Top Research Papers on Climate Change

Climate change is inevitable: storms, floods, heat islands in inner cities are consequences that the real estate industry is already facing today. However, the outlook for the future is not all gloomy. Scientists have calculated that investments in climate protection are worthwhile. In addi-tion, a change in society is emerging. New needs are emerging and customers expect climate-friendly living and working. It is therefore time to see climate change not only as a threat, but also as an opportunity to generate new products and access additional customer groups. To analyze the opportunities and...

Mobile pastoralists are amongst those most at risk to climate change, yet they are amongst those with the greatest potential to adapt to climate change, and they may also of- fer one of the greatest hopes for mitigating climate change. The vulnerability that is associated with climate change in some pastoral environments has its roots in the restriction of tried and tested pastoral coping strategies. Pastoral adaptation faces a myriad of challenges, of which climatic change is but one, and indeed, the challenge of climate change seems insignificant to many pastoralists who are faced with extre...

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Land Degradation (REDD) became a hot topic at UNFCCC meetings since 2005. Most countries where deforestation occurs call for a mechanism that would render REDD project activities eligible to funding mechanisms, on behalf of the fight against global warming. But they also raise "outstanding methodological issues" that remain unsolved, such as the difficulties to establish reference scenarios about national emissions. This article proposes a mechanism that could solve some of these issues. The key features of this mechanism would be the direct payment of...

This chapter summarises some of the major episodes between the Earth's formation and the beginning of the current, Quaternary, ice age.

In most places on this planet's terrestrial surface there are the signs of life. Even in those places where there is not much life today, there are frequently signs of past life, be it fossils, coal or chalk. Further, it is almost a rule of thumb that if you do discover signs of past life, either tens of thousands or millions of years ago, then such signs will most likely point to different species to those found there today. Why? Here there are a number of answers, not least of which is evolution. Yet a key feature of why broad types of species (be they broad-leaved tree species as opposed to...

Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com their stomata open to acquire further CO2, or to produce leaves with lower stomata density, decreasing evapotranspiration in the process. At continental scales, particularly in tropical and equatorial latitudes, this phenomenon can cause significant changes in water biogeochemical cycle, shifts in rainfall patterns, including projections of freshwater availability. This physiological process (i.e. water vapor loss by the plant to the atmosphere via the opening and closure of leaves’ microscopic stomatal apertures) when taken into account over a vas...

There is a growing body of evidence which suggests that climate change could have important consequences on the hydrological cycle of South Africa - including water supply for irrigation.

The one duty we have to history is to rewrite it. Oscar Wilde. To be certain about how the climate has changed in the past we would need reliable measurements of the relevant parameters (e.g. temperature, rainfall, cloud cover, extent of winter snow and sea-ice, etc.) for representative points around the globe, for regular intervals of time going back as far as we wanted. In practice we have none of these things. Even with modern observations systems there are gaps in our knowledge of how the global climate is changing. Going back in time the problems mount. The whole process of improving the ...

This research presents a state-of-the-art virtual reality system that automates the very labor-intensive and therefore expensive and therefore time-heavy and expensive and expensive process of designing and implementing these systems.

This chapter provides an overview of the key considerations in the planning, implementing and monitoring the land access and resettlement required for projects. Perhaps the primary objective of the international resettlement standards is to minimise the amount of land to be acquired and the number of people requiring resettlement. Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) practitioners contribute to discussions about the extent of land-take in several ways. They often determine the environmental buffers that are applied to projects. Changing project specifications can significantly red...

A report based on a press briefing organised by The Association of British Science Writers and The Royal Society by Martin Redfern BBC World Service Science Unit

Discourse on climate change has portrayed biospheric life as sensitive, vulnerable and adaptable, while fostering human life as changeable and contingent. This paper traces how the politicization of ‘life itself’ extends organizing processes with the atmosphere as a new terrain for government. The analysis illustrates how green governmentality, which claims to take the life of the entire planet into consideration, with climate change reconfigures human species-being into ‘moral life’. This is testament of a shift in biopolitical imaginaries, enforced by risk politics and ethopolitics, that pro...

Climate change and its impact on human survival have been today’s major challenge and key topics of discussion globally. When considering the catastrophic impacts climate change will bring to earth, in-depth studies on the mechanics and chemistry of climate changes has been emerging. Simultaneously, international and national policies to reduce the vulnerability from climate change have been developed. This article discusses environmental retrospect and climate change issues and highlights efforts taken by global community to reduce GHG. An analysis through an equity lens is made between devel...

Climate change poses a grave security threat to national borders, habitats, and vulnerable people. Plagued by asymmetries in both states' vulnerability to climate impacts and their capacity to mitigate them, climate change presents states with a “wicked” problem that poses significant obstacles to interest-based solutions. Yet, most global climate change policy involves rationales and mechanisms grounded in an interest-based logic of consequences: information-sharing, reciprocity, and exchange. We argue that strategies that promote ethics-based discourse and policies offer considerable promise...

The talk with present the key results of the IPCC Working Group III 5th assessment report. Concluding four years of intense scientific collaboration by hundreds of authors from around the world, the report responds to the request of the world's governments for a comprehensive, objective and policy neutral assessment of the current scientific knowledge on mitigating climate change. The report has been extensively reviewed by experts and governments to ensure quality and comprehensiveness.

This volume of the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provides a comprehensive, state-of-the-art and worldwide overview of scientific knowledge related to the mitigation of climate change. It includes a detailed assessment of costs and potentials of mitigation technologies and practices, implementation barriers, and policy options for the sectors: energy supply, transport, buildings, industry, agriculture, forestry and waste management. It links sustainable development policies with climate change practices. This volume will again be the stan...

Introduction No sooner do we start experiencing the world than the world starts shaping our causal beliefs about it, by providing feedback on our actions, predisposing us to expect certain outcomes from particular actions, and thus to link causes to effects. It is only human to generalize and abstract stories from these. While specific actions and their specific consequences may be misremembered or forgotten (Brown, 1990; Koriat et al ., 2000; Loftus et al ., 1987), their cumulative legacy includes a set of general causal beliefs, or mental models, of how things work. Mental models are our inf...

Introduction Formulating and implementing effective climate action in cities poses a core set of challenges for city governance. This chapter addresses the need for an empowered governance of cities worldwide, if cities and nations are to successfully confront the challenges of climate change. City governments are constrained on a number of fronts when it comes to formulating and implementing climate action. Many city governments are weakened due to only limited power over and responsibility for key public services, including planning, housing, roads and transportation systems, water, land use...

The talk with present the key results of the IPCC Working Group III 5th assessment report. Concluding four years of intense scientific collaboration by hundreds of authors from around the world, the report responds to the request of the world's governments for a comprehensive, objective and policy neutral assessment of the current scientific knowledge on mitigating climate change. The report has been extensively reviewed by experts and governments to ensure quality and comprehensiveness.

Clay, H. (2019). Contemplating climate change: Changing the culture of climate. Retrieved from http://academicarchive.snhu.edu

The uncertainty assessment process of the IPCC should be improved in the future by using a consistent approach to quantifying uncertainty, focusing the quantification on the few key results most important for policy making.

Politiche, misure e strumenti per contenere le emissioni di CO2 Illustriamo l’ultimo contributo al quarto Rapporto sui cambiamenti climatici votato a maggio 2007 dal terzo gruppo di lavoro del Comitato intergovernativo “Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change”. Il Rapporto affronta la problematica delle tendenze delle emissioni dei gas serra e il tema della mitigazione a breve e lungo termine. Presentiamo un’analisi critica delle proposte del documento.

The article examines the impact of climate change on the territory of Kazakhstan and its consequences for ecosystems, agriculture, economy and public health. Thecurrent climate change trends in Kazakhstan were analyzed using data from hydrometeorological observations at stations and posts of the state observation network of RSE «Kazhydromet». Climate norms and variable anomalies are considered, and changes in climate characteristics for the period 1976-2022 are estimated using linear trend coefficients and the coefficient of determination. The author focuses on the analysis of current climate ...

This is the third part of the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) — Climate Change 2013/2014 — and was prepared by its Working Group III. The volume provides a comprehensive and transparent assessment of relevant options for mitigating climate change through limiting or preventing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as activities that reduce their concentrations in the atmosphere.

Abstract In the context of climate change, scientists discuss the relevant reference periods for the assessment of changes in climate. Recently, many studies have been published comparing recent conditions with the last reference period 1961–1990. In this paper, the trends of annual, seasonal and monthly average air temperature, as well as annual, seasonal and monthly precipitation totals in Slovakia, are presented to point out changes which will probably show up in the next reference period 1991–2020. In the second part of paper, changes in the climate regions in Slovakia are analysed, compar...

The paper analyses the origin of the climate change,makes discussion about the rising and importance of climate change communication research,introduces the current research of climate change communication both at home and abroad,and clarifies the basic notion and way in the research.It defines the climate change communication as such a commutative activity which promotes the climate change information and related scientific knowledge to be understood and mastered by the public then to seek the solving of climate change problems as the target via changing the public's attitude and behavior reg...

The last few years have seen a surge in policy interest in adaptation to climate change, including attention to theoretical analysis and practical action. Heated discussions on the Adaptation Fund and the Nairobi Work Programme at recent Conferences of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) confirm this fact. A better understanding of the nature of impacts of climate change is crucial, however, to plan and implement rational adaptation options. While it is recognized that people and ecosystems in developing countries are the most vulnerable to climate cha...

Integrated water resource management is in essence a big high five to the realisation that our dependence on and relationship to clean drinking water permeates through every level of our human society and that in order to be managed effectively we need to adopt a holistic approach.

In Chapter 2, we detailed the overwhelming evidence that the Earth's climate is changing – evidence so overwhelming, in fact, that virtually no one disputes this anymore. Instead, much of the most heated argument is over the cause of the warming: Is it caused by human activity, or is it natural? In this chapter, we address this question. Attributing the cause of a trend is more difficult than identifying the trend. Our strategy here is to examine the mechanisms that have changed climate in the past and examine each of them to determine if they could be the cause of the recent warming. You will...

Given that climate change has been part of, and has helped shape, the biosphere's development, it should not have been surprising that climate change affected human evolution and humanity's historical affairs (see Chapter 5), or that it will do so in the future. That humanity itself has affected the climate – modern technological civilisation significantly so – all the more demonstrates the interconnections between climate and our species. If we are to begin to assess this relationship's future it is necessary to understand the relevant fundamentals of human ecology (the way our species as a p...

This extensive report entitled “Climate Change 1995: The Science of Climate Change” is the most comprehensive and up-to-date assessment available for scientific understanding of human influences on the past present and future climate. Its aim is to provide objective information on which to base global climate change that will ultimately meet the aim of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The report includes an overview of the factors governing climate and climate change and quantification of the sources of globally important greenhouse gases and other pollutants arising from human a...

It is well established that global warming surpassing 1.5-2°C above pre-industrial levels will cause irreversible damage to our world. The adverse rise in global temperatures is accelerated by anthropogenic activity such as greenhouse gas emissions and environmental degradation. While certain scenarios have been projected to significantly lower global warming rates, most of these developments will require immediate global top-down policy shifts. Several international treaties and agreements have been created to combat climate change. Nonetheless, these remain ineffective at creating meaningful...

Abstract Climate change is one of the major challenges of our time, and particularly so for agriculture. Agriculture is a significant contributor to climate change and, according to projections from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), will experience alterations in production conditions in the future. The Norwegian government’s 2009 White Paper on climate policy for agriculture is based on the point of view that the agricultural sector can and should contribute to Norway fulfilling its climate policy commitments. This requires changes in farm operations and production methods...

1. Overview of climate variability and climate science 2. Basics of global climate 3. Physical processes in the climate system 4. El Nino and year-to-year climate prediction 5. Climate models 6. The greenhouse effect and climate feedbacks 7. Climate model scenarios for global warming References Index.

In this book we use different case studies on climate change and variability in Africato illustrate different approaches to the study of climate change in ...

The latest data indicate that global warming resulted from long-term large scale greenhouse gas emission has created social injustice and unbalanced development between developed countries and underdeveloped countries as well as the rich and the poor.Under such circumstances,it is important to guarantee climate justice in which countries in the world share both climate-related co-benefits and responsibilities on an equal footing.To promote justice in global climate governance,it is necessary to establish the three sets of climate index and a working mode for implementing climate justice.

Researchers are now working to optimize climate models to run on massively parallel computers such as the Cray T3E, to allow researchers to choose the best component for each computational approach for each physical component contributing to a model.

The aim of the article is to provide a clear and thorough conceptual analysis of the main candidates for a definition of climate and climate change. Five desiderata on a definition of climate are presented: it should be empirically applicable; it should correctly classify different climates; it should not depend on our knowledge; it should be applicable to the past, present, and future; and it should be mathematically well-defined. Then five definitions are discussed: climate as distribution over time for constant external conditions; climate as distribution over time when the external conditi...

Cities are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather episodes, which are expected to increase with climate change. Cities also influence their own local climate, for example, through the relative ...

Climate change and climate variability has received considerable attention from the scientific community in recent decades and has led to a better understanding ofv arious climate phenomena and driving mechanisms. This increased understanding of climate has also prompted policy makers to ask two important questions: (1) How can an improved understanding of climate variability advance our ability to manage resources such as water, energy, and the environment; (2) What are the potential impacts on our key resources due to projected climate change? These are not easy questions to answer, and prob...

The essay that follows is based on the introduction to the forthcoming volume titled Climate Change and National Security: A Country-Level Analysis, edited by Daniel Moran (Georgetown University Press, 2011), and is reprinted with the permission of the publisher and copyright holder (www.press.georgetown.edu). The book in turn is based on the revised and expanded proceedings of a conference held at the Naval Postgraduate School in December 2007, and sponsored by the Long-Range Analysis Unit of the National Intelligence Council, to support the preparation of the National Intelligence Assessment...

It is suggested that a doubling of the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide from preindustrial levels, which is probable by this century's end, would increase average global temperature by somewhere between 2° and 5°C, and they predict an increase in the average frequency of unusually severe weather events.

Zusammenfassung: Das Ziel dieses Aufsatzes ist es, einer seits die Verlagerung einer Reihe klimatischer Grenzen iiber den groberen Teil Europas wahrend der siebzig Jahre von 1871?1940 aufzuzeigen, und andererseits ihre Abweichun gen von der gewohnlich zugrunde gelegten Standardperiode von 1901?1930 herauszuarbeiten. Es wurde Koppens Klassifikation zugrunde gelegt und die Aufzeichnungen der in Abb. 1 genannten Wetterstationen benutzt. Da sich die gegenwartige Klimaverbesserung in den gemafiigten Brei ten hauptsachlich in der Form haufigerer Warmeperioden und weniger in einer allgemeinen Erwarmu...

Abstract Despite scientific agreement about the anthropogenic cause of climate change, the general public holds different beliefs regarding the causes of climate change. Some believe climate change to be caused by natural processes, while others believe it to be caused by human activities. People’s beliefs regarding the causes of climate change drive both their risk perception and their mitigation behavior, and such beliefs are not easy to alter. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how these beliefs shape people’s perception of the consequences of climate change. We find that beliefs regard...

Mobile pastoralists are amongst those most at risk to climate change, yet they are amongst those with the greatest potential to adapt to climate change, and they may also offer one of the greatest hopes for mitigating climate change. The vulnerability that is associated with climate change in some pastoral environments has its roots in the restriction of tried and tested pastoral coping strategies. Pastoral adaptation faces a myriad of challenges, of which climatic change is but one, and indeed, the challenge of climate change seems insignificant to many pastoralists who are faced with extreme...

On the ground that climate change poses a great threat to societies and economies, it became evident for policy makers that attention should be given to the problem of adaptation, i.e. adaptation measures should be undertaken to minimize the adverse impacts of climate change. As the debate on the adverse impacts of climate change advanced at international level, states are taking actions at national, regional and local levels. Along with the increase awareness regarding importance of adaptation, regulations designed to prepare states to strengthen their resilience to climate change, has been ...

Introduction.- The ultimate objective of climate response strategies, and a desirable and feasible international framework.- Mitigation targets and effort-sharing among regions and countries.- Balance between energy security and mitigation responses.- Cost of mitigation.- Balance between mitigation and adaptation.- Policies and measures.- Potential for energy efficiency improvement and barriers.- Technology diffusion and development.- Nuclear Accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, and its impact on Japanese energy and climate policy.- Epilogue, IPCC and communication

Dr Jennifer Rudd shares her reaction to hearing that the world could be on track for 4 °C of global heating in her lifetime and describes how she has made dramatic changes to her home life, her career and her lifestyle and launched a new climate change education programme called You and CO2.

The threat of climate change to endemic taxa with restricted distributions, such as Carex spp.

For too long the field of climate and global change has been dominated by the natural sciences, states the 2013 World Social Science Report.