed in GEC research. We reviewed 126 articles found in peer-reviewed journals (between 1998 and 2014) that address local perceptions of GEC. We used three particular lenses of analysis that are known to influence local perceptions, namely (i) cognition, (ii) culture and knowledge, and (iii) possibilities for adaptation.We present our findings on the geographical distribution of the current research, the most common changes reported, perceived drivers and impacts of change, and local explanations and evaluations of change and impacts. Overall, we found the studies to be geographically biased, lacking methodological reporting, mostly theory based with little primary data, and lacking of indepth analysis of the psychological and ontological influences in perception and implications for adaptation. We provide recommendations for future GEC research and propose the development of a "meta-language" around adaptation, perception, and mediation to encourage a greater appreciation and understanding of the diversity around these phenomena across multiple scales, and improved codesign and facilitation of locally relevant adaptation and mitigation strategies

Natural radioactive elements U, Th and K in European soil.

This paper describes and discusses data on baseline levels the concentration of U, Th and K in agricultural and grazing land soils across Europe. In total, 2218 samples of agricultural soil and 2127 samples of grazing land soil were collected with an average sampling density of 1 site per 2500 km2 (a grid of 50 x 50 km) over an area of 5.6 million km2 across Europe. The uranium concentrations over the survey area vary from <0.1 to 23.55 mg/kg in agricultural soil and from <0.1 to 73.32 mg/kg in grazing land soil, with a median value of 0.77 and 0.74, respectively. The median Th content is 2.89 mg/kg in agricultural soil and 2.5 mg/kg in grazing land soil; the range varies from <0.1 to 63.1 mg/kg in agricultural soil and <0.1 to 55.64 mg/kg in grazing land soil. The median potassium content is 16 000 mg/kg in agricultural soil and 14 900 mg/kg in grazing land soil, with a range between 241 mg/kg and 79,200 mg/kg in agricultural soil and between 241 mg/kg and 50000 mg/kg in grazing land soil. The new data define the soil geochemical U, Th and K baseline background for European agricultural and grazing land soil, providing information of crucial importance to increase our knowledge about ’soil quality’ at the European scale. Such data are essential for agriculture, animal and human health, setting of environmental standards, water quality, land use planning and the identification of mineral resource potential

GEMAS results at regional scale: the Alps

Descrizione e discussione di distribuzione di elementi (metalli e metalloidi) nei suoli delle Alpi in ambito Progetto GEMA

Uranium, Thorium and Potassium concentrations in agricultural and grazing land soils of Europe

Contenuti riportati in Geophysical Research Abstracts, Vol. 16, EGU201

Terra Incognita: Libro blanco sobre transdisciplinariedad y nuevas formas de investigación en el Sistema Español de Ciencia y Tecnología

Proyecto Red de Excelencia “Simular el pasado para entender el comportamiento humano” (Redes de Excelencia 2017 i – Ref. HAR2017-90883-REDC), financiado por el Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades; estando también vinculada al proyecto CULM – Modelado del cultivo en la Prehistoria (HAR2016-77672-P), financiado por el Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad