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Mediterranean ecological footprint trends
Global Footprint Network, 2012The Mediterranean’s ever-widening ecological deficit and its economic implications is the main theme of the new Mediterranean Ecological Footprint Trends report, the result of a two-year study by Global Footprint Network and the focus of the conference.
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Available online: http://www.footprintnetwork.org/images/article_uploads/Mediterranean_report_FINA [...]
Event: Securing Competitiveness for the Mediterranean (1-2 October 2012; Venice, Italy)
Published by: Global Footprint Network ; 2012The Mediterranean’s ever-widening ecological deficit and its economic implications is the main theme of the new Mediterranean Ecological Footprint Trends report, the result of a two-year study by Global Footprint Network and the focus of the conference.
Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free)Tags: Environment and landscape ; Environmental degradation ; Conflict ; Climate change ; Mediterranean Sea ; Region I - Africa ; Region VI - Europe
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Measuring Glacier Change in the Himalayas: In UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Global Environmental Alert Service (GEAS), September 2012
UNEP, 2012A serious lack of reliable and consistent data severely hampers scientific knowledge about the state of Himalayan glaciers. As a result, the contribution of glacial melt to the Himalayan river basins remains uncertain. This is of grave importance because declining water availability could threaten the food security of more than 70 million people. There is thus an urgent need to improve cross-boundary scientific collaboration and monitoring of glaciers to bridge the knowledge gap and allow policy options to be based on appropriate scientific evidence.
Measuring Glacier Change in the Himalayas: In UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Global Environmental Alert Service (GEAS), September 2012
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Available online: http://na.unep.net/geas/getUNEPPageWithArticleIDScript.php?article_id=91
Published by: UNEP ; 2012
A serious lack of reliable and consistent data severely hampers scientific knowledge about the state of Himalayan glaciers. As a result, the contribution of glacial melt to the Himalayan river basins remains uncertain. This is of grave importance because declining water availability could threaten the food security of more than 70 million people. There is thus an urgent need to improve cross-boundary scientific collaboration and monitoring of glaciers to bridge the knowledge gap and allow policy options to be based on appropriate scientific evidence.
Notes: Thematic Focus: Climate Change, Ecosystem Management
Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free)Tags: Climate ; Climate monitoring ; Glacier ; Melting Ice ; Himalayas ; Region II - Asia
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Himalayan Glaciers: Climate Change, Water Resources, and Water Security
National Academies Press, 2012Scientific evidence shows that most glaciers in South Asia's Hindu Kush Himalayan region are retreating, but the consequences for the region's water supply are unclear, this report finds. The Hindu Kush Himalayan region is the location of several of Asia's great river systems, which provide water for drinking, irrigation, and other uses for about 1.5 billion people. Recent studies show that at lower elevations, glacial retreat is unlikely to cause significant changes in water availability over the next several decades, but other factors, including groundwater depletion and increasing human wat ...
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Available online: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13449
Published by: National Academies Press ; 2012
Scientific evidence shows that most glaciers in South Asia's Hindu Kush Himalayan region are retreating, but the consequences for the region's water supply are unclear, this report finds. The Hindu Kush Himalayan region is the location of several of Asia's great river systems, which provide water for drinking, irrigation, and other uses for about 1.5 billion people. Recent studies show that at lower elevations, glacial retreat is unlikely to cause significant changes in water availability over the next several decades, but other factors, including groundwater depletion and increasing human water use, could have a greater impact. Higher elevation areas could experience altered water flow in some river basins if current rates of glacial retreat continue, but shifts in the location, intensity, and variability of rain and snow due to climate change will likely have a greater impact on regional water supplies.
Himalayan Glaciers: Climate Change, Water Resources, and Water Security makes recommendations and sets guidelines for the future of climate change and water security in the Himalayan Region. This report emphasizes that social changes, such as changing patterns of water use and water management decisions, are likely to have at least as much of an impact on water demand as environmental factors do on water supply. Water scarcity will likely affect the rural and urban poor most severely, as these groups have the least capacity to move to new locations as needed. It is predicted that the region will become increasingly urbanized as cities expand to absorb migrants in search of economic opportunities. As living standards and populations rise, water use will likely increase-for example, as more people have diets rich in meat, more water will be needed for agricultural use. The effects of future climate change could further exacerbate water stress.
Himalayan Glaciers: Climate Change, Water Resources, and Water Security explains that changes in the availability of water resources could play an increasing role in political tensions, especially if existing water management institutions do not better account for the social, economic, and ecological complexities of the region. To effectively respond to the effects of climate change, water management systems will need to take into account the social, economic, and ecological complexities of the region. This means it will be important to expand research and monitoring programs to gather more detailed, consistent, and accurate data on demographics, water supply, demand, and scarcity.Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free)Tags: Water ; Climate change ; Glacier ; Melting Ice ; Himalayas ; South Asia ; Region II - Asia
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Adapting to climate-change induced water stress in the Nile basin
This summary report addresses the need for national and intergovernmental projects to reduce the impact of climate change on the Nile River basin. It indicates that any future changes in water quantity and quality caused by climate change will have a negative impact on economies, environment, and livelihoods in the Nile region. Provided in this summary report is information to help governments decide a better course of action for dealing with high population growth and rising levels of water scarcity, such as creating measures that will have both a local effect and positively impact countries. ...
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Available online: http://www.preventionweb.net/files/27776_mopupinsertwater.web.pdf
Published by: Government of the United Kingdom ; 2012
This summary report addresses the need for national and intergovernmental projects to reduce the impact of climate change on the Nile River basin. It indicates that any future changes in water quantity and quality caused by climate change will have a negative impact on economies, environment, and livelihoods in the Nile region. Provided in this summary report is information to help governments decide a better course of action for dealing with high population growth and rising levels of water scarcity, such as creating measures that will have both a local effect and positively impact countries.
Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free)Tags: Water ; Climate change ; Adaptation ; Nile ; Region I - Africa
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Ending the everyday emergency: resilience and children in the Sahel
This report demonstrates that shortage of food is only part of the severe and life-threatening crisis facing children in the Sahel region of west Africa in 2012. It focuses in particular on the experience of children, and makes detailed recommendations around disaster risk reduction, nutrition, and social protection to build resilience. The report also addresses the urgent need for political ambition to change the international system and end the everyday emergencies.
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Available online: http://www.preventionweb.net/files/27663_endingtheeverydayemergencyfullrepor.pdf
Peter Gubbels ; Groundswell International ; Sahel Working Group ; Save the Children International ; World Vision International
Published by: WVI ; 2012This report demonstrates that shortage of food is only part of the severe and life-threatening crisis facing children in the Sahel region of west Africa in 2012. It focuses in particular on the experience of children, and makes detailed recommendations around disaster risk reduction, nutrition, and social protection to build resilience. The report also addresses the urgent need for political ambition to change the international system and end the everyday emergencies.
Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free)Tags: Natural hazards ; Food Safety ; Vulnerability ; Multi-hazard Early Warning Systems (MHEWS) ; Social protection and welfare ; Region I - Africa ; Burkina Faso ; Mali ; Niger ; Sahel
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Le Karakorum, glacier de l'Himalaya qui ne fond pas: In lemonde.fr
2012Les glaciers de l'Himalaya fondent lentement, mais une partie d'entre eux sont dans un état stable, voire regagnent légèrement du volume : c'est ce qui ressort de deux articles scientifiques parus dans les revues Science du 20 avril et Nature Geoscience du 15 avril.
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L'accumulation inquiétante des polluants dans l'Arctique: In lemonde.fr
2012S'il est vrai, comme le pense l'ex-première ministre norvégienne Gro Harlem Brundtland, que "les régions polaires demeurent celles du monde sur lesquelles on a le moins de connaissances", les travaux présentés du 22 au 27 avril à Montréal, lors de la conférence de l'Année polaire internationale 2012, ont permis de mesurer les avancées scientifiques réalisées.
C'est particulièrement le cas pour les études concernant la présence en Arctique de métaux - comme le mercure - et de polluants organiques persistants (POP), dont les impacts sur la santé et l'environnement sont très nocif ...
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El cambio climático en los Andes y la Amazonía : preguntas frecuentes
Este documento ofrece respuestas claras y concisas a las más frecuentes preguntas sobre: cambio climático; conocimiento tradicional; y, ecosistemas andinos y amazonia.
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Seasonal variability in the optical properties of Baltic aerosols
A five-year dataset of spectral aerosol optical thickness was used to analyse the seasonal variability of aerosol optical properties (the aerosol optical thickness (AOT) at wavelength λ=500 nm, AOT(500) and the Ångström exponent for the 440-870 nm spectral range, α(440, 870)) over the Baltic Sea and dependence of these optical properties on meteorological factors (wind direction, wind speed and relative humidity). The data from the Gotland station of the global radiometric network AERONET (Aerosol Robotic Network, http://aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov) were taken to be representative of the Baltic Sea ...
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Synergetic monitoring of Saharan dust plumes and potential impact on surface: a case study of dust transport from Canary Islands to Iberian Peninsula
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP), Vol. 11. N° 7. Córdoba-Jabonero C.; Sorribas M.; Guerrero-Rascado J.L.; et al. - Copernicus GmbH, 2011The synergetic use of meteorological information, remote sensing both ground-based active (lidar) and passive (sun-photometry) techniques together with backtrajectory analysis and in-situ measurements is devoted to the characterization of dust intrusions. A case study of air masses advected from the Saharan region to the Canary Islands and the Iberian Peninsula, located relatively close and far away from the dust sources, respectively, was considered for this purpose. The observations were performed over three Spanish geographically strategic stations within the dust-influenced area along a co ...
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African biomass burning plumes over the Atlantic: aircraft based measurements and implications for H2SO4 and HNO3 mediated smoke particle activation
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP), Vol. 11. N° 7. Fiedler V.; Arnold F.; Ludmann S.; et al. - Copernicus GmbH, 2011Airborne measurements of trace gases and aerosol particles have been made in two aged biomass burning (BB) plumes over the East Atlantic (Gulf of Guinea). The plumes originated from BB in the Southern-Hemisphere African savanna belt. On the day of our measurements (13 August 2006), the plumes had ages of about 10 days and were respectively located in the middle troposphere (MT) at 3900–5500 m altitude and in the upper troposphere (UT) at 10 800–11 200 m. Probably, the MT plume was lifted by dry convection and the UT plume was lifted by wet convection. In the more polluted MT-plume, numerous me ...
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Latitudinal distributions of organic nitrogen and organic carbon in marine aerosols over the western North Pacific
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP), Vol. 11. N° 7. Miyazaki Y.; Kawamura K.; Jung J.; et al. - Copernicus GmbH, 2011Marine aerosol samples were collected over the western North Pacific along the latitudinal transect from 44° N to 10° N in late summer 2008 for measurements of organic nitrogen (ON) and organic carbon (OC) as well as isotopic ratios of total nitrogen (TN) and total carbon (TC). Increased concentrations of methanesulfonic acid (MSA) and diethylammonium (DEA+) at 40–44° N and subtropical regions (10–20° N) together with averaged satellite chlorophyll-a data and 5-day back trajectories suggest a significant influence of marine biological activities on aerosols in these regions. ON exhibited incre ...
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Saharan and Asian dust: similarities and differences determined by CALIPSO, AERONET, and a coupled climate-aerosol microphysical model
This study compares the properties of atmospheric dust from the Saharan deserts and the Asian deserts using data from CALIPSO and AERONET during 2006 and 2007 along with simulations using a coupled climate-microphysical sectional model. Saharan deserts are largely south of 30° N, while Asian ones are primarily north of 30° N, hence they experience different meteorological regimes. Saharan dust lifting occurs all year long, primarily due to subtropical weather systems. However, Asian dust is lifted mostly in spring when mid-latitude frontal systems lead to high winds. Rainfall is more abundant ...
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New particle formation events in semi-clean South African savannah
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP), Vol. 11. N° 7. Vakkari V.; Laakso H.; Kulmala M.; et al. - Copernicus GmbH, 2011This study is based on 18 months (20 July 2006–5 February 2008) of continuous measurements of aerosol particle size distributions, air ion size distributions, trace gas concentrations and basic meteorology in a semi-clean savannah environment in Republic of South Africa. New particle formation and growth was observed on 69% of the days and bursts of non-growing ions/sub-10 nm particles on additional 14% of the days. This new particle formation frequency is the highest reported from boundary layer so far. Also the new particle formation and growth rates were among the highest reported in the li ...
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Understanding the transport of Patagonian dust and its influence on marine biological activity in the South Atlantic Ocean
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP), Vol. 11. N° 3. Johnson M.S.; Meskhidze N.; Kiliyanpilakkil V.P.; et al. - Copernicus GmbH, 2011The supply of bioavailable iron to the high-nitrate low-chlorophyll (HNLC) waters of the Southern Ocean through atmospheric pathways could stimulate phytoplankton blooms and have major implications for the global carbon cycle. In this study, model results and remotely-sensed data are analyzed to examine the horizontal and vertical transport pathways of Patagonian dust and quantify the effect of iron-laden mineral dust deposition on marine biological productivity in the surface waters of the South Atlantic Ocean (SAO). Model simulations for the atmospheric transport and deposition of mineral du ...
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