Global warming potential of emissions from rice paddies in Northeastern China

In this study, paddy fields in Jilin province which are flooded parcel of arable lands used for growing rice (Oryza sativa Linn.) were selected as the object. Long-term exploitation of paddy fields led to variations of soil organic carbon (SOC) and green house gases (GHGs) emissions which might contribute to global warming. In order to calculate the amount of global warming potentials (GWPs) of emissions from ricepaddies and find the correlations among rice yield, SOC storage and GWP, DeNitrification-DeComposition (DNDC) model was used to simulate SOC densities and fluxes of main GHGs emitted from paddy fields. After verification, simulation results were used to calculate SOC storages and 100-year GWPs from 1949 to 2009. Results indicated that SOC densities in depths of 0–10 cm, 10–20 cm and 20–30 cm all kept increasing. Average methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) fluxes were 278.55 kg carbon (kgC) ha⁻¹ a⁻¹ and 2.22 kg nitrogen (kgN) ha⁻¹ a⁻¹. The SOC storage (0–30 cm) had increased from 3.96 × 10⁹kgC in 1949 to 47.85 × 10⁹kgC in 2009. In addition, GWP emission was increasing exponentially in the past 61 years, from 0.16 × 10⁶ Mg carbon dioxide equivalents (CO₂-equivalents) to 66.36 × 10⁶ Mg CO₂-equivalents. Both SOC storage and GWP presented obviously linear relation to rice yields. Overall, the research suggested that long-term rice yields could be used to estimate the SOC storage and GWP variations.     

The adequacy of GWPs as indicators of damage costsincurred by global warming

This article looks at the ability of Global Warming Potentials (GWPs) towork as indicators of equivalence for temperature development and damagecosts. We look at two abatement scenarios that are equivalent when using100-year GWPs: one scenario reduces short-lived gases, mainly methane(CH₄); the other scenario reduces carbon dioxide (CO₂).Despite their equivalence in terms of CO₂ equivalents, the scenariosdo not result in equal rates or levels of temperature change. The disparitiescontinue as we move further down the chain of causality toward damagecosts, measured either in terms of rate of climate change or level of climatechange. Compared to the CH₄ mitigation scenario, the CO₂mitigation scenario gives present value costs 1.3 and 1.5 times higher forlevel- and rate-dependent damage costs, respectively, assuming a discountrate of 3%. We also test the GWPs for other time horizons and theconclusions remain the same; using GWP as an index to reflect equivalentclimate effects and damage costs from emissions is questionable.     

Global and regional potential for bioenergy from agricultural and forestry residue biomass

As co-products, agricultural and forestry residues represent a potential low cost, low carbon, source for bioenergy. A method is developed for estimating the maximum sustainable amount of energy potentially available from agricultural and forestry residues by converting crop production statistics into associated residue, while allocating some of this resource to remain on the field to mitigate erosion and maintain soil nutrients. Currently, we estimate that the world produces residue biomass that could be sustainably harvested and converted into nearly 50 EJ yr⁻¹ of energy. The top three countries where this resource is estimated to be most abundant are currently net energy importers: China, the United States (US), and India. The global potential from residue biomass is estimated to increase to approximately 50–100 EJ yr⁻¹ by mid- to late- century, depending on physical assumptions such as of future crop yields and the amount of residue sustainably harvestable. The future market for biomass residues was simulated using the Object-Oriented Energy, Climate, and Technology Systems Mini Climate Assessment Model (O^bjECTS MiniCAM). Utilization of residue biomass as an energy source is projected for the next century under different climate policy scenarios. Total global use of residue biomass is estimated to be 20–100 EJ yr⁻¹ by mid- to late- century, depending on the presence of a climate policy and the economics of harvesting, aggregating, and transporting residue. Much of this potential is in developing regions of the world, including China, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and India.     

Implications of climate change on mitigation potential estimates for forest sector in India

Climate change is projected to impact forest ecosystems, including biodiversity and Net Primary Productivity (NPP). National level carbon forest sector mitigation potential estimates are available for India; however impacts of projected climate change are not included in the mitigation potential estimates. Change in NPP (in gC/m²/yr) is taken to represent the impacts of climate change. Long term impacts of climate change (2085) on the NPP of Indian forests are available; however no such regional estimates are available for short and medium terms. The present study based on GCM climatology scenarios projects the short, medium and long term impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems especially on NPP using BIOME4 vegetation model. We estimate that under A2 scenario by the year 2030 the NPP changes by (−5) to 40% across different agro-ecological zones (AEZ). By 2050 it increases by 15% to 59% and by 2070 it increases by 34 to 84%. However, under B2 scenario it increases only by 3 to 25%, 3.5 to 34% and (−2.5) to 38% respectively, in the same time periods. The cumulative mitigation potential is estimated to increase by up to 21% (by nearly 1 GtC) under A2 scenario between the years 2008 and 2108, whereas, under B2 the mitigation potential increases only by 14% (646 MtC). However, cumulative mitigation potential estimates obtained from IBIS—a dynamic global vegetation model suggest much smaller gains, where mitigation potential increases by only 6% and 5% during the period 2008 to 2108.     

Regional news portrayals of global warming and climate change

In this study we utilize content analysis techniques to examine how the issue of global warming and climate change has been characterized during the period of 1992 through 2005 by the Houston Chronicle—the largest regional newspaper in the Texas coastal region. A total of 795 global warming and climate change news articles from the Houston Chronicle are collected, coded and analyzed. Data analyses are organized and presented with regard to issue salience, various issue attributes (issue image, scope, linkage, participant, proposed solution and responsible party), use of science, and scientific information sources cited in the news stories. We find that regional media attention to the global climate change issue generally increases over time and an overwhelming majority of the news articles view the issue as a harmful problem. However, given the scientific consensus that global warming will result in significant devastating climate change consequences to the coastal regions, there are still a fair number of news articles delivering mixed, undetermined or even non-harmful messages. We also find that climate change is often discussed as a national or international-global issue, and frequently linked to a number of other public issues rather than just being viewed as an environmental–ecological problem. Moreover, we find that emphasis on issue solutions is placed more on mitigation strategies than on adaptation behaviors, and that both governmental and non-governmental actions and responsibilities are suggested for dealing with climate change. In addition, our findings indicate that the regional newspaper in Texas obtains scientific information on climate change primarily from academic institutions. Implications of our findings and recommendations for future research are discussed in the concluding section.     

Apparent relationships between anthropogenic factors and climate change indicators and POPs deposition in a lacustrine system

Climate change and anthropogenic activities are expected to impact the environmental behaviors and fates of persistent organic pollutants(POPs), however, quantitative studies on these combined factors are scarce. In this study, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane(DDTs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs), and polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs)were used as examples to identify how and when those factors may be related to the deposition of POPs in the sediment of Lake Chaohu, China, using generalized additive models(GAMs). Three historical trends of DDT, PAH, and PCB deposition were delineated in a dated sediment core encompassing ～100 years of historical record: a steady state or gradually increasing stage, a rapidly increasing stage, and a declining stage. The GAM results showed that aquatic total phosphorus(TP) concentrations and regional GDP(anthropogenic factors) were dominant contributors to POP accumulation rates in the lake sediment. The fitted relationships between air temperature and sedimentary DDT and PAH concentrations were linear and negative, while a positive linear relationship was found for PCBs, suggesting that Lake Chaohu may have become a net source for DDTs and PAHs, and a sink for PCBs, under a progressively warming climate.     

Exploring the assumed invariance of implied emission factors for forest biomass in greenhouse gas inventories

Reviews of each nation's annual greenhouse gas inventory submissions including forestland are part of the ongoing reporting process of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Goals of these reviews include improving quality and consistency within and among reports. One method of facilitating comparisons is the use of a standard index such as an implied emission factor (IEF), which for forest biomass indicates net rate of carbon emission or sequestration per area. Guidance on the use of IEFs in reviews is limited, but there is an expectation that values should be relatively constant both over time and across spatial scales. To address this hypothesis, we examine IEFs over time, derived from U.S. forests at plot-, state-, and national-levels. Results show that at increasingly aggregated levels, relative heterogeneity decreases but can still be substantial. A net increase in U.S. whole-forest IEFs over time is consistent with results from temperate forests of nations in the European Community. IEFs are better viewed as a distribution of values rather than one constant value principally because of sensitivities to productivity, disturbance, and land use change, which can all vary considerably across a nation's forest land.     

Assessment of the ecodesign improvement options using the global warming and economic performance indicators

In this paper, an assessment method is proposed for ecodesign improvement options using global warming and economic performance indicators. A reduction in the GHG emissions in the entire life cycle stages of a product was chosen as the global warming performance of the product. The external cost which converts the external effect of global warming into a monetary value was chosen as the global warming performance indicator in order to measure the performance of the GHG reduction of the product. The life cycle cost (LCC) of the product was chosen as the economic performance indicator to measure the performance of the life cycle cost reduction of the product. The assessment method based on the two performance indicators was applied to the liquid crystal display (LCD) panel for a case study.     

Drought can offset potential water use efficiency of forest ecosystems from rising atmospheric CO2

Increasing atmospheric CO₂ is both leading to climate change and providing a potential fertilisation effect on plant growth. However, southern Australia has also experienced a significant decline in rainfall over the last 30 years, resulting in increased vegetative water stress. To better understand the dynamics and responses of Australian forest ecosystems to drought and elevated CO₂, the magnitude and trend in water use efficiency (WUE) of forests, and their response to drought and elevated CO₂ from 1982 to 2014 were analysed, using the best available model estimates constrained by observed fluxes from simulations with fixed and time-varying CO₂. The ratio of gross primary productivity (GPP) to evapotranspiration (ET) (WUEe) was used to identify the ecosystem scale WUE, while the ratio of GPP to transpiration (Tr) (WUEc) was used as a measure of canopy scale WUE. WUE increased significantly in northern Australia (p < 0.001) for woody savannas (WSA), whereas there was a slight decline in the WUE of evergreen broadleaf forests (EBF) in the southeast and southwest of Australia. The lag of WUEc to drought was consistent and relatively short and stable between biomes (≤3 months), but notably varied for WUEe, with a long time-lag (mean of 10 months). The dissimilar responses of WUEe and WUEc to climate change for different geographical areas result from the different proportion of Tr in ET. CO₂ fertilization and a wetter climate enhanced WUE in northern Australia, whereas drought offset the CO₂ fertilization effect in southern Australia.     

Emission factors, ozone and secondary organic aerosol formation potential of volatile organic compounds emitted from industrial biomass boilers

To evaluate the potential benefits of biomass use for air pollution control, this paper identified and quantified the emissions of major reactive organic compounds anticipated from biomass-fired industrial boilers. Wood pellets(WP) and straw pellets(SP) were burned to determine the volatile organic compound emission profiles for each biomass-boiler combination. More than 100 types of volatile organic compounds(VOCs) were measured from the two biomass boilers. The measured VOC species included alkanes, alkenes and acetylenes, aromatics, halocarbons and carbonyls. A single coal-fired boiler(CB) was also studied to provide a basis for comparison. Biomass boiler 1(BB1) emitted relatively high proportions of alkanes(28.9%–38.1% by mass) and alkenes and acetylenes(23.4%–40.8%),while biomass boiler 2(BB2) emitted relatively high proportions of aromatics(27.9%–29.2%)and oxygenated VOCs(33.0%–44.8%). The total VOC(TVOC) emission factors from BB1(128.59–146.16 mg/kg) were higher than those from BB2(41.26–85.29 mg/kg). The total ozone formation potential(OFP) ranged from 6.26 to 81.75 mg/m~3 with an average of 33.66 mg/m~3 for the two biomass boilers. The total secondary organic aerosol potential(SOAP) ranged from 61.56 to 211.67 mg/m~3 with an average of 142.27 mg/m~3 for the two biomass boilers.The emission factors(EFs) of TVOCs from biomass boilers in this study were similar to those for industrial coal-fired boilers with the same thermal power. These data can supplement existing VOC emission factors for biomass combustion and thus enrich the VOC emission inventory.     

Plant trees for the planet: the potential of forests for climate change mitigation and the major drivers of national forest area

Forests are one of the most cost-effective ways to sequester carbon today. Here, I estimate the world’s land share under forests required to prevent dangerous climate change. For this, I combine newest longitudinal data of FLUXNET on forests’ net ecosystem exchange of carbon (NEE) from 78 forest sites (N?=?607) with countries’ mean temperature and forest area. This straightforward approach indicates that the world’s forests sequester 8.3 GtCO₂year^?1. For the 2 °C climate target, the current forest land share has to be doubled to 60.0% to sequester an additional 7.8 GtCO₂year^?1, which demands less red meat consumption. This afforestation/reforestation (AR) challenge is achievable, as the estimated global biophysical potential of AR is 8.0 GtCO₂year^?1 safeguarding food supply for 10 billion people. Climate-responsible countries have the highest AR potential. For effective climate policies, knowledge on the major drivers of forest area is crucial. Enhancing information here, I analyze forest land share data of 98 countries from 1990 to 2015 applying causal inference (N?=?2494). The results highlight that population growth, industrialization, and increasing temperature reduce forest land share, while more protected forest and economic growth generally increase it. In all, this study confirms the potential of AR for climate change mitigation with a straightforward approach based on the direct measurement of NEE. This might provide a more valid picture given the shortcomings of indirect carbon stock-based inventories. The analysis identifies future regional hotspots for the AR potential and informs the need for fast and forceful action to prevent dangerous climate change.

     

Relationship between structure and aboveground biomass of typical steppe and climate in Inner Mongolia

Typical steppe in Inner Mongolia belongs to a part of Central Asia sub-region in Eurasian temperate steppe region. In climate distinct wet and dry season, coherence of water and heat result in single peak type of seasonal dynamic of steppe biomass. Community biomass has linear regressional equation with community height, its correlation coefficient (R) is 0.959***. Growth rate of biomass in June, July and August is usually at 1.5-3.0 g/m2. d-1. Community standing dead occurs in June and equates green living biomass by mid-September. Community biomass is only standing dead biomass in the mid-October. Biomass, green production and standing dead have linear regressional relation with days of plant growing, their correlation coefficient (R) are 0.9919***, 0.9878*** and 0.9923***, respectively. Yearly dynamic of typical steppe biomass is variable, the maximum value is 2.4 times as much as the minimum. The peak biomass of Stipa grandis steppe was 87g/m2 in dry 1980 and 210g/m2 in rainy 1981, and their height     

广东省水稻产量关键影响气候因子识别与气候影响估算

农业是受气候变化影响最显著的国民经济行业,农业生产不仅关乎一个国家粮食供给安全,也为其他产业部门提供基础原材料,因此在全球气候变化的大背景下研究气候变化对农业产量的影响是评估气候变化影响经济的重要方面,受到学界普遍关注.以极端气候多发的水稻主产区之一广东省为例,基于作物生产函数模型并引入月度气候因子变量,综合测度农用物...     

Promoting factors and early indicators of a successful product panel

Product panels are presented as a promising method to find solutions for environmental problems arising from specific product groups. These panels consist of representatives of manufacturers, retail, research, environmental and consumer administration, recycling, and various other stakeholders who work together in the panel to draft plans of action aiming at improvements in the environmental characteristics of products and services, and promotion for environmentally sound products and services in the various markets.The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that promote successful panel work as based on the experiences from the Danish and Finnish product panels. In addition, we aim at finding several indicators in panel work that can help lead to successful results already in the early phase and, on the other hand, help to recognize panels that will be ineffective from the viewpoint of environmental policy. We also describe how the findings from the Danish and Finnish textile panels were applied to a new product panel in Finland dealing with furniture and how this panel has started its work.The paper is based on existing material about the three panels, including reports and websites of the Danish product panels and the Finnish Furniture panel. In addition, unpublished memos of the meetings of the three panels have been studied. An evaluation report of the Danish panels was very useful for the discussion of the findings. The authors have also participated in the furniture panel as a member and a secretary.Experiences from the Danish textile panel and some early results of the Finnish furniture panel indicate that, under the right conditions, gathering stakeholders from the whole product chain and administration into a panel can be an efficient way to promote the market for greener products and thus, can serve as a tool for integrated product policy. Key success factors include the basic idea, committed people and openness of the product panels. It is also important that the initiator give some guidance in the form of schedule, action plan and some preset objectives.     

三江源植被碳利用率动态变化及其对气候响应

本文基于MODIS GPP/NPP数据估算了三江源植被碳利用率（CUE）,结合气象数据和高程数据采用一元线性回归和相关分析法,探讨了2001~2017年三江源植被CUE的时空变化特征及植被CUE对气温、降水量和蒸散量变化的响应.结果表明：（1）三江源植被CUE年内3~10月表现为先增加后降低的变化趋势,其中6月植被CUE最高.（2）三江源年植被碳利用率位于0.73~1,平均水平为0.85;植被CUE空间上呈现北高南低,西高东低的分布特征.（3）整体上,三江源4~10月植被碳利用率与同期气温、降水量和蒸散量分别呈现正相关、负相关和负相关关系,降水量是影响三江源植被CUE变化的主要影响因素,气温为次要因素,蒸散量影响程度最小.     

Numerous experiments for the impact of warming climate on the phenology and grain yield of winter wheat

Based on the environmental and crop data at Zhenjiang City, in Jiangsu Province, middle east of China, the growing process of winter wheat was simulated by CERES-Wheat model assuming the daily average temperature is 1℃ to 2℃ higher than at the present, which are mostly possible for the change of climate because of enrichment of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The simulation results show that warming climate can promote development rate and shorten phenological stages of wheat, and the grain yield will be higher than present. Its impact on the kernel weight and grains per square meter were different for the plantings of various sowing dates. The results of this study suggest that substantial changes in agricultural production and management practices are needed to respond to the climatic changes expected to take place in China.     

Correction to: Plant trees for the planet: the potential of forests for climate change mitigation and the major drivers of national forest area

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change - The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake in the Acknowledgement section.     

Environmental relevance and use of energy indicators in environmental management and research

Energy use as a single indicator or in a set of few indicators is often used in applied research in the building, transportation and energy sectors. However, the environmental relevance of energy indicators is seldom questioned. The relation between environmental relevance and energy indicators might seem obvious. Nevertheless, how this is obvious has not been thoroughly discussed. The aim of this paper is to investigate the environmental relevance of the energy indicator and discuss implications for its use. The approach is to express environmental pressure in different environmental impact categories and determine the contribution to these from energy use. Because not all impact categories are closely linked to energy indicators, the aim and context in which it is used must be apparent.     

Energy use and environmental impacts of forest operations in Sweden

An inventory of energy use in forest operations in Sweden 1996 and 1997 comprises all operations including seedling production, silviculture, logging and secondary haulage to forest industries. Energy use in Swedish forestry was about 150–200 MJ/m³ of timber, depending on the locality in Sweden. This inventory demonstrates much higher energy use for secondary haulage than was anticipated by earlier studies. In contrast to this, energy use in logging shows a slight decrease compared to the state of operations a decade earlier, possibly reflecting improvements in technology and management. Although secondary haulage operations account for the largest share of the energy used, logging and silviculture generate the highest levels of certain exhaust emissions. Emissions were either fuel-related (CO₂, SO_x) or engine-related (hydrocarbons, NO_x). Use of renewable fuels and improvements in engine design and the better adjustment of engines to forestry operations could decrease these kinds of emissions.The emission of gases that contribute to climate change is very small compared to national emissions. Nevertheless, there is scope for a further decrease of this contribution. Timber is an interesting raw material for alternative fuels, thus enabling a better market prospect for such timber that does not meet the specifications of traditional forest industry.     

Development projects for small rural communities in the Brazilian Amazon region as potential strategies and practices of climate change adaptation

Climate scenarios for the Amazon region (Brazil) indicate an increase in temperature and a precipitation decrease, affecting society and economic activities, particularly small-scale rural communities. The research aims to identify, describe and evaluate factors present in sustainable development projects for small rural communities (Type- A Demonstration Projects - PDA and Alternatives to Deforestation and Burnt Projects - PADEQ), already implemented, for recognizing its potential use as strategies for adaptation to climate change for small rural communities in the Amazon region. The researches, concerning fifteen projects in Rondonia, Para and Mato Grosso States, were developed through document analysis, technical visits, and interviews with stakeholders of three projects about the community perception, vulnerability and adaptation capacity. The analysis of documents regarding the potential success of the projects highlights their short history, important in the local context, prospects for continuity, and community participation in decision making. Few activities developed in projects could be associated with climate change adaptation practices. Two strategies and practices are the most important: the social organization and the process of awareness and training of the community, and the diversification of the types and forms of agricultural production. The interviews indicate that adaptation is implemented in projects, but without considering the pressures of climate variability and change. While these projects were not planned in the context of climate change, the greatest role of the projects relates to the strengthening of the already existing adaptation capacity, creating good conditions for incorporation of new strategies and adaptation measures, now clearly associated to the objective to reduce the vulnerability to climate change and variability impacts.