Economic risks for livestock production are caused by volatile commodities and market conditions, but also by environmental drivers like increasing uncertainties due to weather anomalies and global warming. These risks impact the gross margin of farmers and can stimulated investment decisions. For confined pig and poultry production, farmers can reduce the environmental impact by implementing specific adaptation measures to reduce heat stress. A simulation model driven by meteorological data was used to calculate heat stress impact as a projection for 2030. For a business-as-usual livestock building, the indoor climate for several adaptation measures was calculated. The weather-related value-at risk quantified the economic risks caused by global warming and the stochastic component of the weather. The results show that only energy-saving adaptation measures to reduce the inlet air temperature are appropriate to reduce the economic risk to the level of the year 1980. The efficiency of other adaptation measures to reduce heat stress is distinctly lower. The results in this study can support the decision making of farmers concerning adaptation management and investments. It can inform agricultural policy design as well as technological development.

The genetic pool of valuable old ornamental cultivars and their in situ maintenance may be threated by climate change. Meanwhile, the ornamental plants like roses make up an important share of both gardens and urban green spaces, where they are particularly vulnerable to multistress growth conditions. The aim of this research was to evaluate the effect of changing climatic conditions on growth and flowering of 11 historic climber roses through long-term studies (2000-2017) conducted in Central Europe. The evaluation of plants consisted of assessment of frost damage and the timing of early phenological stages (starting of bud break, leaf unfolding) as well as gathering data on beginning, fullness and end of flowering and its abundance. Frost damage was not recorded in any year only in ‘Mme Plantier’, and did not occur for any cultivar after the winter in the years 2007, 2008, and 2014. Only a little damage to one-year shoots was recorded after the winter in the years 2015-2017. Frost damage to ‘Alberic Barbier’, ‘Albertine’, ‘Chaplin's Pink Climber’, ‘Orange Triumph clg’ and ‘Venusta Pendula’ led to pruning to ground level in every year excluding those listed above. Frost damage of once blooming roses limited their flowering; however, the many-year data-sets showed a trend for decreased frost damage and improved abundance of flowering, and these results can be interpreted as a response to the increase of average air temperature. The timing of bud breaking and leaf development in all climber roses was strictly correlated with average air temperature in the dormancy period. The reactions of climber roses to weather conditions confirmed the influence of climatic changes on ornamental crop plants in Central Europe, introducing the potential possibility for the wider application of climber roses, but without certainty of flowering every year.

Washing hands, social distancing and staying at home are the preventive measures set in place to contain the spread of the COVID-19, a disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. These measures, although straightforward to follow, highlight the tip of an imbalanced socio-economic and socio-technological iceberg. Here, a System Dynamic (SD) model of COVID-19 preventive measures and their correlation with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is presented. The result demonstrates a better informed view of the COVID-19 vulnerability landscape. This novel qualitative approach refreshes debates on the future of SDGS amid the crisis and provides a powerful mental representation for decision makers to find leverage points that aid in preventing long-term disruptive impacts of this health crisis on people, planet and economy. There is a need for further tailor-made and real-time qualitative and quantitative scientific research to calibrate the criticality of meeting the SDGS targets in different countries according to ongoing lessons learned from this health crisis.

Daylight usage in buildings improves visual comfort and lowers the final energy demand for artificial lighting. The question always occurs: how much conservation can you achieve? New upcoming or rare materials and constructions have a lack of information about their application. Therefore, the current work investigates the daylight performance of a multi-layer textile membrane roof with 2 300 m² on top of a sports hall. A translucent, thermal insulation with a glass fibre fleece between the roof membranes combines daylight usage and heating demand reduction. A sports hall with built year 2017 is selected as the case study building. The optical properties of the roof construction are measured. The (visual) light transmittance amounts to 0.72 % with a clean surface. An accordingly parametrized climate-based annual daylight modeling delivers daylight indicators for different construction scenarios. The results show that in comparison to only one glass facade, the additional translucent and thermally insulated membrane construction increases the annual daylight autonomy700/ continuous DA700 from 0/ 15 % to 1.5/ 38 %. In the roof covered areas of the sport field, this results in a reduction from 19.7 to 13.8 kWhel/m²/a electricity for the artificial lighting with dim control (30 % savings). Also, the influence of soiling on the light transmittance was determined with a relevant reduction of one layer about a factor 0.81. The novel results are of great value as a comparison and benchmark for planners and future buildings of similar type.

Background: Physical and mental health of corporate employees is equally important, especially in international salespeople in the in vitro diagnostic (IVD) medical device industry. The rapid growth of the IVD market is driven by the increasing prevalence of chronic and infectious diseases. This study aims to identify the association of socio-demographic, occupational, organizational, and psychosocial factors with mental health outcomes for depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms in Chinese IVD international salespeople. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional survey of ISs in IVD companies officially registered in China. An online survey was designed to collect data through email contact with IVD companies and social media between August 2022 and March 2023. Measured factors included effort-reward imbalance (ERI), health-promoting leadership (HPL), health climate (HC), inner strength (IS), and perceived social support (PSS). Mental health outcomes assessed using the Core Symptom Index (CSI) were depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms. Results: A total of 244 salespeople responded to the survey. CSI scores indicated that 18.4% (n = 45) and 10.2% (n = 25) of the respondents had symptoms of major depression and anxiety, respectively. ERI was positively correlated, while the IS and PSS were negatively correlated with major depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms (p < .01). Health climate was negatively correlated with major depression (p < .05). Education background was associated with somatic symptoms (p < .05). ERI, IS, and gender were significant predictors of major depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms (p < .05). Conclusion: The prevalence of depression and anxiety in China’s IVD international salespeople was considered low compared with prevalence in Chinese populations during COVID-19, but higher than those before the pandemic. Effort–reward imbalance, inner strength, and gender were significant factors in major depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms among IVD international salespeople.

Knowledge of wave climate is essential for efficient management of the world's coastal areas. Senegal is a relevant case given its high coastal vulnerability to energetic wave conditions. This study investigates wave climates along the coastal zone of Senegal based on a new high-resolution hindcast covering the period 1980-2021. This study evaluates the average, seasonal and extreme values for the wave significant heights (Hs), periods (Tm02/Tp) and mean directions (DIR). In boreal Winter, the wave climate is dominated by swells coming from the North-Atlantic lows, while in boreal Summer, the Southern Coast (from Dakar to Casamance) is exposed to swells generated in the South-Atlantic Ocean. Throughout their refraction around Dakar Peninsula, NW swells rotate by ~100° from NW to SW, while their Hs is roughly halved when reaching the Southern Coast of Senegal. Over the studied period, trends in Hs are weak (~0.6 cm.decade-1) on the Northern Coast, double on the Southern coast (~1.2 cm.decade-1), mostly due to an increase during boreal Summer (2 cm.decade-1). The wave periods show weak trends (~0.05 s.decade-1) and DIRs show weak counterclockwise rotation (-1°.decade-1). These trends are explained by the main climate modes of the Atlantic Ocean (NAO/EA during Winter, SAM during Summer) and are important for future research and long-term monitoring of the Senegalese Coast.

Free and open source hardware (FOSH) development has been shown to increase innovation and reduce economic costs. This article reviews the opportunity to use FOSH like a sanction to undercut imports and exports from a target criminal country. A formal methodology is presented for selecting strategic national investments in FOSH development to improve both national security and global safety. In this methodology, first the target country that is threatening national security or safety is identified. Next, the top imports from the target country as well as potentially other importing countries (allies) are quantified. Hardware is identified that could undercut imports/exports from the target country. Finally, methods to support the FOSH development are enumerated to support production in a commons-based peer production strategy. To demonstrate how this theoretical method works in practice it is applied as a case study to the current criminal military aggressor nation, who is also a fossil fuel exporter. The results show there are numerous existing FOSH and opportunities to develop new FOSH for energy conservation and renewable energy to reduce fossil fuel energy demand. Widespread deployment would reduce the concomitant pollution, human health impacts, and environmental desecration as well as cut financing of military operations.

Considering increasingly ambitious pledges by countries, pressure from society, investors, and clients further up the supply chain, the question for companies is not so much whether to take decarbonisation action, but what action and by when. However, determining an ideal mix of measures to apply ‘decarbonisation efficiency’ requires more than knowledge of technically feasible measures and how to combine them to achieve the most economic outcome: In this paper, the author describes seven aspects which heavily influence the composition of an ‘ideal mix’ that executive leadership needs to take a (strategic) position on. These aspects consider underlying motivations and span across (socio-)economic, technical, regulatory, strategic, corporate culture and environmental factors and further underline the necessity of clarity of definitions. How these decisions influence the determination of the decarbonisation-efficient ideal mix of measures, both in principle but also in terms of specific impact is further explored by providing examples. What choices are taken by German manufacturers in several of the aspects is disclosed by insights from about 850 responses to the ‘Energy Efficiency Index of German Industry’. Knowledge of the status quo, and clarity in definitions, objectives, time frames and scope are key.

This paper reviews how dynamically adaptive wavelet methods can be designed to simulate atmosphere and ocean dynamics in both flat and spherical geometries. We highlight the special features that these models must have in order to be valid for climate modelling applications. These include exact mass conservation and various mimetic properties that ensure the solutions remain physically realistic, even in the under-resolved conditions typical of climate models. Particular attention is paid to the implementation of complex topography in adaptive models. Using \textsc{wavetrisk} as an example, we explain in detail how to build a semi-realistic global atmosphere or ocean model of interest to the geophysical community. We end with a discussion of the challenges that remain to developing a realistic dynamically adaptive atmosphere or ocean climate models. These include scale-aware subgrid scale parameterizations of physical processes, such as clouds. Although we focus on adaptive wavelet methods, many of the topics we discuss are relevant for adaptive mesh refinement (AMR).

This article presents a field-performance investigation on an Integrated Solar Water Supply System (SWSS) at two isolated agricultural areas in Thailand. The two case-study villages (Pongluek and Bangkloy ) have experienced severe draughts in the last decades, and therefore water supply has become a major issue. A stand-alone 15.36 kW solar power and a 15 kW solar submersible pump were installed along with the input power generated by solar panels supported by four solar trackers. The aim is to lift water at the static head of 64 and 48 m via piping length of 400 metres for each village to be stored in 1,000 m3 and 1,800 m3 reservoirs at an average of 300 m3 and 400 m3 per day, respectively for Pongluek and Bangkloy villages. The case study results have shown that the real costs of electricity generated by SWSS using solar PV systems intergraded with the solar tracking system yield better performance and are more advantageous compared with the non-tracking system. This study illustrates how system integration has been employed. System design and commercially available simulation predictions are elaborated. Construction, installation, and field tests for SWSS are discussed and highlighted. Performances of the SWSS in different weather conditions such as sunny, cloudy, and rainy days were analysed to make valuable suggestions for higher efficiency of the integrated solar water supply systems.

Climate change and environmental degradation are major threats to sustainable agricultural development in Southern Africa. Thus, the concept of sustainable intensification (SI) i.e. getting more output from less input using certain practices such as agroforestry, organic fertilizer, sustainable water management etc. has become an important topic among researchers and policy makers in the region in the last three decades. A comprehensive review of literatures on the adoption of SI in the region identify nine relevant drivers of adoption of SI among (smallholder) farmers. These drivers include (i) age, (ii) size of arable land, (iii) education, (iv) extension services, (v) gender, (vi) household size, (vii) income, (viii) membership in farming organization and (ix) access to credit. We present the results of a meta-analysis of 21 papers on the impact of these determinants on SI adoption among (smallholder) farmers in Southern African Development Community (SADC) using random-effects estimation techniques for the true effect size. While our result suggests that variables such as extension services, education, age, and household size may influence the adoption of SI in SADC, factors such as access to credit is also of great importance. Decision-makers should therefore concentrate efforts on these factors in promoting SI across the SADC. This includes increasing the efficiency of public extension service as well as involvement of private sector in extension service. Furthermore, both public and private agriculture financing models should consider sustainability indicators in their assessment process.

Changes in extreme weather patterns are expected under climate change. In this study, a risk assessment was conducted using 4 building damage history datasets and 33 weather datasets (precipitation, wind speed, snow, and temperature) from 230 regions in South Korea to quantitatively analyze and predict building damage caused by potential future natural disasters. Decision tree analysis was used to evaluate building damage risk in 230 regions. The decision tree model to determine the risk of flood, gale, and typhoon was generated, which excluded gales, with less damage. The weight (variable importance) and limit value (damage limit) of the weather variables ware derived using the decision tree model. Using these two factors, we assessed the building damage risk in 230 regions in South Korea until 2100. The number of regions at risk of flood damage increased by more than 30% in average. Conversely, regions at risk of snowfall damage decreased by more than 90%. The regions at risk of typhoons decreased by 57.5% on average, and the number of regions at high risk of typhoon damage increased by up to 62.5% in RCP 8.5. These results can be used as objective data to minimize future building damage throughout South Korea, representing the first step towards sustainable development in the region with respect to disaster response.

Advances in biological sciences have been applied in medicine, agriculture and industry with great benefit. Some recent trends in society, governance structures and communications, however, appear to be hampering the use of new scientific findings for controlling infectious diseases. These limitations are illustrated with examples related to (i) the adaptation of fresh water mosquito vectors of major arboviral diseases to salinity in coastal areas with consequences for disease transmission, (ii) understanding the implications of reduced dengue transmission during the COVID-19 lockdown for dengue control, (iii) causes underlying the rapid spread of the malaria vector Anopheles stephensi in South Asia and Africa, (iv) the application of serodiagnostic techniques for Lyme disease and tick-borne relapsing fever caused by tick-borne bacteria of the genus Borrelia, and (v) COVID-19 prevention.

At 8000 m and above, a ‘death zone’ reputation afforded protection for the fragile ecosystems of the Himalaya and Korakoram ranges for thousands of years. After decades of high-altitude mountaineering, environmental impacts have been documented such as associated carbon-intensive air travel and contamination from waste. Despite the growing popularity, high-risk and fragile context of the sport, the behaviour, perspectives and experiences of high-altitude mountaineers, and the social and economic consequences have not been researched. Following an interpretive paradigm and using purposive sampling, this qualitative study conducted in-depth interviews and open-ended survey questions to collect the experiences of sixteen high-altitude mountaineers. Analysis of the qualitative data was informed by Grounded Theory with the coding process leading to the overarching category of ‘leave no trace’. The results show how the high risks to life, and growing popularity of the activity influence mountaineer’s ability to act sustainably and increase unsustainable behaviour despite a desire to ‘leave no trace’ on the mountain. Meanwhile, climate change has already and will increasingly have profound impacts on the risks associated with 8000m mountaineering. Allowing more time for acclimation would help to address the root causes of unsustainable behaviours along with better enforcement of regulations.

The impact of the climate crisis on urban environments and life within them is evident. In the face of challenges like heatwaves, floodings and other extreme events, pollution, and declining quality of life in cities, there is a growing demand for the preservation and expansion of urban green spaces, often driven by citizen-led transformations. This paper examines 100 urban greening projects initiated or supported by citizens globally, categorizing them according to the type of greenery, the stakeholders involved, the mode of implementation and the use of smart technologies incorporated. We notice variations in green endeavors based on the stakeholders spearheading them, however most of entirely citizen-led initiatives aimed at the creation of urban farms and food growing, demonstrating the pressuring needs for food securing and self-determination in communities. More than half of the assessed initiatives that managed to scale up and multiply had public authorities providing a framework or a type of support for their development or an NGO or other organization providing expertise and mobilize citizens at various stages. In terms of technological use, we find mostly websites and social media platforms easing participatory endeavors and knowledge sharing of best practices, accelerating scaling efforts, while there is a low integration of more advanced digital technologies, which if used, could enable real-time monitoring of green spaces, inform evidence-based decision-making, and streamline processes in scaling up green initiatives.

Given the context of global climate change, a worldwide increase in land surface temperature (LST) is anticipated, leading to the exacerbation and broadening of its impacts. This could jeopardize the environmental conditions in countries with a predominantly hot and harsh climate, such as Bahrain, one of the Cooperation Countries (GCC) nations. Conversely, Bahrain is currently experiencing significant population growth, leading to a surge in demand for land to accommodate the construction of additional residential developments. This circumstance allows investigation of the potential impact of land use and land cover alterations on the variation in Land Surface Temperature (LST). In order to accomplish this objective, a residential development project was executed within the timeframe spanning from 2013 to 2023. Four sets of Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS remote sensing datasets were selected, with each set corresponding to one of the four climate seasons. Each set consisted of two images: one capturing the study area before the commencement of the development process and the other depicting the study area after the completion of the development. The study area was analyzed by extracting the land surface temperature (LST), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and normalized difference built-up index (NDBI) on various dates. Subsequently, correlation and regression analysis were employed to examine the interrelationships among these three variables. The findings demonstrated a notable rise in the mean land surface temperature throughout the spring and autumn seasons following the conclusion of land development activities. The findings indicate a positive and robust association between LST and NDBI across all seasons. Moreover, this relationship strengthened following the completion of development activities in the area. Conversely, there was a negative correlation between LST and NDVI prior to the region's development, which transformed into a positive relationship post-development. These results provide empirical support for the notion that small-scale residential developments contribute to a notable increase in LST, primarily driven by the expansion of impervious surfaces in built-up areas. The findings can potentially contribute to the formulation of localized adaptation strategies for small-scale residential development projects.

This paper investigates urban microclimate in relation to the typical major streets and mobility layout in Turin, i.e. boulevards with lateral minor roads, called “controviali”, an almost unique urban mobility layout. The aim is to examine the possibility of intervention in relation to the type and scope of mobility for microclimate mitigation and climate adaptation purposes. To this, this paper evaluates to which extent urban morphology and mobility features contribute to determining microclimatic conditions, to finally identify site-specific prioritised strategies to cope with its mitigation. This research is structured in two phases. The first phase is dedicated to urban-scale analysis of the streets with “controviali”, resulting in the creation of a database containing their properties and typology, to finally derive six clusters of boulevards. The second phase involves the selection of one representative case study per cluster and simulation of their microclimate conditions, performed by the software ENVI-met. The results are discussed in relation to the parameters proven in the prior literature review to have a major impact on the microclimate. The assessment of the results indicated which elements affect the climatic conditions the most, allowing for the proposal of different prioritised mitigation strategies in the conclusion.

Energy efficiency is, in principle, a simple idea: an output of human value, for example, vehicle-km traveled, divided by the needed input energy. Efficiency improvements are regarded by many as an important means of mitigating not only climate change, but also other environmental problems. Accordingly, many countries have efficiency ratings for appliances and efficiency standards for road vehicles. Despite the vast number of articles published on energy efficiency, few question whether it is a useful or accurate measure in its present form. This review addresses this lack, by a critical review of the literature, not only in energy efficiency, but in other areas of research, such as ‘energy services’, that can help broaden the scope of this idea, both geographically and conceptually. These shortcomings are illustrated in case studies of road passenger transport and buildings. The main findings are that energy efficiency inevitably has an ethical dimension, that feedbacks are more widespread than generally considered, and that conventional efficiency measures omit important energy input items, particularly those concerned with mining of the materials needed for renewable energy plants. Finally, the key results of this review are summarized, and its limitations are discussed, as is the future research needed to overcome these shortcomings.

Sado Island in Niigata prefecture, Japan is one of the first Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) among developed countries and has since been involved in environmental conservation agriculture (ECA). While ECA is still in its early stage in Japan, it has proven to be effective in mitigating climate change in the agricultural sector; hence, this study analyzed the factors which could contribute to the ECA continuation among Sado Island farmers. The data revealed the prevalence of farmers’ cognitive dissonance between ECA and its mitigating effects on climate change. Exploratory factor analysis and ordinal regression confirmed the importance of perceived GIAHS involvement in the continuation of ECA. In addition, other identified factors affecting ECA continuation fall either on a macro-level (i.e., farmers’ awareness of their role in improving their environment) or micro-level (i.e., farmers’ differing farm optimizations). These perspectives highlighted the altruistic nature of the Sado Island ECA farmers by valuing the improvement of their local and global environment as their main reason to continue ECA, whereas their various farm management optimizations support this observed farmer altruism by providing avenues to increase yield with only a moderate paddy land area. This study thereby highlights the need to continuously develop sustainable strategies to maintain and improve a positive farmer mindset towards ECA.

Planktonic foraminiferal biomineralization intensity, reflected by their shell calcite mass, affects global carbonate deposition and is known to follow the climate cycles by being increased during glacial stages and decreased during interglacial ones. Here we measure the dissolution state and the mass of the shells of the planktonic foraminifera species Globigerina bulloides from a Tropical Eastern North Atlantic site over the last two glacial-interglacial climatic transitions and we report no major changes in plankton calcite production with the atmospheric pCO2 variations. We attribute this consistency in foraminifera calcification to the climatic and hydrological stability of the tropical regions. We however recorded increased shell masses midway through the penultimate deglaciation (Termination II). In order to elucidate the cause of the increased shell weights we performed δ18O, Mg/Ca and μCT measurements on the same shells from a number of samples surrounding this event. We find that shells of increased mass are internally contaminated by sediment infilling and that shell weights are responding to local hydrographic changes.

Mediterranean climate is marked by arid climate conditions in summer, therefore, crop irrigation is crucial to sustain plant growth and productivity in this season. If groundwater is utilized for irrigation, an impressive water pumping is needed to satisfy crop water requirements at catchment scale. Consequently, irrigation water quality gets worse, specifically considering groundwater salinization near the coastal areas due to seawater intrusion, also triggering soil salinization. With reference to an agricultural coastal area in the Mediterranean basin (Southern Italy), close to the Adriatic sea, an assessment of soil salinization risk due to processing tomato cultivation was carried out. A simulation model was arranged to perform, on daily basis, a water and salt balance along the soil profile. Long-term weather data and soil physical parameters representative of the considered area were utilized in applying the model, also considering three salinity levels of irrigation water. Based on the climatic analysis performed and the model outputs, the probability of soil salinity came out very high, such as to seriously threaten tomato yield. Autumn-winter rainfall resulted frequently insufficient to leach excess salts away from the soil profile and reach sustainable conditions of tomato cultivation. Therefore, alternative cropping strategies were prospected.

This study introduces a technique to uncover concealed patterns in satellite altimetry data, reflecting sea level variations in inland water bodies. We applied the methodology to the Caspian Sea, using altimetry data from four satellite missions over 27 years (1993-2020): TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason1, Jason2, and Jason3. The approach involves two steps: estimating sea level trends and identifying breakpoints that indicate trend shifts; and leveraging time lags between breakpoints at various locations to classify water drainage areas according to their degree of influence on each period. By revealing concealed patterns in the altimetry data, this technique can provide insights to understand the impacts of global warming and local climate changes on sea level fluctuations in the Caspian Sea. We hope that our study can facilitate subsequent interdisciplinary research on the intricate interplay between climate change and hydrological processes in inland water bodies.

A testable hypothesis with quantitative predictions is put forward, proposing that strong acids produced on land at a rate correlated with global population are an increas-ing cause of increasing atmospheric CO2 pressure (pCO2). This hypothesis widens the imbalance assumed between the global uptake of CO2 by photosynthesis and emissions of CO2 from all sources, including the combustion of fossil fuels, causing greater atmos-pheric pCO2. Our modelling tests for reactions of dissolved inorganic carbon show that increasing atmospheric CO2 is caused thermodynamically by falling land surface pH values, but only with bicarbonate present. Strong acids generated by oxygen from re-duced inorganic compounds of nitrogen and sulphur emit CO2 almost stoichiometrically from dissolved bicarbonate in the pH range of most global soils, between 6 to above 8. We show that each decrease of aqueous pH value of 0.01 units from acidification of sur-face water near pH 8 potentially increases the pCO2 in the atmosphere by about 7 ppmv. The surface pH value of the ocean near 8.10 in 2000 has been shown to decrease at this rate, a result of equilibrating with the rising atmospheric pCO2. Therefore, our qualita-tive estimates of increasing atmospheric CO2 driven by irreversible acidification on land are critical and need broad scale validation. Unfortunately, these acidifying processes on land from excessive nitrogen fertiliser, export of alkaline produce from farmlands and other processes were not considered by previous biogeochemical reviews. However, several very recent research studies showing CO2 emissions from soil during nitrifica-tion are consistent with our hypothesis. Despite counter measures to curb excessive CO2 emissions, including carbon capture and geological storage, the increasing Keeling curve for pCO2 may continue to rise because zero carbon policies do not address these causes. We recommend that this hypothesis be further tested by in situ experiments in neutral soils and water, designed to compare CO2 emissions under the acidifying conditions de-scribed in this article. Corrective counter measures can then be designed and applied.

The North American Monsoon (NAM) in southern Arizona continues to be a topic of interest to ecologists, climatologists, and citizens as well as the triggers and characteristics of plant growth and reproduction in relation to the onset of the monsoon. In researching the onset of the North American Monsoon (NAM) in south-central Arizona relative to the phenology of Saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) and other Sonoran Desert species we identified interesting and previously unreported features in the NAM rainfall data. We present preliminary descriptive analyses of (1) monsoon onset as measured by the first day after June 1 with precipitation ≥10 mm (1990-2022), (2) first day of year warming of Sea Surface temperatures (SST) in the Gulf of California to ≥29º C measured across five open-sea blocks (mean 9452 km2), and (3) El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) anomaly with a threshold of +/- 0.5º C for the Oceanic Niño Index (ONI) in the Niño 3.4 region (5ºN-5ºS, 120º-170ºW). Three patterns emerge from our analyses: (1) The day of the year of monsoon onset occurs approximately 12 days earlier in the year from 1990-2022 in south-central Arizona. (2) There appears to be a signal in the rainfall onset data very roughly approximating cycles of ENSO Oceanic Niño Index (ONI) anomalies in Niño region 3.4. (3) Gulf of California sea surface temperature (SST) and monsoon onset data support an expected link between the timing of SST warming and monsoon rainfall onset.

This research presents a novel approach for estimating soil organic carbon (SOC) content in agricultural soils using a photocatalytic Chemical Oxygen Demand (PeCOD) analyzer integrated with Geographic Information System (GIS) technology for spatial analysis. The PeCOD method, which relies on photochemical oxidation of organic carbon, demonstrated an uncanny correlation between its values and SOC content, making it a quick and accurate way to estimate SOC levels. Finer materials, such as clayey soils, demonstrated higher SOC content compared to coarser ones and decreased with increasing soil depth. GIS georeferencing enabled precise mapping of SOC distribution and identification of hotspot areas with high SOC content. This study highlights the significance of soil texture and depth on SOC distribution and emphasizes its significance within geological context when studying soil properties. Research results have practical ramifications for sustainable agriculture, climate change mitigation and soil health management - providing farmers and land managers with strategies that increase carbon sequestration while simultaneously improving soil health. Integrating PeCOD analyzer technology with GIS technology offers promising avenues for advanced soil carbon monitoring practices that promote climate-smart agricultural practices.

Rainfall variability has resulted in extreme events like devastating floods and droughts which is the main cause of human vulnerability to precipitation in West Africa. Attempts have been made by previous studies to understand rainfall variability over Ghana but these have mostly focused on the major rainy season of April-July, leaving a gap in our understanding of the variability in the September-November season which is a very important aspect of the Ghanaian climate system. The current study seeks to close this knowledge gap by employing statistical tools to quantify variabilities in rainfall amounts, rain days, and extreme precipitation indices in the minor rainfall season over Ghana. We find extremely high variability in rainfall with a Coefficient of variation (CV) between 25.3% and 70.8%, and moderate to high variability in rain days (CV=14.0% - 48.8%). Rainfall amount was found to be higher over the middle sector (262.7 mm – 400.2 mm) but lowest over the east coast (125.2 mm – 181.8 mm). Analysis of the second rainfall season using the Mankandell Test presents a non-significant trend of rainfall amount and extreme indices (R10, R20, R99p, and R99p) for many places in southern Ghana. Rainfall Anomaly Indices show that the middle sector recorded above normal precipitation which is the opposite for areas in the transition zone. The result of this work provides a good understanding of rainfall in the minor rainfall season and may be used for planning purposes.

Humanity faces serious social and environmental problems, including climate change and biodiversity loss. Risks are increasing and conditions deteriorating. Increasingly, scientists, global policy experts, and the general public conclude that incremental approaches are insufficient and transformative change is needed across all sectors of society. However, the meaning of transformation is still unsettled in the literature, as is the proper role of science in fostering it. This paper is the first in a three-part series that adds to the discussion by proposing a novel science-driven research-and-development program aimed at societal transformation. More than a proposal, it offers a perspective and conceptual framework from which societal transformation might be approached and understood. While acknowledging the necessity of reform to existing societal systems (e.g., governance, economic, and financial systems), the focus of the series is on transformation understood as systems change or systems migration—the de novo development of and migration to new societal systems. The series provides definitions, aims, reasoning, worldview, and a theory of change, and discusses fitness metrics and design principles for new systems. This first paper proposes a worldview built using ideas from evolutionary biology, complex systems science, cognitive sciences, and information theory that is intended to serve as the foundation for the R&amp;D program.

Rapid increase in urbanization and industrialization due to increase in human population has led to increase in global warming resulting to climate change that affects the ecosystem. Unusual natural disasters such as cyclones, storms, floods, weather fluctuations, rising seal levels, transitional ecosystems and coastal disruptions are major adverse effects of climate change. There are huge worrisome concerns and uncertainties about the future of the planet earth due to climate change caused by high carbon emissions. Global aggressive policies in control of Carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions from several combustion mechanisms have paved way for alternative/ clean energy sources. Green hydrogen is a promising means of clean energy sources for commercial power generation stations and other crucial systems such as hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCVs) , motors, drives, backup power for buildings, and also serving as a source of electrical energy for remote locations. The goal of this study is to review the current level of Sub-Saharan African nations’ preparedness to adopt green hydrogen as a way to mitigate local energy supply issues and strengthen their individual economies.

The amendment or removal of superfluous government support policies is typically difficult, yet in the ever more important debate on low-carbon (i.e. clean) marine energy policy under the international law of climate action, the law of the sea, and international investment protection, there are additional dimensions of legal or economic peril. Coastal states enact policies subsidising clean energy investments, such as offshore wind energy generation, in their exclusive economic zones or continental shelves. Investors are attracted to the prospect that policies granting subsidies for ostensibly new industries are sufficiently durable. Are such subsidy policies salient or stale? In principle, the purpose of regulatory policy is the promotion of social welfare, and hence there is an optimal incidence, magnitude, and duration of the subsidy, in essence, an ideal strategy for starting, altering, or exiting such policy. We aim to introduce the concept of optimisation to the design and implementation of regulatory policy in this context. Our contribution is to offer three maxims of optimal clean marine energy law and policy: the efficiency and equity of alternative regulatory arrangements; the continuous optimisation of such arrangements; and the recognition of linguistic entanglements in the law. We test these maxims against the case of clean marine energy policy on offshore wind energy generation. One legal implication for international investment protection is that coastal states should establish a policy exit clause in their investment contracts. Our analysis of policy optimisation is generalisable across policies supporting the transition to sustainable energy forms.

Arctic sea ice characteristics have been changing rapidly and significantly in the last few decades. Using a long-term time series of sea ice products from satellite observations - the extended AVHRR Polar Pathfinder (APP-x), trends in sea ice concentration, ice extent, ice thickness, and ice volume in the Arctic from 1982 to 2020 are investigated. Results show that the Arctic has become less ice-covered in all seasons, especially in summer and autumn. Arctic sea ice thickness has been decreasing at the rate of -3.24 cm per year, resulting in about a 52% reduction in thickness from 2.35 m in 1982 to 1.13 m in 2020. Arctic sea ice volume has been decreasing at the rate of -467.7 km³ per year, resulting in about a 63% reduction in volume, from 27590.4 km³ in 1982 to 10305.5 km³ in 2020. These trends are further examined from a new perspective, where the Arctic Ocean is classified into open water, perennial, and seasonal sea ice-covered areas based on the sea ice persistence. The loss of the perennial sea ice-covered area is the major factor in the total sea ice loss in all seasons. If the current rates of sea ice changes in extent, concentration, and thickness continue, the Arctic is expected to have ice-free summer by the early 2060s.

Ecological Society is based on socioeconomic systems directed to the equilibrium of inter-relationships between environment, climate, production systems, technologies and human communities to promote the overall well-being of people and the Earth planet. It has a main goal for supporting sustainable development and equitable societies and achieving optimal health outcomes recognizing the interconnection between people, technologies, animals, plants, and their shared environment for the one health. Using data of scientific publications and patents until the year 2024, this study shows new technologies that can support the energy transition with the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources in an effort to reduce CO₂ emissions for an ecological society having, whenever possible, zero-carbon economies to reduce environmental pollution and climate change and foster health and wellbeing of people. Results reveal that sustainable technologies supporting the transformation of the energy sector, economies and societies, and having a rapid growth, are blue hydrogen, floating photovoltaic systems, carbon capture and utilization, green hydrogen and liquid metal batteries. These findings can guide decisions of policymakers and stakeholders towards fruitful investments driving the transition from fossil-based to zero-carbon socioeconomic systems to have a long-run sustainable development of overall world system that has to direct towards an ecological society associated with one health.

Individuals with low health literacy (HL) are known to have poorer health outcomes and to have higher mortality rates compared to individuals with higher HL: hence, the improvement of HL is a key outcome in modern healthcare systems. Healthcare providers are therefore asked to support patients’ literacy skills by encouraging the implementation of autonomy-supportive patient centered communication (PCC), which in turn requires the enhancement of patient engagement. Our main hypothesis is that the well-known relationship between autonomy-supportive PCC and HL is mediated by patient engagement which is known to play a role in HL promotion and that is related to PCC as well. The purpose of this study was to formulate a hypothetical structural equation model (SEM) linking PCC to patient engagement and HL. A cross-sectional survey design was employed involving 1007 Italian chronic patients. The hypothetical model was tested using SEM to verify the hypothesized mediation of patient engagement between PCC and HL. Results show that the theoretical model has a good fit indexes and that patient engagement fully mediates the relationship between PCC and HL. This finding suggests healthcare systems to implement a new paradigm where patients are supported to play an autonomous role in their own healthcare.

Forest carbon sequestration is a widely accepted natural climate solution, however, methods to determine net carbon offsets are limited to commercial carbon proxies and CO2 eddy covariance research. Non-CO2 greenhouse gases (GHG) (e.g., CH4, N2O) receive less attention in the context of forests, in part, due to emphasis on CO2 and the operational requirements and cost for three-gas eddy covariance platforms. In this study, Howland forest flux tower (CO2, CH4) and soil flux data (CO2, CH4, N2O), representing net emission reductions, are linked to their respective social costs to estimate commercial revenue if sold as a GHG social cost forest offset product (GHG-SCF). Estimated annual revenue for GHG-SCF products, applicable to realization of a Green New Deal, range from 120,000 covering the site area of 557 acres in 2021, to 12,000,000 for extrapolation to 40,000 acres in 2040, assuming a 3% discount rate. The Howland Forest CO2 flux record for two adjacent towers is compared to California Air Resources Board forest carbon proxy data for compliance sequestration offsets, the only project site where these approaches overlap. Overcrediting, incomplete carbon accounting with annual errors of up to 2,256%, inadequate third-party verification, and limited application to non-CO2 GHG’s are established. In contrast, direct measurement of one or more GHG’s offers new forest products and revenue incentives to restore and conserve forests worldwide.

As a result of decades of austerity, the economies of the Eurozone are experiencing under-investment and crumbling infrastructures in an era of extremely severe emergencies as the cli-mate change and aggressive global competition. The private savings glut of the rich and the strict fiscal rules suggest a crowding-in approach in partnership with big finance in a new age of in-fra-structures. If governments mint public infrastructures into investable assets, they can gen-erate steady returns for investors and asset managers who look after pensions and insurances schemes and unlock trillions now devoted to welfare state. For the big finance to accept to be partner, however, governments must take the task of de-risking returns. Innovation technology and macro-financial literacy can synergically act to enhance this new de-risking role to address in a financially sustainable way the intense phenomena of Natural Hazards (NHs) that can severely compromise economic growth. This is precisely the aim of our Public-Private Partnership (PPP) among the Department of Economics, Management and Institutions of the University of Naples and a Knowledge Transfert Management, the Department of Engineering and the Aca-demic Spin-Off “STRAIN”, of the University of Campania. Our PPP has been contributing to the eval-uation and mitigation of NHs such as floods, landslides and earthquakes since 2012. The ex-tremely advanced results of this multi-stakeholder partnership ensure a better knowledge of NHs which, as evidenced in the paper, is the fundamental input for the desired Public-Private In-surance Programmes (PIPPs).