| 1. |
- Andersson-Sköld, Yvonne, et al.
(författare)
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An integrated method for assessing climate-related risks and adaptation alternatives in urban areas
- 2015
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Ingår i: Climate Risk Management. - : Elsevier BV. - 2212-0963. ; 7, s. 31-50
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- © 2015 The Authors. The urban environment is a complex structure with interlinked social, ecological and technical structures. Global warming is expected to have a broad variety of impacts, which will add to the complexity. Climate changes will force adaptation, to reduce climate-related risks. Adaptation measures can address one aspect at the time, or aim for a holistic approach to avoid maladaptation. This paper presents a systematic, integrated approach for assessing alternatives for reducing the risks of heat waves, flooding and air pollution in urban settings, with the aim of reducing the risk of maladaptation. The study includes strategies covering different spatial scales, and both the current climate situation and the climate predicted under climate change scenarios. The adaptation strategies investigated included increasing vegetation; selecting density, height and colour of buildings; and retreat or resist (defend) against sea-level rise. Their effectiveness was assessed with regard to not only flooding, heat stress and air quality but also with regard to resource use, emissions to air (incl. GHG), soil and water, and people's perceptions and vulnerability. The effectiveness of the strategies were ranked on a common scale (from -3 to 3) in an integrated assessment. Integrated assessments are recommended, as they help identify the most sustainable solutions, but to reduce the risk of maladaptation they require experts from a variety of disciplines. The most generally applicable recommendation, derived from the integrated assessment here, taking into account both expertise from different municipal departments, literature surveys, life cycle assessments and publics perceptions, is to increase the urban greenery, as it contributes to several positive aspects such as heat stress mitigation, air quality improvement, effective storm-water and flood-risk management, and it has several positive social impacts. The most favourable alternative was compact, mid-rise, light coloured building design with large parks/green areas and trees near buildings.
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| 2. |
- Norén, Viveca, 1972-, et al.
(författare)
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Flood riskassessment – Practices in flood prone Swedish municipalities
- 2016
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Ingår i: International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. - Uppsala Univ, Dept Earth Sci, Villavagen, SE-75236 Uppsala, Sweden. [Noren, Viveca; Bishop, Kevin] Uppsala Univ, Dept Earth Sci, Villavagen 16, SE-75236 Uppsala, Sweden. [Noren, Viveca; Nyberg, Lars; Bishop, Kevin] Uppsala Univ, Ctr Nat Disaster Sci, Villavagen 16, SE-75236 Uppsala, Sweden. [Hedelin, Beatrice; Nyberg, Lars] Karlstad Univ, Dept Environm & Life Sci, Ctr Climate & Safety, SE-65188 Karlstad, Sweden. [Bishop, Kevin] Swedish Univ Agr Sci, Dept Aquat Sci & Assessment, POB 7050, SE-75007 Uppsala, Sweden. : Elsevier. - 2212-4209. ; 18, s. 206-217
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Risk assessments are important to ensure efficient and effective flood risk management. Methods and strategies for flood risk assessment are described in the literature, but less is known about how assessments are actually performed. We have studied local flood risk assessments in Sweden by interviewing flood risk managers in municipalities and analyzing documentation of flood risk assessment efforts.There is a large variation between municipalities in how flood risk assessment has been done. The efforts made in association with the EU Floods Directive together with a Government Commission about a flood in Lake Mälaren are the most advanced assessments. Only a few of the municipalities have done comparable assessments. Generally, however, there is a lack of experience and theoretical knowledge about concepts and methods of flood risk assessment in the municipalities. In the assessments studied, the flood it self had been rather well defined in hazard maps. The consequences of a flood had been studied in the larger projects but only by half of the municipalities. It is mainly direct, tangible consequences that have been included. It is mainly the exposure of assets that has been investigated while little attention has been paid to vulnerability. To improve flood risk assessment in Sweden there is a need for knowledge and resources in the municipalities. Prioritization and motivation are needed to actually perform the assessments. National guidelines for may be helpful to guide municipalities in this work and to have more uniform risk assessment.
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| 3. |
- Temnerud, Johan, et al.
(författare)
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Map-based prediction of organic carbon in headwater streams improved by downstream observations from the river outlet
- 2016
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Ingår i: Biogeosciences. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1726-4170 .- 1726-4189. ; 13:2, s. 399-413
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In spite of the great abundance and ecological importance of headwater streams, managers are usually limited by a lack of information about water chemistry in these headwaters. In this study we test whether river outlet chemistry can be used as an additional source of information to improve the prediction of the chemistry of upstream headwaters (size < 2 km(2)), relative to models based on map information alone. We use the concentration of total organic carbon (TOC), an important stream ecosystem parameter, as the target for our study. Between 2000 and 2008, we carried out 17 synoptic surveys in 9 mesoscale catchments (size 32-235 km(2)). Over 900 water samples were collected in total, primarily from headwater streams but also including each catchment's river outlet during every survey. First we used partial least square regression (PLS) to model the distribution (median, interquartile range (IQR)) of headwater stream TOC for a given catchment, based on a large number of candidate variables including sub-catchment characteristics from GIS, and measured river chemistry at the catchment outlet. The best candidate variables from the PLS models were then used in hierarchical linear mixed models (MM) to model TOC in individual headwater streams. Three predictor variables were consistently selected for the MM calibration sets: (1) proportion of forested wetlands in the sub-catchment (positively correlated with headwater stream TOC), (2) proportion of lake surface cover in the sub-catchment (negatively correlated with headwater stream TOC), and (3) river outlet TOC (positively correlated with headwater stream TOC). Including river outlet TOC improved predictions, with 5-15% lower prediction errors than when using map information alone. Thus, data on water chemistry measured at river outlets offer information which can complement GIS-based modelling of headwater stream chemistry.
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| 4. |
- van der Velde, Ype, et al.
(författare)
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Consequences of mixing assumptions for time-variable travel time distributions
- 2015
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Ingår i: Hydrological Processes. - : Wiley. - 0885-6087 .- 1099-1085. ; 29:16, s. 3460-3474
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The current generation of catchment travel time distribution (TTD) research, integrating nearly three decades of work since publication of Water's Journey from Rain to Stream, seeks to represent the full distribution in catchment travel times and its temporal variability. Here, we compare conceptualizations of increasing complexity with regards to mixing of water storages and evaluate how these assumptions influence time-variable TTD estimates for two catchments with contrasting climates: the Gardsjon catchment in Sweden and the Marshall Gulch catchment in Arizona, USA. Our results highlight that, as long as catchment TTDs cannot be measured directly but need to be inferred from input-output signals of catchments, the inferred catchment TTDs depend strongly on the underlying assumptions of mixing within a catchment. Furthermore, we found that the conceptualization of the evapotranspiration flux strongly influences the inferred travel times of stream discharge. For the wet and forested Gardsjon catchment in Sweden, we inferred that evapotranspiration most likely resembles a completely mixed sample of the water stored in the catchment; however, for the drier Marshall Gulch catchment in Arizona, evapotranspiration predominantly contained the younger water stored in the catchment. For the Marshall Gulch catchment, this higher probability for young water in evapotranspiration resulted in older water in the stream compared to travel times inferred with assumptions of complete mixing. New observations that focus on the TTD of the evapotranspiration flux and the actual travel time of water through a catchment are necessary to improve identification of mixing and consequently travel times of stream water. Copyright (c) 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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| 5. |
- Caporale, N., et al.
(författare)
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From cohorts to molecules: Adverse impacts of endocrine disrupting mixtures
- 2022
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Ingår i: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 375:6582
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Convergent evidence associates exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) with major human diseases, even at regulation-compliant concentrations. This might be because humans are exposed to EDC mixtures, whereas chemical regulation is based on a risk assessment of individual compounds. Here, we developed a mixture-centered risk assessment strategy that integrates epidemiological and experimental evidence. We identified that exposure to an EDC mixture in early pregnancy is associated with language delay in offspring. At human-relevant concentrations, this mixture disrupted hormone-regulated and disease-relevant regulatory networks in human brain organoids and in the model organisms Xenopus leavis and Danio rerio, as well as behavioral responses. Reinterrogating epidemiological data, we found that up to 54% of the children had prenatal exposures above experimentally derived levels of concern, reaching, for the upper decile compared with the lowest decile of exposure, a 3.3 times higher risk of language delay. © 2022 American Association for the Advancement of Science. All rights reserved.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Davidsson, Åsa
(författare)
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Can historic natural disturbances enable conservationopportunities? Evidence from the establishment of nationalparks in Sweden
- 2023
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Ingår i: Environmental Hazards. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1747-7891 .- 1878-0059.
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This study investigates conservation establishment and management in the context of Sweden's 30 national parks by conceptualising natural disturbances as focus events for conservation opportunities. Since positive effects on the environment manifest a long time after a natural disturbance, it may take time before society sees a need to conserve the natural area. To conceptualise such delayed responses to a focus event, the concept of a 'delayed window' is introduced. An analysis of Park Establishment Proposals from the Swedish Parliament for establishing and extending Sweden's national parks was conducted by sending a survey to county representatives for each national park (response rate 19/30). The results show that historic natural disturbances were mentioned as a motivating factor for establishing many of Sweden's 30 national parks (37%, i.e. 11 parks). The result suggests that the delayed window opens when biodiversity and Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES) values of historic disturbance(s) become visible. The time span for motivating values is calculated for biodiversity values (18-829 years) and CES values (5-829 years). However, surveyed representatives responded that future disturbances may not be desired or only desired if controlled or limited, highlighting a paradox in terms of the perceived value of past and future disturbances.
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| 8. |
- Jacobson, Lisa, et al.
(författare)
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Tipping to staying on the ground : Internalized knowledge of climate change crucial for transformed air travel behavior
- 2020
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI. - 2071-1050. ; 12:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Air travel accounts for a major share of individual greenhouse gas emissions, particularly for people in high-income countries. Until recently, few have reduced flying because of climate concerns, but currently, a movement for staying on the ground is rising. Sweden has been a focal point for this movement, particularly during 2018–2019, when a flight tax was introduced, and air travel reduction was intensely discussed in the media. We performed semi-structured interviews with Swedish residents, focusing primarily on individuals who have reduced flying because of its climate impact. We explore how such individual transformation of air travel behavior comes about, and the phases and components of this process. Applying a framework of sustainability transformation, we identify incentives and barriers in personal and political spheres. We show that internalized knowledge about climate change and the impact of air travel is crucial for instigating behavioral change. Awareness evokes negative emotions leading to a personal tipping point where a decision to reduce or quit flying is made. However, the process is often counteracted by both personal values and political structures promoting air travel. Even individuals with a strong drive to reduce flying feel trapped in social practices, norms and infrastructures. Hence, we argue that personal and political spheres interact complexly and to reduce flying at larger scales, interventions are needed across spheres, e.g., change of norms, effective policy instruments and better alternatives to air travel.
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| 9. |
- Fazey, Ioan, et al.
(författare)
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Transforming knowledge systems for life on Earth : Visions of future systems and how to get there
- 2020
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : Elsevier. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 70
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Formalised knowledge systems, including universities and research institutes, are important for contemporary societies. They are, however, also arguably failing humanity when their impact is measured against the level of progress being made in stimulating the societal changes needed to address challenges like climate change. In this research we used a novel futures-oriented and participatory approach that asked what future envisioned knowledge systems might need to look like and how we might get there. Findings suggest that envisioned future systems will need to be much more collaborative, open, diverse, egalitarian, and able to work with values and systemic issues. They will also need to go beyond producing knowledge about our world to generating wisdom about how to act within it. To get to envisioned systems we will need to rapidly scale methodological innovations, connect innovators, and creatively accelerate learning about working with intractable challenges. We will also need to create new funding schemes, a global knowledge commons, and challenge deeply held assumptions. To genuinely be a creative force in supporting longevity of human and non-human life on our planet, the shift in knowledge systems will probably need to be at the scale of the enlightenment and speed of the scientific and technological revolution accompanying the second World War. This will require bold and strategic action from governments, scientists, civic society and sustained transformational intent.
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| 10. |
- Derakhshan, Arash, et al.
(författare)
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Association of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances with thyroid homeostasis during pregnancy in the SELMA study
- 2022
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Ingår i: Environment International. - : Elsevier. - 0160-4120 .- 1873-6750. ; 167
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- ObjectivesTo investigate the association of exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) during early pregnancy with markers of the maternal thyroid system.MethodsSerum concentrations of seven PFAS as well as thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free and total thyroxine (FT4 and TT4), free and total triiodothyronine (FT3 and TT3) were measured in pregnant women in early pregnancy in the Swedish Environmental Longitudinal, Mother and child, Asthma and allergy (SELMA) study. Outcomes were concentrations of TSH and thyroid hormones, FT4/FT3 or TT4/TT3 ratios, TSH/FT4 ratio as a marker of the negative feedback loop, TT4/FT4 or TT3/FT3 ratios as markers of the binding of thyroid hormones to binding proteins.ResultsThe study population comprised 2,008 women with median (95% range) gestational age of 10 (6–14) weeks. There was no association between PFAS and TSH. Higher PFNA, PFDA, PFHpA and PFOA levels were associated with a higher FT4 (largest effect estimate for PFDA: β [95% CI]: 0.27 [0.10 to 0.45], P = 0.002). Higher PFUnDA levels, but no other PFAS, were associated with a lower FT3 (β [95% CI]: −0.05 [-0.09 to −0.01], P = 0.005). Higher PFUnDA levels were associated with lower TT4 (β [95% CI]: −1.58 [-3.07 to −0.09]) and there was an inverted U-shaped association of PFOS with TT4 (P = 0.03). Higher PFDA, PFUnDA, PFHpA levels were associated with a lower TT3. Overall, higher PFAS concentrations were associated with a higher FT4/FT3 ratio and a higher TT4/TT3 ratio. There was no association of PFAS with the TSH/FT4 ratio. Higher concentrations of several PFAS were associated with lower TT4/FT4 and TT3/FT3 ratios.ConclusionsThese findings translate results from experimental studies suggesting that exposure to PFAS may interfere with the thyroid system during pregnancy. Further experimental studies should take into account human evidence to better understand the potential underlying mechanisms of thyroid disruption by PFAS exposure.
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