| 61. |
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| 62. |
- Otto, Friederike E L, et al.
(author)
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Toward an Inventory of the Impacts of Human-Induced Climate Change
- 2020
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In: Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. - 0003-0007. ; 101:11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Current levels of global warming (Haustein et al. 2017) have already intensified heat waves, droughts, and floods, with many recent events exhibiting evidence of being exacerbated by anthropogenic climate change (e.g., Herring et al. 2016, 2018). Recent improvements in understanding demonstrate that half a degree of additional warming will have further severe impacts (Masson-Delmotte et al. 2018). In the context of this rapid and damaging change, there is a clear need to quantify and address both the losses and damages from impacts we have not adapted to today, as well as to adapt to those that will emerge in the next few decades. To do this, it is essential to understand the impacts of man-made climate change on the scales that climate adaptation decisions are made. Drivers of disasters, ultimately responsible for much loss and damage, are unfolding in an ever-changing socioeconomic context, which also alters exposure and vulnerability. While various case studies exist (discussed below), there is to date no comprehensive or comparable database quantifying anthropogenic contributions to climate change loss and damage. We suggest that this needs to change.
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| 63. |
- Palanisamy, Arvind, et al.
(author)
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Prolonged Treatment with Propofol Transiently Impairs Proliferation but Not Survival of Rat Neural Progenitor Cells In Vitro
- 2016
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In: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 11:7
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Neurocognitive dysfunction is common in survivors of intensive care. Prolonged sedation has been implicated but the mechanisms are unclear. Neurogenesis continues into adulthood and is implicated in learning. The neural progenitor cells (NPC) that drive neurogenesis have receptors for the major classes of sedatives used clinically, suggesting that interruption of neurogenesis may partly contribute to cognitive decline in ICU survivors. Using an in vitro system, we tested the hypothesis that prolonged exposure to propofol concentration- and duration-dependently kills or markedly decreases the proliferation of NPCs. NPCs isolated from embryonic day 14 Sprague-Dawley rat pups were exposed to 0, 2.5, or 5.0 mu g/ mL of propofol, concentrations consistent with deep clinical anesthesia, for either 4 or 24 hours. Cells were assayed for cell death and proliferation either immediately following propofol exposure or 24 hours later. NPC death and apoptosis were measured by propidium iodine staining and cleaved caspase-3 immunocytochemistry, respectively, while proliferation was measured by EdU incorporation. Staurosporine (1 mu M for 6h) was used as a positive control for cell death. Cells were analyzed with unbiased high-throughput immunocytochemistry. There was no cell death at either concentration of propofol or duration of exposure. Neither concentration of propofol impaired NPC proliferation when exposure lasted 4 h, but when exposure lasted 24 h, propofol had an anti-proliferative effect at both concentrations (P < 0.0001, propofol vs. control). However, this effect was transient; proliferation returned to baseline 24 h after discontinuation of propofol (P = 0.37, propofol vs. control). The transient but reversible suppression of NPC proliferation, absence of cytotoxicity, and negligible effect on the neural stem cell pool pool suggest that propofol, even in concentrations used for clinical anesthesia, has limited impact on neural progenitor cell biology.
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| 64. |
- Parker, Hannah R., et al.
(author)
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Using a Game to Engage Stakeholders in Extreme Event Attribution Science
- 2016
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In: International Journal of Disaster Risk Science. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2095-0055 .- 2192-6395. ; 7:4, s. 353-365
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The impacts of weather and climate-related disasters are increasing, and climate change can exacerbate many disasters. Effectively communicating climate risk and integrating science into policy requires scientists and stakeholders to work together. But dialogue between scientists and policymakers can be challenging given the inherently multidimensional nature of the issues at stake when managing climate risks. Building on the growing use of serious games to create dialogue between stakeholders, we present a new game for policymakers called Climate Attribution Under Loss and Damage: Risking, Observing, Negotiating (CAULDRON). CAULDRON aims to communicate understanding of the science attributing extreme events to climate change in a memorable and compelling way, and create space for dialogue around policy decisions addressing changing risks and loss and damage from climate change. We describe the process of developing CAULDRON, and draw on observations of players and their feedback to demonstrate its potential to facilitate the interpretation of probabilistic climate information and the understanding of its relevance to informing policy. Scientists looking to engage with stakeholders can learn valuable lessons in adopting similar innovative approaches. The suitability of games depends on the policy context but, if used appropriately, experiential learning can drive coproduced understanding and meaningful dialogue.
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| 65. |
- Saeed, Abdul Razak, et al.
(author)
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Are REDD+ community forest projects following the principles for collective action, as proposed by Ostrom?
- 2017
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In: International Journal of the Commons. - : Ubiquity Press, Ltd.. - 1875-0281. ; 11:1, s. 572-596
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Forested countries in the global south that have agreed to engage in REDD+, a policy mechanism for addressing climate change, are receiving support to improve laws, policies, systems and structures. As a mechanism initiated at the global level and seeking to use forests to address a global commons crisis (atmospheric carbon concentration), understanding how REDD+ translates into implementation at the local level is essential. Therefore, using a systematic review approach, we examined 15 studies of REDD+ in the context of public and/or community managed forests, drawn from a comprehensive application of inclusion criteria to identify relevant published peer-reviewed empirical research. The common property resources literature was used to highlight the role of local institutions in REDD+ and to distil how REDD+ community forest projects conform to Ostrom’s collective action principles. The review revealed limited sharing of information and decision-making authority with communities; a general absence of FPIC; and a lack of defined benefit sharing and conflict resolution arrangements in many of the REDD+ projects.
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| 66. |
- Saeed, Abdul Razak, et al.
(author)
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Examining equity in Ghana's national REDD+ process
- 2018
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In: Forest Policy and Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 1389-9341. ; 90, s. 48-58
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, sustainable forest management, enhancement of forest carbon stocks and conservation (REDD+) aims to reduce the 12–17% of global greenhouse gas emissions attributable to forest loss worldwide. As tropical countries undertake REDD+ readiness, vital questions arise around the equity of REDD+ interventions. In particular, there has been much critique of the impact of REDD+ on local forest communities, and whether these interventions serve to entrench or address existing inequalities and the structural causes of poverty. Taking Ghana's REDD+ process as a case study, McDermott et al.'s (2013) ‘equity framework’ is used to systematically examine the contextual, procedural and distributive dimensions of equity, based on fieldwork carried out from July 2014 to March 2016. This study draws on stakeholder perspectives and document analysis to draw conclusions about the equity of Ghana's REDD+ process. Our study shows that Ghana's national REDD+ strategy, legal texts and documents aim to ensure that all actors, including local forest communities, are considered 'subjects of equity’. However, according to stakeholder perspectives and general forest laws and policies, there are multiple barriers to realizing the intended goals of equity. Firstly, the complex, multiple and unclear tenurial arrangements inhibit distributive equity. Secondly, uneven stakeholder knowledge and capacity hamper effective engagement in decision-making and limit procedural equity. Thirdly, contextual factors that are remnants of colonial structures and systems, and that serve competing political and economic interests through resource exploitation impact distributive equity. The ‘equity framework’ reveals that historical contextual factors impact the achievement of equity through REDD+, even with right government policies and strategies in place.
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| 67. |
- Savelli, Elisa
(author)
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Parched Injustice : Unravelling the production and distribution of drought risk in South Africa
- 2022
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Droughts and water shortages constitute some of the most urgent challenges that society must address. Due to anthropogenic pressure and human-induced climate change, future projections expect droughts to escalate and most heavily affect those who are socially, economically and politically disadvantaged. However, the world seems still unprepared to face future droughts, much less to address their implications. As of today, it is still difficult to foresee when droughts are likely to strike, for how long, and in particular, what their impacts will be. One of the reasons for this impasse is that scientists have not yet fully grasped the socioenvironmental complexity of droughts. To account for such complexity, this thesis combines sociohydrological and critical social sciences. This interdisciplinary effort contributes to better understand why droughts occur and manifest themselves the way they do. Specifically, the thesis aims to apprehend the production and distribution of drought risk over time and across space by (a) unravelling the socioenvironmental processes that over time reshape drought hazard along with (b) revealing the way certain socioenvironmental processes redistribute drought vulnerabilities across space. This thesis shows how different temporal and spatial scales expose distinctive socioenvironmental processes which are entangled with the production of drought hazard and vulnerabilities. The city of Cape Town and Ladismith’s agricultural area in South Africa provide the empirical basis for such analyses as they both witnessed extreme droughts which unfolded as water crises experienced unevenly by their respective populations. The thesis finds that rather than society as whole, power dynamics and social inequalities are much more adept at explaining the way humans unsustainably and unevenly reshape water systems, thereby transforming droughts into water crises. All too often, water consumption by privileged social groups exerts unsustainable pressure on the local hydrology, thereby constituting a serious threat for the long-term sustainability of urban or rural water systems. Power imbalances are amongst the driving mechanisms that determine what human-water dynamics will be sustained over time. As a result, to better understand the production and distribution of drought risk it is necessary to focus on the political economic processes that produce such injustices. Whilst doing so, drought scholars should always account for the agency of non-human processes and their entanglements with power dynamics. Ultimately, if as humans we cannot tame the agency of biophysical processes, we have, at minimum, the responsibility to address the political-economic systems and power dynamics that produce unjust and unsustainable socioenvironmental transformations.
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| 68. |
- Scown, Murray W., et al.
(author)
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A harmonized country-level dataset to support the global stocktake regarding loss and damage from climate change
- 2022
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In: Geoscience Data Journal. - : Wiley. - 2049-6060. ; 9:2, s. 328-340
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Under the Paris Agreement, parties should undertake a global stocktake of progress toward meeting the goals of the agreement and tackling climate change. The first global stocktake will be undertaken in 2023, and an assessment of loss and damage from climate change is an important part of the process. Loss and damage refer to the impacts of climate change felt when mitigation and adaptation efforts are inadequate or absent. Much data, including metrics and indicators relevant for loss and damage, are held in existing global databases, but these are disparate and cannot easily be combined and compared to support the global stocktake. We combine relevant primary data sources to provide a harmonized country-level global dataset containing relevant indicators of recorded losses and damages from climate-related events; exposure to climate-related events; country vulnerability and adaptation readiness; scientific studies of climate change attribution; financial support for climate adaptation; and contextual governance conditions. The indicators are standardized against country population and GDP where relevant. We describe original data sources, processing steps, and an overview of key indicators in the dataset. We also compare the assembled data to existing global risk databases; namely, the INFORM risk index and the World Risk Index. This comparison, provided in the Supporting Information, shows a large amount of redundancy among vulnerability and governance indicators, and we suggest that creators of new databases and risk indices be clear about data limitations and the gaps that specific indices attempt to fill in the global data landscape. We recommend the standard use of ISO codes in future databases of this nature, as well as clear metadata regarding how overseas territories are treated relative to their sovereign state, and information on dissolution and creation of states over time.
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| 69. |
- Shepherd, Theodore G., et al.
(author)
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Storylines : an alternative approach to representing uncertainty in physical aspects of climate change
- 2018
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In: Climatic Change. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0165-0009 .- 1573-1480. ; 151:3-4, s. 555-571
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- As climate change research becomes increasingly applied, the need for actionable information is growing rapidly. A key aspect of this requirement is the representation of uncertainties. The conventional approach to representing uncertainty in physical aspects of climate change is probabilistic, based on ensembles of climate model simulations. In the face of deep uncertainties, the known limitations of this approach are becoming increasingly apparent. An alternative is thus emerging which may be called a ‘storyline’ approach. We define a storyline as a physically self-consistent unfolding of past events, or of plausible future events or pathways. No a priori probability of the storyline is assessed; emphasis is placed instead on understanding the driving factors involved, and the plausibility of those factors. We introduce a typology of four reasons for using storylines to represent uncertainty in physical aspects of climate change: (i) improving risk awareness by framing risk in an event-oriented rather than a probabilistic manner, which corresponds more directly to how people perceive and respond to risk; (ii) strengthening decision-making by allowing one to work backward from a particular vulnerability or decision point, combining climate change information with other relevant factors to address compound risk and develop appropriate stress tests; (iii) providing a physical basis for partitioning uncertainty, thereby allowing the use of more credible regional models in a conditioned manner and (iv) exploring the boundaries of plausibility, thereby guarding against false precision and surprise. Storylines also offer a powerful way of linking physical with human aspects of climate change.
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| 70. |
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