Media Use and Public Perceptions of Global Warming in India

Media plays a vital role in informing the public about environmental threats. Although climate change is a global problem, developing countries such as India are often more vulnerable to the impacts due to poverty, illiteracy, and low public awareness. Using data from a nationally representative survey in India, this paper explores the relationships between media use, issue attention, and trust in informational sources on one hand and science-based climate change beliefs, risk perceptions, and policy support on the other. Results suggest that the Indian media, through consistent and accurate coverage of global warming using trusted sources, can play a positive role in increasing public engagement among a largely unaware population. Implications for climate change communication in India are discussed.     

区域分异视角下进城居民再迁意愿分析

本文利用浙江、河南、四川三省960份已从农村迁移到城镇的居民的入户调查数据,建立二元Logistic回归模型进行验证,分析居民再迁移倾向。研究结果表明:(1)从描述性统计看,69.69%已进城居民不愿再迁,主要是生活原因,而30.31%的居民愿意再迁,主要是经济原因。(2)从三省总样本上看,一是女性较男性有更强的迁移意愿。二是年龄对再次迁移意愿有负向显著影响,年龄越大的进城居民更倾向"安土重迁"。三是家庭类型中三代同堂较单身家庭有更强的迁移意愿,因为养老难、子女教育难。四是手工业工人较村组干部更不愿意迁移,技能优势使其在城里更有保障。五是家庭年总收入对再迁意愿有正向显著影响。六是浙江、四川与河南三地的差异显著,因为三地分属于我国东中西部,社会经济、居民收入和文化观念存在显著差异。(3)从分省比较上看,一是性别、打工年限、家庭类型在浙江省和四川省模型中均有显著影响,但方向相反。二是工作类型在三省都有一定的影响,但存在差异。三是家庭年总收入在河南省不显著,而在四川省和浙江省均是正向显著。四是搬迁到城镇的年数在河南省是正向显著,而在浙江省和四川省是负向显著。五是浙江省和四川省模型都说明对政府越满意,居民越不愿意迁移。基于以上研究结论,本文认为在推进以人为核心的新型城镇化进程中,政府应发挥重要的引导作用,关注已进城居民对经济、生活、教育、社会保障等方面的合理需求,重视不同区域社会经济和文化观念的差异性,健全人口迁移的相关体制,落实各项相关保障政策。     

Background levels of OCPs, PCBs, and PAHs in soils from the eastern Pamirs, China, an alpine region influenced by westerly atmospheric transport

Long-range atmospheric transport(LRAT) plays a crucial role in the occurrence of persistent organic pollutants(POPs) in remote regions. When studying the LRAT of POPs on the Tibetan Plateau, westerly-controlled regions have received insufficient attention compared with regions influenced by the Indian monsoon or air flow from East Asia. We investigated the residual levels of POPs in soils from the eastern Pamirs and used air backward trajectory analysis to elucidate the influence of potential so...     

Scenarios of change in the realized climatic niche of mountain carnivores and ungulates

Mountains are among the natural systems most affected by climate change, and mountain mammals are considered particularly imperiled, given their high degree of specialization to narrow tolerance bands of environmental conditions. Climate change mitigation policies, such as the Paris Agreement, are essential to stem climate change impacts on natural systems. But how significant is the Paris Agreement to the survival of mountain mammals? We investigated how alternative emission scenarios may determine change in the realized climatic niche of mountain carnivores and ungulates in 2050. We based our predictions of future change in species niches based on how species have responded to past environmental changes, focusing on the probabilities of niche shrink and niche stability. We found that achieving the Paris Agreement's commitments would substantially reduce climate instability for mountain species. Specifically, limiting global warming to below 1.5°C would reduce the probability of niche shrinkage by 4% compared with a high-emission scenario. Globally, carnivores showed greater niche shrinkage than ungulates, whereas ungulates were more likely to shift their niches (i.e., face a level of climate change that allows adaptation). Twenty-three species threatened by climate change according to the IUCN Red List had greater niche contraction than other species we analyzed (3% higher on average). We therefore argue that climate mitigation policies must be coupled with rapid species-specific conservation intervention and sustainable land-use policies to avoid high risk of loss of already vulnerable species.     

全球系统研究的某些动向及启示

扼要说明了当今全球系统研究的某些重要动向，包括全球气候变化，全球环境管理、历史环境变化及环境过程的综合研究，遥感和地理信息系统在全球系统研究中的应用，此外，就地理学工作者如何参与全球系统研究及地理学本身的建设提出了若干建议。     

Revisiting the “Ozone Hole” Metaphor: From Observational Window to Global Environmental Threat

In 1985, just over 30 years ago, the “ozone hole” made its appearance in the press as a truly global environmental threat. As one of the most important environmental issues of the twentieth century, the “ozone hole” is also a remarkable metaphorical, visual, and imaginary construction. This essay examines the historical trajectory of the famous “ozone hole” from its birth within the astronomical community at the beginning of the twentieth century to its contemporary framing as a global environmental threat. The article provides evidence why metaphors constitute a valuable object of historically informed studies of scientific practice, and shows in particular how metaphorical landscapes shift over time, mapping at the same time larger social and political developments. The essay ends by showing how scientific images and metaphorical framings interact and how they shape scientific and popular discourse on nature, as well as our understanding of the global environment.     

土壤与全球环境变化

本文着重论述了“土壤变化”与“全球气候变化”之间的相互作用。土壤圈通过其内部一系列的理化、生化变化及土地利用变化等,产生CO_2、CH_4、N_2O等“温室效应”气体特别是CH_4和N_2O向大气的排放,对“全球气候变化”产生重要的影响,而全球气候变暖又会引起土壤沙漠化、酸化、盐渍化等退化过程的进一步加剧,严重改变人类生存的环境。加强科学宣传,提高全球民众环境意识,加强科学研究与监测,提出相应措施,是适应或改变上述全球变化的重要战略对策。     

Signal-transfer modeling for regional assessment of forest responses to environmental changes in the southeastern United States

Stochastic transfer of information in a hierarchy of simulators is offered as a conceptual approach for assessing forest responses to changing climate and air quality across 13 southeastern states of the USA. This assessment approach combines geographic information system and Monte Carlo capabilities with several scales of computer modeling for southern pine species and eastern deciduous forests. Outputs, such as forest production, evapotranspiration and carbon pools, may be compared statistically for alternative equilibrium or transient scenarios providing a statistical basis for decision making in regional assessments. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Climatic Implications of Revised IPCC Emissions Scenarios, the Kyoto Protocol and Quantification of Uncertainties

In December 1997, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) adopted the Kyoto Protocol. This paper describes a framework that models the climatic implications of this international agreement, using Monte Carlo simulations and the preliminary Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emissions scenarios (SRES). Emissions scenarios (including intervention scenarios), climate sensitivity, and terrestrial carbon sink are the key sampled model parameters. This framework gives prior probability distributions to these parameters and, using a simple climate model, posterior distributions of global temperature change are determined for the future. Our exercise showed that the Kyoto Protocol's effectiveness will be mostly dependent upon which SRES world evolves. In some worlds the Protocol decreases the warming considerably but in others it is almost irrelevant. We exemplified this approach with a current FCCC issue, namely “hot air”. This modelling framework provides a probabilistic assessment of climate policies, which can be useful for decision-makers involved in global climate change management. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.