Perceived stressors of climate vulnerability across scales in the Savannah zone of Ghana: a participatory approach

Smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are confronted with climatic and non-climatic stressors. Research attention has focused on climatic stressors, such as rainfall variability, with few empirical studies exploring non-climatic stressors and how these interact with climatic stressors at multiple scales to affect food security and livelihoods. This focus on climatic factors restricts understanding of the combinations of stressors that exacerbate the vulnerability of farming households and hampers the development of holistic climate change adaptation policies. This study addresses this particular research gap by adopting a multi-scale approach to understand how climatic and non-climatic stressors vary, and interact, across three spatial scales (household, community and district levels) to influence livelihood vulnerability of smallholder farming households in the Savannah zone of northern Ghana. This study across three case study villages utilises a series of participatory tools including semi-structured interviews, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. The incidence, importance, severity and overall risk indices for stressors are calculated at the household, community, and district levels. Results show that climatic and non-climatic stressors were perceived differently; yet, there were a number of common stressors including lack of money, high cost of farm inputs, erratic rainfall, cattle destruction of crops, limited access to markets and lack of agricultural equipment that crossed all scales. Results indicate that the gender of respondents influenced the perception and severity assessment of stressors on rural livelihoods at the community level. Findings suggest a mismatch between local and district level priorities that have implications for policy and development of agricultural and related livelihoods in rural communities. Ghana’s climate change adaptation policies need to take a more holistic approach that integrates both climatic and non-climatic factors to ensure policy coherence between national climate adaptation plans and District development plans.     

Future climate of the Carpathians: climate change hot-spots and implications for ecosystems

Regional Environmental Change - The Carpathians are the largest European mountain range and harbour exceptional biodiversity. However, recent and anticipated changes in climate along with rapid...     

Mediterranean forests,land use and climate change: a social-ecological perspective

Regional Environmental Change - Mediterranean forests are found in the Mediterranean basin, California, the South African Cape Province, South and southwestern Australia and parts of Central Chile....     

Human migration,climate variability,and land degradation: hotspots of socio-ecological pressure in Ethiopia

Regional Environmental Change - In Ethiopia, human migration is known to be influenced by environmental change—and vice versa. Thus, degradation of environmental conditions can contribute to...     

不同主体功能区农户家庭耕地利用功能对土地流转行为的影响

城乡经济转型及农村人口快速城市化促使农户家庭耕地利用功能较传统利用方式发生转变,农户家庭耕地生存依赖度弱化促进土地流转市场发育。以湖北省重点开发区、农产品主产区和生态功能区的1 146户农户调查数据为实证,运用Biprobit模型分析不同主体功能区农户家庭耕地利用功能对土地流转行为的影响。研究表明:(1)调研区域41.10%的农户家庭参与土地流转,土地流入转出租金分别为2 751.12元/hm~2、4 391.33元/hm~2,土地流转发生率较高但租金水平整体偏低,且在区域间存在显著差异。重点开发区土地流转市场发育较好,流转参与率及租金水平较高;农产品主产区流转参与率较高,但租金水平较低;生态功能区土地流转参与率及租金水平较低,流转市场发育迟缓。(2)区域间功能定位、经济发展水平的差异导致农户家庭耕地利用功能空间差异明显。其中,生态功能区农户耕地资源利用的食物生产功能弱化明显,而重点开发区和农产品主产区则明显弱化耕地资源的养老就业功能。(3)整体而言,农户家庭耕地利用功能对土地流转行为影响显著。其中,家庭耕地利用在经济贡献、养老就业及食物生产等方面承担的功能越强,其家庭做出土地转出决策的可能性愈小;而选择土地流入的可能性也越大,而家庭耕地利用所表征的选择馈赠功能越强,其家庭越倾向于留存土地,且区域差异明显。重点开发区的相关系数及显著程度较高,作用方向与整体基本一致;生态功能区的相关系数及显著程度最低,且作用方向偏离整体幅度较大。表明经济发展程度越快的地区,土地流转发育受耕地利用功能的影响越明显。     

Comparative analysis of land use and lake water quality in rural and urban zones of south Chennai, India

Chennai city, the capital of Tamil Nadu state in South India, has been experiencing rapid expansion since the last two decades, resulting in major changes in land use and degradation of wetlands. Small lakes in the peri-urban areas face severe strain on their environment due to transition of rural to urban conditions, leaving at stake their aquatic health and intended uses. This paper studies the role of urbanization and land use changes in the water quality of peri-urban (Rajakilpakkam) and rural (Vengaivasal) lakes. Water samples were collected and analysed for temperature, total dissolved solids, major ions, nutrients and biological oxygen demand as per standard methods. The temperature, pH and biological oxygen demand did not differ between lakes, while total dissolved solids (p = 0.008), alkalinity (p = 0.000), total hardness (p = 0.001) and phosphate (p = 0.000) were significantly higher in Rajakilpakkam. Seasonal and spatial variations in water quality between the lakes showed the direct impact of rapid and uncontrolled growth of built-up areas in the catchment area, in enhancing waste water inflows with inorganic salts and nutrients in Rajakilpakkam lake compared with Vengaivasal lake. Urbanization of the catchment and encroachments in Rajakilpakkam lake tends to reduce the social interdependence of lake and community and promote disuse, leading to decline in water quality. The impending environmental costs caused by urbanization to these lakes will only be tackled, if the main issues of domestic and industrial discharges and encroachments are addressed properly.     

Impacts of climate change on Chinese ecosystems: key vulnerable regions and potential thresholds

China is a key vulnerable region of climate change in the world. Climate warming and general increase in precipitation with strong temporal and spatial variations have happened in China during the past century. Such changes in climate associated with the human disturbances have influenced natural ecosystems of China, leading to the advanced plant phenology in spring, lengthened growing season of vegetation, modified composition and geographical pattern of vegetation, especially in ecotone and tree-lines, and the increases in vegetation cover, vegetation activity and net primary productivity. Increases in temperature, changes in precipitation regime and CO₂ concentration enrichment will happen in the future in China according to climate model simulations. The projected climate scenarios (associated with land use changes again) will significantly influence Chinese ecosystems, resulting in a northward shift of all forests, disappearance of boreal forest from northeastern China, new tropical forests and woodlands move into the tropics, an eastward shift of grasslands (expansion) and deserts (shrinkage), a reduction in alpine vegetation and an increase in net primary productivity of most vegetation types. Ecosystems in northern and western parts of China are more vulnerable to climate changes than those in eastern China, while ecosystems in the east are more vulnerable to land use changes other than climate changes. Such assessment could be helpful to address the ultimate objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC Article 2).     

The social viability and environmental sustainability of direct action land reform settlements in the Amazon

State-led agrarian reform (SLAR) settlements established in the Amazon in the 1970s led to environmental degradation and mixed socioeconomic outcomes. More recently, direct-action land reform (DALR) settlements have proliferated, which are leading to new forest clearing in the name of agrarian reform. The emergence of DALR begs questions about social and environmental outcomes in recent Amazon settlements. This paper compares DALR settlements in two different regions of the eastern Amazon: the South of Pará and the Transamazon. Analysis of household survey data shows that DALR settlements in the two study areas differ substantially in terms of their histories of formation and regional contexts. However, social and environmental outcomes do not always differ among the two study areas, which in turn resemble older SLAR settlements.     

Recognizing loss of open forest ecosystems by tree densification and land use intensification in the Midwestern USA

Regional Environmental Change - Forests and grasslands have changed during the past 200 years in the eastern USA, and it is now possible to quantify loss and conversion of vegetation cover...     

Farm income, gender differentials and climate risk in Cameroon: typology of male and female adaptation options across agroecologies

This paper explores the response to risk of smallholder agricultural producers in the face of variable and changing climate in Cameroon. The low rainfall distribution in some regions of the country and the high inter-seasonal variability of rainfall makes crop production, on which the livelihood of rural inhabitants is based, a risky enterprise. Women farmers in Cameroon are an important group for whom risk aversion influences production outcomes and welfare. This study identifies and analyses the effect of climate risks on the productive activities and the management options of male and female farmers. Women-owned farms, on average, record profits of US620 per hectare to about US 620 per hectare to about US 935 for crop enterprises across the different agroecological zones. Comparatively static results indicate that increases in climate variability and the uncertainty of climate conditions have an explicit impact on farm profit. The impacts of increased uncertainty in climate and risk aversion are ambiguous depending on the agroecology. Ex-ante and ex-post risk management options reveal that female-owned farms in the northern Sahel savannah zone rely on more sophisticated strategies to reduce the impact of shocks. While adapting to uncertain climate positively influences profit levels, risk measured as the variance of rainfall or temperature per unit variation in profit is significant. This analysis stresses the increased importance of climate risk management as a prelude to the panoply of adaptation choice in response to expected climatic change.     

Climate change and variability: perception and adaptation strategies of pastoralists and agro-pastoralists across different zones of Burkina Faso

Due to the dependence of its economy on rainfed agriculture and livestock husbandry, Burkina Faso, like other Sahelian countries, is particularly vulnerable to climate change. Adaptation is needed to counteract anticipated drawbacks of climate change on crop and livestock productivity; therefore, we examined climate change perceptions of pastoralists and agro-pastoralists and analysed their adaptation strategies. To this end, focus group discussions were held in six villages distributed across three agro-ecological zones. In three of these sites, 162 farmers were also individually interviewed. Perceptions of farmers were compared to actual trends of different climatic parameters extracted from official long-term meteorological records (1988–2008). Results showed that farmers in Burkina Faso were partly aware of climate change, particularly of changes in temperature and rainfall patterns, but their perception did not match well with the recorded annual rainfall data in the southern Sahelian and Sudanian zones. The most important adaptation strategies mentioned by agro-pastoralists were crop diversification, combination of cropping and livestock operations, use of water harvesting technologies and anti-erosive measures such as half-moons or stone dikes. Strategies of pastoralists included seasonal, annual and permanent migration and taking up of cereal cropping. Logistic regression analysis indicated that agro-ecological zone, cultivated surface, ruminant herd size, household size and education were the most important variables affecting farmers’ choice of adaptation strategies. These factors should be taken into account in the development and implementation of any programme of adaptation to climate change in Burkina Faso.     

Diversity of corals and benthic algae across the shallow-water reefs of Andaman Islands: managing the valuable ecosystems

The Andaman Islands characterize one of the relatively unexplored coral reef zones of the Indian subcontinent. A few benthic biodiversity studies have been carried out to date, but several coral and algal species still remain to be evaluated in terms of their abundance, vigour and conservation priority. In absence of a comprehensive, reliable dataset, inter-relationships between anthropogenic impacts and climate alterations with the coral reefs cannot be assessed authentically. This paper addresses the coupled themes of biodiversity and reef management in the Andaman Islands by examining the percentage cover of corals and benthic algae from shallow-water ecosystems across the coasts of Havelock, Neil, Ross, Jolly Buoy Islands and Chidiyatapu beach proximal to Port Blair. Four major reef types were observed: coral-dominated, algae-dominated, neutral setting and algae overgrowing dead reefs. Jolly Buoy Island had the highest percentage cover of scleractinian corals and crustose coralline algae. Turf algae were most abundant at the Ross Island, while other macroalgae showed highest abundance at Chidiyatapu. Overall species diversity values for corals and algae were highest at the Jolly Buoy and Chidiyatapu, respectively. Given that corals and algae are critical reef components, management paradigms must consider the abundance and frequency of both these biogenic entities in the seascape. The needs, expectations and objectives of the people dependent on coral reef ecosystems also need to be considered. Long-term monitoring is imperative in understanding the natural typology of reefs and managing the possible algal encroachments. Refined management efforts that include greater thrust on development of marine protected areas and reserves; establishment of connectivity between various coral ecosystems of the region; control of invasive algae; and increasing awareness among the local people as well as tourists will ensure continued support of ecosystem to maintain healthy reefs. Collectively, the results are used to promote some strategies to conserve the Andaman coral reefs and cope with the detrimental anthropogenic and climate changes in these coastal habitats.     

Future of global governance and climate change action in a changing political landscape

<正>1.Editor's note On 30 November 2016,the Brookings-Tsinghua Center for Public Policy(BTC),Caixin Video,and Columbia Global Centers(Beijing)jointly hosted a Seminar on the Future of Global Governance and Climate Change Action in a Changing Political Landscape.Leading experts on China's environmental policy and climate     

Quantification of land use/land cover changes in Pearl River Delta and its impact on regional climate in summer using numerical modeling

This study quantified land use/land cover (LULC) changes in Pearl River Delta (PRD) of South China and its impact on regional climate over the last two decades. The LULC change analyses were accomplished by applying a change detection method to a set of Landsat imagery and ancillary data acquired from 1970s to 2000. The results indicate that the urban expansion is the prevailing LULC change in the PRD. Impact of LULC change on regional climate was simulated by using a mesoscale climate model. Two different land cover datasets circa 1990 and 2000 were input to the model to investigate the impact of urbanization on regional weather and climate condition in summer 2005. The simulation results show that rapid urban expansion can substantially alter regional climate conditions in the PRD region including monthly mean temperature, precipitation, moisture, and surface heat fluxes.     

Role of climate risks and socio-economic factors in influencing the impact of climatic extremes: a normalisation study in the context of Odisha,India

Economic costs imposed by climatic extremes have been increasing over the years and are expected to follow a similar trend in the coming years as well. Such costs are incurred due to two factors: (1) natural climate variability and anthropogenic climate change and (2) exposure and vulnerability of socio-economic factors. The impact of these factors as identified separately through a ‘normalisation technique’ is analysed in the existing normalisation studies conducted mostly in developed country contexts; these have produced mixed results. However, one needs to enquire about the influence of the above two factors in a developing country context where the anticipated impacts of climate extremes are significant. This study, therefore, makes an attempt to adjust impact data, in terms of the reported population affected and economic damages of three extreme events, namely cyclones, floods and droughts, together for societal changes between 1972 and 2009 in Odisha in eastern India. Further, the second component is analysed in two ways: (1) assuming that exposed socio-economic factors are equally vulnerable similar to the other normalisation studies, i.e. no adaptation and (2) incorporating adaptation in the existing normalisation methods—which has attracted less attention so far in the literature. The results suggest that: (a) both the natural climate variability and the socio-economic factors influence the increasing damages in the recent decades, and (b) when adaptation is introduced in the normalisation model, economic losses have reduced significantly compared to the estimates using the existing normalisation models.     

The challenges of water,waste and climate change in cities

Cities play a prominent role in our economic development as more than 80 % of the gross world product (GWP) comes from cities. Only 600 urban areas with just 20 % of the world population generate 60 % of the GWP. Rapid urbanization, climate change, inadequate maintenance of water and wastewater infrastructures and poor solid waste management may lead to flooding, water scarcity, water pollution, adverse health effects and rehabilitation costs that may overwhelm the resilience of cities. These megatrends pose urgent challenges in cities as the cost of inaction is high. We present an overview about population growth, urbanization, water, waste, climate change, water governance and transitions. Against this background, we discuss the categorization of cities based on our baseline assessments, i.e. our City Blueprint research on 45 municipalities and regions predominantly in Europe. With this bias towards Europe in mind, the challenges can be discussed globally by clustering cities into distinct categories of sustainability and by providing additional data and information from global regions. We distinguish five categories of sustainability: (1) cities lacking basic water services, (2) wasteful cities, (3) water-efficient cities, (4) resource-efficient and adaptive cities and (5) water-wise cities. Many cities in Western Europe belong to categories 3 and 4. Some cities in Eastern Europe and the few cities we have assessed in Latin America, Asia and Africa can be categorized as cities lacking basic water services. Lack of water infrastructures or obsolete infrastructures, solid waste management and climate adaptation are priorities. It is concluded that cities require a long-term framing of their sectoral challenges into a proactive and coherent Urban Agenda to maximize the co-benefits of adaptation and to minimize the cost. Furthermore, regional platforms of cities are needed to enhance city-to-city learning and to improve governance capacities necessary to accelerate effective and efficient transitions towards water-wise cities. These learning alliances are needed as the time window to solve the global water governance crisis is narrow and rapidly closing. The water sector can play an important role but needs to reframe and refocus radically.     

Impacts of climate and land use change on hydrodynamics and sediment transport regime of the Ganga River Basin

Regional Environmental Change - The Amazon rainforest covers roughly 40% of Colombia’s territory and has important global ecological functions. For more than 50 years, an internal war in the...     

Changing weather and climate in Northern Ghana: comparison of local perceptions with meteorological and land cover data

Regional Environmental Change - Local perspectives on changing weather and climate and analyses of meteorological data represent two different but potentially complementary ways of knowing about...