| 1. |
- Diodato, Nazzareno, et al.
(författare)
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Monthly storminess over the Po River Basin during the past millennium (800–2018 CE)
- 2020
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications (ERC). - : IOP Publishing. - 2515-7620. ; 2:3, s. 1-13
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Reconstructing the occurrence of diluvial storms over centennial to millennial time-scales allows for placing the emergence of modern damaging hydrological events in a longer perspective to facilitate a better understanding of their rate of return in the absence of significant anthropogenic climatic forcing. These extremes have implications for the risk of flooding in sub-regional river basins during both colder and warmer climate states. Here, we present the first homogeneous millennium-long (800–2018 CE) time-series of diluvial storms for the Po River Basin, northern Italy, which is also the longest such time-series of monthly data for the entire Europe. The monthly reconstruction of damaging hydrological events derives from several types of historical documentary sources and reveals 387 such events, allowing the construction of storm severity indices by transforming the information into a monthly, quantitative, record. A period of reduced diluvial storms occurred in the ninth and tenth centuries, followed by a stormier period culminating in the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. More complex patterns emerge in the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries, with generally wetter and stormier conditions than during other centuries. From the seventeenth century onwards the number of damaging hydrological events decreases, with a return in recent decades to conditions similar to those prior to the thirteenth century The flood frequency tended to increase for all seasons during periods of low solar irradiance, suggesting the presence of solar-induced circulation changes resembling the negative phases of the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability as a controlling atmospheric mechanism.
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| 2. |
- Bera, Sudarsan, et al.
(författare)
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In-situ observations of cloud microphysics over Arabian Sea during dust transport events
- 2024
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications. - 2515-7620. ; 6:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The unique in situ measurements of clouds and precipitation within the shallow and deep cumulus over the north-eastern Arabian Sea region during the Indian monsoon are illustrated in this study with a focus on droplet spectral parameters. The observational period showed a significant incursion of Arabian dust and the presence of giant cloud condensation nuclei (GCCN), modifying the cloud and precipitation spectral properties. Warm rain microphysics supported the mixed-phase development in these clouds and exhibited hydrometeors of snow, graupel and large aggregates as part of ice processes. Cloud base droplet number concentration is about 142 ± 79 cm−3 which is one third of the cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) number concentration at 0.2% supersaturation. A rapid broadening of droplet size distribution (DSD) near to the cloud base was noted in contrast to polluted continental clouds. Relationship between the relative dispersion ( ϵ ; the ratio of DSD spectral width ( σ ) to mean radius ( r m )) and liquid water adiabatic fraction (AF) indicates that the entrainment effect has increased relative dispersion significantly (2-3 times larger) in these clouds. Effective radius ( r eff ) is found to be proportional to mean volume radius ( r v ) with a proportionality constant ( β ) that varies between 1.0-1.6, depending on the spectral dispersion parameter. Drop size distributions for the small cloud droplets with size range 2-50 μ m and the large drizzle drops (or ice hydrometeors) with size range 100-6400 μ m are parameterized using the gamma function distributions useful for large-scale cloud models.
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| 3. |
- Collste, David, 1988-, et al.
(författare)
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Participatory pathways to the Sustainable Development Goals : inviting divergent perspectives through a cross-scale systems approach
- 2023
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications (ERC). - 2515-7620. ; 5:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include social and ecological goals for humanity. Navigating towards reaching the goals requires the systematic inclusion of perspectives from a diversity of voices. Yet, the development of global sustainability pathways often lacks perspectives from the Global South. To help fill this gap, this paper introduces a participatory approach for visioning and exploring sustainable futures - the Three Horizons for the Sustainable Development Goals (3H4SDG). 3H4SDG facilitates explorations of (a) systemic pathways to reach the SDGs in an integrated way, and (b) highlights convergences and divergences between the pathways. We illustrate the application of 3H4SDG in a facilitated dialogue bringing together participants from four sub-regions of Africa: West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, and Southern Africa. The dialogue focused on food and agricultural systems transformations. The case study results incorporate a set of convergences and divergences in relation to the future of urbanization, population growth, consumption, and the role of agriculture in the African economy. These were subsequently compared with the perspectives in global sustainability pathways, including the shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs). The study illustrates that participatory approaches that are systemic and highlight divergent perspectives represent a promising way to link local aspirations with global goals.
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| 4. |
- Diodato, Nazzareno, et al.
(författare)
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Climatic fingerprint of spring discharge depletion in the southern Italian Apennines from 1601 to 2020 CE
- 2022
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications (ERC). - : IOP Publishing. - 2515-7620. ; 4:12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Annual mean spring discharge (ASD) is an important water supply source, essential for ecological systems and societies dependent on groundwater resources. Influenced by both regional and local climate fluctuations, the inter-annual variability of ASD represents a climate memory signal, significantly affected when the drought pattern manifests itself in changing climatic regimes. Gaining a better historical perspective on ASD changes requires extended time-series of discharge data and relevant climate drivers. Here, using a parsimonious model, we present a continuous (modelled) time-series of annual ASD for the karst spring of Caposele, in the Cervialto Massif of southern Italy, which is hitherto the longest (1601–2020 CE) such time-series for the entire Mediterranean region. The model was designed to capture the importance of large-scale seasonal (spring, autumn and winter) precipitation (hydro-meteorological factor), and flood and drought indices (climatological factor), and to be consistent with a sample (1920–2020 CE) of actual data. We show a limited overall sensitivity of ASD to climate variability, with a mean of 4.21 m3 s−1 and a drop from ∼1759 CE. With a mean value of ∼3.60 m3 s−1 after ∼1987 CE, ASD has revealed a substantial descending trend—possibly a fingerprint of recent warming—with a depletion of regional water reservoirs. These results highlight the need to strengthen the capacity of groundwater resources in the face of changing, and possibly enhanced, drought patterns in the Mediterranean region.
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| 5. |
- van den Berg, Nicole J., et al.
(författare)
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Decomposition analysis of per capita emissions : A tool for assessing consumption changes and technology changes within scenarios
- 2021
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications. - : IOP Publishing. - 2515-7620. ; 3:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent studies show that behaviour changes can provide an essential contribution to achieving the Paris climate targets. Existing climate change mitigation scenarios primarily focus on technological change and underrepresent the possible contribution of behaviour change. This paper presents and applies a methodology to decompose the factors contributing to changes in per capita emissions in scenarios. With this approach, we determine the relative contribution to total emissions from changes in activity, the way activities are carried out, the intensity of activities, as well as fuel choice. The decomposition tool breaks down per capita emissions loosely following the Kaya Identity, allowing a comparison between the contributions of technology and consumption changes among regions and between various scenarios. We illustrate the use of the tool by applying it to three previously-published scenarios; a baseline scenario, a scenario with a selection of behaviour changes, and a 2 °C scenario with the same selection of behaviour changes. Within these scenarios, we explore the contribution of technology and consumption changes to total emission changes in the transport and residential sector, for a selection of both developed and developing regions. In doing so, the tool helps identify where specifically (i.e. via consumption or technology factors) different measures play a role in mitigating emissions and expose opportunities for improved representation of behaviour changes in integrated assessment models. This research shows the value of the decomposition tool and how the approach could be flexibly replicated for different global models based on available variables and aims. The application of the tool to previously-published scenarios shows substantial differences in consumption and technology changes from CO2 price and behaviour changes, in transport and residential per capita emissions and between developing and developed regions. Furthermore, the tool’s application can highlight opportunities for future scenario development of a more nuanced and heterogeneous representation of behaviour and lifestyle changes in global models.
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| 6. |
- Eklöf, Karin, et al.
(författare)
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Methylmercury in lake bed soils during re-flooding of an Appalachian reservoir in the northeastern USA
- 2021
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Ingår i: Environmental research communications. - : IOP Publishing. - 2515-7620. ; 3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mercury methylation, where inorganic mercury (Hg) is converted to methylmercury (MeHg), can increase in soils when flooded. While effects of the initial flooding of soils on MeHg production have been well studied, less is known about impacts of re-flooding on MeHg production. Lake Perez, an impounded recreational reservoir in the Appalachian Highlands, was completely drained then re-filled 7 years later. We use a combination of chemical, soil physical, and microbial data to quantify changes in MeHg before and after re-flooding of the lakebed. Portions that were transiently saturated due to pluvial flooding had the highest pre-flooded MeHg concentrations. When the lake was re-flooded, concentrations of MeHg in subaqueous soils increased by a factor of 2.74 (+174%) on average. Substantial variability was observed among the sampling sites, with smaller increases in MeHg at sites subjected to seasonal flooding during periods when the reservoir was drained. The increase of soil MeHg after re-flooding was lower in this study compared to studies that evaluated soil MeHg after initial flooding, indicating that re-flooding of a former lake bed caused a smaller response in MeHg production compared to initial flooding of terrestrial land. This study advances understanding of the environmental impact of impounded reservoirs.
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| 7. |
- Krishnamohan, K. S., et al.
(författare)
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Effects of local and remote black carbon aerosols on summer monsoon precipitation over India
- 2021
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications (ERC). - : IOP Publishing. - 2515-7620. ; 3:8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this study, we perform idealized climate model simulations to assess the relative impacts of an increase in local black carbon (BC) aerosols (located over the Indian region) and the remote BC aerosols (located outside the Indian region) on the summer monsoon precipitation over India. We decompose the precipitation changes into fast adjustments triggered by the introduction of the forcing agent and slow response that is associated with the global mean temperature change. We find that a 60-fold increase in the 'present-day' global distribution of BC aerosols leads to an increase in precipitation over India, which is mainly contributed by an increase in remote BC aerosols. When remote BC aerosols are increased, the fast adjustments contribute to an increase in precipitation in association with the warming of the northern hemisphere land and the related northward Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) shift. For an increase in local aerosols too, by enhancing the upper tropospheric temperature meridional gradient in the Indian region, the fast adjustments contribute to an increase in precipitation over India. The slow response contributions in both cases are related to the regional patterns of SST change and the resulting changes to meridional temperature gradient in the Indian region and zonal circulation changes. The net precipitation change over India is an increase (decrease) for an increase in remote (local) BC aerosols. As the interpretation of our results relies on ITCZ shift related to planetary energetics, differing land-ocean response and meridional temperature gradients in the Indian region, the results from our study are likely to be robust across climate models.
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| 8. |
- Small, Gaston, et al.
(författare)
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Excess phosphorus from compost applications in urban gardens creates potential pollution hotspots
- 2019
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications (ERC). - : Institute of Physics (IOP). - 2515-7620. ; 1:9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Urban sustainability initiatives often encompass such goals as increasing local food production, closing nutrient loops through recycling organic waste, and reducing water pollution. However, there are potential tradeoffs among these desired outcomes that may constrain progress. For example, expansion of urban agriculture for food production may create hotspots of nutrient pollution if nutrient recycling is inefficient. We used gardener and urban farmer survey data from the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area (Minnesota, USA) to characterize phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) inputs and harvest in order to determine nutrient use efficiencies, and measured soil P concentrations at a subset of these sites to test whether excess soil P was common. All survey respondents (n = 142) reported using some form of soil amendment, with plant-based composts being the most common. Median application rates were 300 kg P/ha and 1400 kg N/ha. Median nutrient use efficiencies were low (2.5% for P, 5.0% for N) and there was only a weak positive relationship between P and N inputs and P and N harvested in crop biomass. Garden soils had a median Bray P value of 80 ppm, showing a buildup of plant-available P far exceeding recommended levels. Our results show that urban gardens are characterized by high nutrient inputs and inefficient conversion of these nutrients into crops, leading to buildup and potential loss of P and N from garden soils. Although urban gardens make up only 0.1% of land area in the Twin Cities, compost application to these urban gardens still constitutes one of the largest inputs of P to the watershed. In order to maximize desired outcomes from the expansion of urban agriculture (UA), it will be necessary to target soil amendments based on soil nutrient levels and crop nutrient demand.
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| 9. |
- Daume, Stefan, 1970-
(författare)
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Online misinformation during extreme weather emergencies : short-term information hazard or long-term influence on climate change perceptions?
- 2024
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications (ERC). - 2515-7620. ; 6:2
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Extreme weather events linked to climate change are becoming more frequent. The online public discourse on and during these events, especially on social media, attracts misinformation that can undermine short-term emergency responses, but can also be aimed at influencing long-term public perceptions of climate change. This contribution reviews existing research on online misinformation with the aim to understand the types, origins, and potential impacts of misinformation during extreme weather events like storms, floods, and wildfires. The screening of 289 publications reveals that there is scarce body of only 13 studies addressing this question. Relevant studies exploring online misinformation during extreme weather events rarely document misinformation immediately relevant for emergency responses and only recently link this to the discussion about climate change. The reviewed research provides however insights to derive a framework that can guide future research into this topic. Specifically, that misinformation in social media during environmental emergencies 1) cuts across domains and merges different areas of public interest, 2) cuts across temporal and geographical scales, and 3) needs to be studied as part of an interconnected online media landscape. Misinformation differs between emergency event types, can undermine the debate about climate change in diverse ways, appeal to completely different audiences and thus will likely require different responses and countermeasures. Structured research with comparable methodologies is urgently needed.
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| 10. |
- Davidsson Kurland, Simon, 1986
(författare)
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Energy use for GWh-scale lithium-ion battery production
- 2020
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications. - : IOP Publishing. - 2515-7620. ; 2:1
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Estimates of energy use for lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery cell manufacturing show substantial variation, contributing to disagreements regarding the environmental benefits of large-scale deployment of electric mobility and other battery applications. Here, energy usage is estimated for two large-scale battery cell factories using publicly available data. It is concluded that these facilities use around 50–65 kWh (180–230 MJ) of electricity per kWh of battery capacity, not including other steps of the supply chain, such as mining and processing of materials. These estimates are lower than previous studies using data on pilot-scale or under-utilized facilities but are similar to recent estimates based on fully utilized, large-scale factories. The environmental impact of battery manufacturing varies with the amounts and form of energy used; especially as renewable sources replace electricity from fossil fuels. As additional large-scale battery factories are taken into use, more data should become available, and the reliance on outdated, unrepresentative, and often incomparable, estimates of energy usage in the emerging Li-ion battery industry should be avoided.
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| 11. |
- Diodato, Nazzareno, et al.
(författare)
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Outcome of environmental change from historical sediment discharge in a Mediterranean fluvial basin, 1500-2019 CE
- 2021
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications (ERC). - : IOP Publishing. - 2515-7620. ; 3:7
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Soil loss is a challenge for sustainable river management, not the least in the Mediterranean region, with climate extremes altering erosion and overland sediment transport. The dynamics of these processes, and their ecological consequences, are poorly documented in the Mediterranen region. For the Arno River Basin (ARB), located by the Tyrrhenian coast of Italy, we estimated changes in annual sediment discharge (SD) as a function of the landscape characteristics within the basin, the seasonal distribution of precipitation and flooding, and the vegetation cover. Owing to a semi-empirical modelling framework, we identified critical erosion-/deposition-prone periods from 1500 to 2019 CE. The long-term estimated mean gross soil erosion in the ARB was ∼900 Mg km−2 yr−1, whereas mean net erosion was ∼200 Mg km−2 yr−1. The results revealed that during the Little Ice Age (ending ∼1850 CE), increased storms and SD had a large impact on the landscape and agricultural activity of the ARB. The downward trend in SD observed after ∼1903 CE occurred with high soil movement, along with environmental change and basin reforestation. The basin area thus experienced, on average, only slight soil losses, with ∼76% of the eroded soil being trapped along the stream reaches, on gently sloping areas as well as in the foot slopes and the valley terrains which divide the basin area. Relying on credible information regarding SD and its hydrological drivers, we showed how historical climatology and parsimonious modelling can be implemented to obtain basin-wide estimates of soil loss, and are appropriate tools for sustainable river basin management.
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| 12. |
- Dunn, Robert J.H., et al.
(författare)
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Reduction in reversal of global stilling arising from correction to encoding of calm periods
- 2022
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications. - : IOP Publishing. - 2515-7620. ; 4:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We describe an undocumented change in how calm periods in near-surface wind speed (and direction) observations have been encoded in a subset of global datasets of sub-daily data after 2013. This has resulted in the under-estimation of the number of calm periods for meteorological stations across much of Asia and Europe. Hence average wind speeds after 2013 have been over-estimated, affecting the assessment of changes in global stilling and reversal phenomena after this date. By addressing this encoding change we show that globally, since 2010, wind speeds have recovered by around 30% less than previously thought.
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| 13. |
- Emerton, Rebecca E., et al.
(författare)
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What is the most useful approach for forecasting hydrological extremes during El Niño?
- 2019
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications (ERC). - : IOP PUBLISHING LTD. - 2515-7620. ; 1:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the past, efforts to prepare for the impacts of El Nino-driven flood and drought hazards have often relied on seasonal precipitation forecasts as a proxy for hydrological extremes, due to a lack of hydrologically relevant information. However, precipitation forecasts are not the best indicator of hydrological extremes. Now, two different global scale hydro-meteorological approaches for predicting river flow extremes are available to support flood and drought preparedness. These approaches are statistical forecasts based on large-scale climate variability and teleconnections, and resource-intensive dynamical forecasts using coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation models. Both have the potential to provide early warning information, and both are used to prepare for El Nino impacts, but which approach provides the most useful forecasts? This study uses river flow observations to assess and compare the ability of two recently-developed forecasts to predict high and low river flow during El Nino: statistical historical probabilities of ENSO-driven hydrological extremes, and the dynamical seasonal river flow outlook of the Global Flood Awareness System (GloFAS-seasonal). Our findings highlight regions of the globe where each forecast is (or is not) skilful compared to a forecast of climatology, and the advantages and disadvantages of each forecasting approach. We conclude that in regions where extreme river flow is predominantly driven by El Nino, or in regions where GloFAS-seasonal currently lacks skill, the historical probabilities generally provide a more useful forecast. In areas where other teleconnections also impact river flow, with the effect of strengthening, mitigating or even reversing the influence of El Nino, GloFAS-seasonal forecasts are typically more useful.
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| 14. |
- Gudasz, Cristian, 1973-, et al.
(författare)
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When does temperature matter for ecosystem respiration?
- 2021
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications (ERC). - : Institute of Physics (IOP). - 2515-7620. ; 3:12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The temperature response of ecosystem processes is key to understand and predict impacts of climate change. This is especially true for respiration, given its high temperature sensitivity and major role in the global carbon cycle. However, similar intrinsic temperature sensitivity for respiration does not mean comparable temperature effects across ecosystems and biomes because non-temperature factors can be more important. Here we analyzed soil and sediment respiration data and found that in temperature ranges corresponding to high latitude mean temperatures, absolute respiration rates aremore sensitive to non-temperature factors than to projected direct temperature effects. However, at higher temperatures (>20 °C) the direct effect of temperature mediated by temperature sensitivity will likely be more important over changes in non-temperature factors in shaping how respiration change over time. This supports past suggestions that the relatively small projected temperature increase at low (tropical) latitudes may have a large direct impact on absolute respiration. In contrast, absolute respiration rates at high (boreal/arctic) latitudes will likely bemore sensitive on the development of the non-temperature factors than on the direct effects of the large projected temperature increase there.Social media abstract: Respirationmay be less dependent to changes in temperature at higher than lower latitudes.
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| 15. |
- Kulin, Joakim, 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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Political trust and public support for climate policy in Europe: The role of perceptions about politicians’ competence and integrity
- 2024
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications (ERC). - : Institute of Physics (IOP). - 2515-7620.
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- While previous studies on the relationship between political trust and support for climate policy have focused on the evaluative component of trust, namely whether politicians and the political system can be trusted or not, less is known about the role of different dimensions of trustworthiness that underlie such evaluations. In this study, we examine how perceptions about politicians' competence and integrity, two central dimensions of trustworthiness, are related to public support for climate policies. Using survey data from four European countries (Sweden, Germany, Spain, and Poland), we find that people who think that politicians are competent are generally more likely to support climate policy. In contrast, we do not find such a relationship between integrity perceptions (e.g., corruption) and policy attitudes. These findings are consistent across national contexts and hold even when alternating the measures capturing competence and integrity perceptions. To bolster public support for climate policies, climate communication should prioritize addressing public concerns regarding politicians' competence in designing sound climate policies, rather than alleviating concerns about their integrity, such as fears of corruption.
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| 16. |
- Mandev, Ahmet, 1991, et al.
(författare)
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Factors impacting real-world fuel economy of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in Europe - an empirical analysis
- 2024
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications. - 2515-7620. ; 6:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) combine an electric motor with an internal combustion engine and can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport if mainly driven on electricity. The environmental benefit of PHEVs strongly depends on its usage and charging behavior. Several studies have demonstrated low electric driving shares (EDS) of many PHEVs. However, there is limited evidence on which vehicle properties affect the EDS of PHEVs to which extent. Here, we provide an empirical and quantitative analysis of real-world EDS and fuel consumption and look at how they are impacted by factors related to vehicle properties such as range, system power and mass. We complement previous studies on real-world EDS and fuel consumption of PHEVs by combining two different data sets, with almost 100,000 vehicles in total, over 150 models in 41 countries, which is combined the largest PHEV sample in Europe to date to be analyzed in the literature. We find that an increase of 10 km of type approval range leads on average to 13%-17% fuel consumption decrease and 1%-4% EDS increase. Furthermore, a 1 kW increase in system power per 100 kg of vehicle mass is associated with an average increase of 7%-9% in fuel consumption and a decrease of up to 2% in EDS. We also find that long-distance driving and charging behavior are the largest non-technical factors for the deviation between type-approval and real-world data. Furthermore, PHEV fuel consumption and related tail-pipe emissions in Europe are on average higher than official EU values.
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| 17. |
- Mandev, Ahmet, 1991, et al.
(författare)
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The effect of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle charging on fuel consumption and tail-pipe emissions
- 2021
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications. - : IOP Publishing. - 2515-7620. ; 3:8
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) have an electric motor and an internal combustion engine and can reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from transport. However, their environmental benefit strongly depends on the charging behaviour. Several studies have analysed the GHG emissions from upstream electricity production, yet the impact of individual charging behaviour on PHEV tail-pipe carbon emissions has not been quantified from empirical data so far. Here, we use daily driving data from 7,491 Chevrolet Volt PHEV with a total 3.4 million driving days in the US and Canada to fill this gap. We quantify the effect of daily charging on the electric driving share and the individual fuel consumption. We find that even a minor deviation from charging every driving day significantly increases fuel consumption and thus tail-pipe emissions. Our results show that reducing charging from every day to 9 out of 10 days, increases fuel consumption on average by 1.85 +/- 0.03 l/100 km or 42.7 +/- 0.8 gCO(2) km(-1) tail-pipe emissions (+/- on standard error). Charging more than once per driving day has less impact in our sample, this must occur during at least 20% of driving days to have a noteworthy effect. Even then, a 10% increase in frequency only has moderate effect of decreasing fuel consumption on average by 0.08 +/- 0.02 l/100 km or 1.86 +/- 0.46 gCO(2) km(-1) tail-pipe emissions. Our results illustrate the importance of providing adequate charging infrastructure and incentives for PHEV users to charge their vehicles on a regular basis in order to ensure that their environmental impact is small as even long-range PHEVs can have a noteworthy share of conventional fuel use when not regularly charged.
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| 18. |
- Moksnes, Nandi, et al.
(författare)
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Determinants of energy futures—a scenario discovery method applied to cost and carbon emission futures for South American electricity infrastructure
- 2019
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications (ERC). - : IOP Publishing. - 2515-7620. ; 02:5001
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Energy policy and investment are commonly informed by a small number of scenarios, modelled with proprietary models and closed data-sets. It limits what levels of insight that can be derived from it. This paper overcomes these critical concerns by exploring a large number of scenarios with an open-data and open-source model to address regional mitigation policy. Focusing on South America, we translate an ensemble of long-term electricity supply scenarios into policy insights and use post-processing methods to present a systematic mapping of solution outputs to model inputs. We find demand levels, the cost of capital and the level of CO2-limits to be significant determinants of total investment cost. Low-carbon pathways are associated with low demand and low cost of capital. When cost of capital increases a shift away from wind and hydropower to natural gas and solar PV is seen. We further show that appropriate concessionary finance together with energy efficiency measures are critical—at a continental level—to unlock economic, low-carbon investment.
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| 19. |
- Rommel, Jens
(författare)
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Clean environments as a social norm: a field experiment on cigarette littering
- 2020
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Ingår i: Environmental research communications. - : IOP Publishing. - 2515-7620. ; 2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cigarette littering in public spaces is an environmental and aesthetic problem. Broken windows theory posits that visible signs of anti-social behavior such as littering create the perception of a social norm in built environments. Cigarette butts on the ground then encourage people to drop theirs as well. We test this theory on benches of a university campus in a field experiment with two treatments: (1) a clean environment with no cigarette butts on the ground and (2) a dirty environment with 25 cigarette butts on the ground. Our outcome variable is the number of additional cigarette butts on the ground after two hours. We find a small effect of approximately 0.5 butts less per 2-hour period on clean grounds. Increased cleaning efforts can thus reduce littering, but the effect is probably too small to justify additional cleaning costs.
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| 20. |
- Schulte, Maximilian, et al.
(författare)
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Climate change mitigation from increased paper recycling in Sweden : conserving forests or utilizing substitution?
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications (ERC). - : IOP Publishing. - 2515-7620. ; 6:7
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Climate change mitigation by increased paper recycling can alleviate the two-sided pressure on the Swedish forest sector: supplying growing demands for wood-based products and increasing the forest carbon sink. This study assesses two scenarios for making use of a reduced demand for primary pulp resulting from an increased paper recycling rate in Sweden, from the present 72% to 78%. A Conservation scenario uses the saved primary pulp to reduce pulplog harvests so as to increase the forest carbon sink concomitant with constant overall wood product supply. In contrast, a Substitution scenario uses the saved primary pulp to produce man-made cellulosic fibers (MMCF) from dissolving pulp replacing cotton fiber, implying increased overall wood product supply. Our results suggest that utilizing efficiency gains in paper recycling to reduce pulplog harvests is better from a climate change mitigation perspective than producing additional MMCF to substitute cotton fiber. This conclusion holds even when assuming the use of by-products from dissolving pulp making and an indirect increase in MMCF availability. Hence, unless joint improvements across the value chain materialize, the best climate change mitigation option from increased paper recycling in Sweden would seemingly be to reduce fellings rather than producing additional MMCF.
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| 21. |
- Schulte, Maximilian, et al.
(författare)
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Climate change mitigation from increased paper recycling in Sweden: conserving forests or utilizing substitution?
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Environmental research communications. - 2515-7620. ; 6
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Climate change mitigation by increased paper recycling can alleviate the two-sided pressure on the Swedish forest sector: supplying growing demands for wood-based products and increasing the forest carbon sink. This study assesses two scenarios for making use of a reduced demand for primary pulp resulting from an increased paper recycling rate in Sweden, from the present 72% to 78%. A Conservation scenario uses the saved primary pulp to reduce pulplog harvests so as to increase the forest carbon sink concomitant with constant overall wood product supply. In contrast, a Substitution scenario uses the saved primary pulp to produce man-made cellulosic fibers (MMCF) from dissolving pulp replacing cotton fiber, implying increased overall wood product supply. Our results suggest that utilizing efficiency gains in paper recycling to reduce pulplog harvests is better from a climate change mitigation perspective than producing additional MMCF to substitute cotton fiber. This conclusion holds even when assuming the use of by-products from dissolving pulp making and an indirect increase in MMCF availability. Hence, unless joint improvements across the value chain materialize, the best climate change mitigation option from increased paper recycling in Sweden would seemingly be to reduce fellings rather than producing additional MMCF.
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| 22. |
- Soares, Pedro R., et al.
(författare)
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Drought effects on soil organic carbon under different agricultural systems
- 2023
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications (ERC). - : IOP Publishing. - 2515-7620. ; 5:11
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Drought is a natural hazard occurring with increasing frequency due to climate change. Drought events reduce soil water content and also soil organic carbon (SOC) content, with negative impacts on crop development and food security. This study investigates the impact of drought on SOC dynamics in agricultural systems and the influence of water availability and farm management practices in these impacts. The manuscript is a systematic review, based on Scopus database for scoping the literature on the topic. A total of 283 records were retrieved, but only 16 papers were relevant for the review. The main findings are: (1) water plays a key role in regulating SOC mineralization due to its impact on dynamics of soil microbial communities, necessitating further research on water management to mitigate carbon losses during drought; (2) different agricultural systems can have differing impacts on SOC under drought conditions depending on crop type (e.g. pastures are more resilient than arable systems) and farm management practices; and (3) SOC loss generally occurs after a drought event, regardless of farm management regime, but the contribution of drought to this loss requires further research. Best management practices, such as cover cropping and soil amendment, can minimize SOC losses, but further research is required to optimize these practices in counteracting the effect of drought. A better understanding of the effects of drought on SOC dynamics, and of short-term and long-term ways to mitigate these effects, is important to ensure soil health and crop productivity.
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| 23. |
- Sridharan, Vignesh, et al.
(författare)
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Land, energy and water resource management and its impact on GHG emissions, electricity supply and food production- Insights from a Ugandan case study
- 2020
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications (ERC). - : IOP Publishing. - 2515-7620. ; 2:8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite the excitement around the nexus between land, energy and water resource systems, policies enacted to govern and use these resources are still formulated in isolation, without considering the interdependencies. Using a Ugandan case study, we highlight the impact that one policy change in the energy system will have on other resource systems. We focus on deforestation, long term electricity supply planning, crop production, water consumption, land-use change and climate impacting greenhouse gas (GHG) trajectories. In this study, an open-source integrated modelling framework is used to map the ripple effects of a policy change related to reducing biomass consumption. We find that, despite the reduction in deforestation of woodlands and forests, the GHG emissions in the power sector are expected to increase in between 2040-2050, owing to higher fossil fuel usage. This policy change is also likely to increase the cost of electricity generation, which in turn affects the agricultural land types. There is an unforeseen shift from irrigated to rainfed type land due to higher electricity costs. With this integrated model setup for Uganda, we highlight the need for integrated policy planning that takes into consideration the interlinkages between the resource systems and cross propagation effects.
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| 24. |
- Strandberg, Gustav, 1977-, et al.
(författare)
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Plant pathogen infection risk and climate change in the Nordic and Baltic countries
- 2024
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications (ERC). - 2515-7620. ; 6:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Climate change and global warming are already affecting food production, and the impact is predicted to intensify in the future. Previous studies have been based on global data and have provided general information about climate change effects on food production. Regional high-resolution data are, however, needed to evaluate the effect of future scenarios of climate change to support strategic and tactical planning to safeguard food production. Here, we provide results on the future potential distribution range of fungal plant pathogens in the Nordic and Baltic countries. This is done using regional climate model data at 12.5 km horizontal resolution. The temperature dependent infection risk and species richness are calculated using data for 80 plant pathogens. Within the region the studied pathogens will in most cases thrive more and be more abundant in a warmer climate; leading to a longer infection risk season and the introduction of new pathogens. This applies to all emissions scenarios, even though the effects are stronger with high emissions. Our results indicate that plant diseases will increase, and this will negatively affect crop production and food security.
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| 25. |
- Xia, Ziqian, et al.
(författare)
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A meta-analysis of the relationship between climate change experience and climate change perception
- 2022
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications. - : IOP Publishing. - 2515-7620. ; 4:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Will climate change experience shape people's climate change perception? To examine the evidence, we performed a pre-registered meta-analysis using data from 302 studies, covering 351,378 observations. Our results find that climate change experience only has a weak positive correlation with climate change awareness in general (r = 0.098, 95% CI 0.0614, 0.1348), and the effect sizes vary considerably across different climate events. General hazard and temperature anomalies experiences have significant correlations, but other events exhibit no or neglectable effects. The moderator analysis showed that self-reported studies result in higher correlations, whereas studies based on victims' actual experiences report lower effect sizes. Our study suggests that people's climate change experiences may not be effective in shaping their awareness of climate change, which is likely due to people's attribution style and adaptability. The importance of proactive education thus is further emphasized to raise the awareness of climate change.
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| 26. |
- Zapata-Morán, Irene, et al.
(författare)
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Tequila, bats, and agave farmers: towards an understanding of the right incentives to protect genetic diversity
- 2024
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications. - 2515-7620. ; 6:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tequila has a designation of origin by which it can only be produced with the blue agave (Agave tequilana Weber blue variety) grown in certain regions of Mexico. For several decades, an intensive asexual technique of reproduction has prevailed in the tequila industry. This has not only been detrimental for the agave’s genetic diversity, but it has also harmed bat populations. The low levels of diversity have increased the agave’s exposure to pests and diseases and have limited the possibilities for artificial selection of beneficial characteristics that can improve production. Arguably, with the cooperation of producers and consumers, it is possible to have an environmentally friendly and resilient production system. We focus on the agave producers and analyze their willingness to let some of their plants flower in exchange of some monetary and non-monetary benefits. By analyzing data from a choice experiment, we show that farmers are willing to let some of their plants flower even when they only receive partial compensation for the value of the plants. Farmers also show a willingness to participate in a conservation program if they receive a non-monetary transfer or expect an increase in yield because of the program. Our results provide a relevant piece of information that can help policymakers, producers, NGOs, and other participants in the tequila industry, in the design of effective strategies that can lead to the genetic conservation of blue agave and the protection of magueyero bats.
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| 27. |
- Mundaca, Luis, et al.
(författare)
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The global expansion of climate mitigation policy interventions, the Talanoa Dialogue and the role of behavioural insights
- 2019
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications. - : IOP Publishing. - 2515-7620. ; 1:6, s. 1-14
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Increasing attention is being paid to the Paris Climate Agreement and the impacts of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) intended to limit global warming to 1.5 °C. However, the nature and evolution of existing policy mixes that underlie NDCs remain poorly understood. This critical issue has emerged from the outcomes of the Talanoa Dialogue for Climate Ambition, where little progress was made in building a comprehensive, evidence-based foundation for effective climate policy. To a large extent, this is due to the nature of the process, and a lack of data related to policy interventions in the pre-2020 period, notably their composition, coverage, and orientation. We seek to address these shortcomings by applying a directed content analysis to a dataset of national and city-level policy interventions. The aim is to quantify the nature and evolution of policy efforts that promote the adoption of low-carbon energy technologies (LCETs) globally. Fifteen databases, containing more than 10,000 policies and measures were reviewed. Our findings highlight the rapid spread of policy portfolios and an international convergence towards economic incentives (notably subsidies). At the city level, technology and infrastructure policies dominate. However, it is unclear to what extent behavioural factors (i.e., cognitive, motivational and contextual aspects) that affect the choice and use of LCETs are taken into account in policy design. This is particularly important because studies that model the feasibility of the 1.5 °C target reveal behavioural changes and the rapid adoption of low-carbon lifestyles as critical enabling factors. In response to the outcomes from the Talanoa Dialogue, we argue that policymakers need to go beyond stringent policy mixes and rapidly re-think their traditional economic-driven policymaking approach. Far more attention needs to be given to behavioural factors when designing, evaluating and implementing LCET policies.
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| 28. |
- Sun, He, et al.
(författare)
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General overestimation of ERA5 precipitation in flow simulations for High Mountain Asia basins
- 2021
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Communications. - : IOP Publishing. - 2515-7620. ; 3:12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Precipitation is one of the most important input to hydrological models, although obtaining sufficient precipitation observations and accurate precipitation estimates in High Mountain Asia (HMA) is challenging. ERA5 precipitation is the latest generation of reanalysis dataset that is attracting huge attention from various fields but it has not been evaluated in hydrological simulations in HMA. To remedy this gap, we first statistically evaluated ERA5 precipitation with observations from 584 gauges in HMA, and then investigated its potential in hydrological simulation in 11 HMA basins using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) hydrological model. The ERA5 precipitation generally captures the seasonal variations of gauge observations, and the broad spatial distributions of precipitation in both magnitude and trends in HMA. The ERA5 exhibits a reasonable flow simulation (RB of 5%–10%) at the Besham hydrological station of the upper Indus (UI) basin when the contribution from glacier runoff is added to the simulated total runoff. But it overestimates the observations in other HMA basins by 33%–106% without considering glacier runoff, mostly due to the overestimates in the ERA5 precipitation inputs. Therefore, a bias correction is definitely needed before ERA5 precipitation is used for hydrological simulations in HMA basins.
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