Indicators of Climate Change for the Russian Federation

Observed climate changes over the Russian Federation (RF) territory are considered. Several indicators based on monthly mean temperature and precipitation station data are used to quantify regional climate changes. Some of these are the components of two aggregated indices of climate change, suggested by Karl et al. (1996): the Climate Extremes Index (CEI) and the Greenhouse Climate Response Index (GCRI). For the RF territory as a whole, and for its western part, the "Russian Permafrost Free (RPF) territory" in particular, changes in surface air temperature are investigated, together with changes in precipitation and drought indices, and also the fraction of the Russian territory experiencing climatic anomalies below and/or above certain specified percentiles. Composite indices CEI-3 and GCRI-3 based on three parameters (air temperature, precipitation and drought indices) are examined, as well as the Climate Anomaly Index (CAI), known in Russia as Bagrov's coefficient of "anomality".It is shown, that over the area of the RPF as a whole, air temperature and the occurrence of drought has increased somewhat during the 20th century, while precipitation has decreased; these changes were non-uniform in space. The linear trend accounts for only a small fraction of the total variability, but the role of climate variations on decadal scales seems more substantial. The CEI, determined as the percentage of the area experiencing extreme anomalies (with a 10% or less frequency of occurrence) of either sign, increased for mean annual temperature, decreased for total precipitation and increased slightly for the occurrence of drought conditions; the aggregated index based on all three of these quantities increased slightly. There was also an increase in the GCRI-3 index, which is indicative of an agreement between the observed climate changes and the changes owing to the greenhouse effect as predicted by climatic models.The observed climate changes are too small to enable us confidently to reject a hypothesis that they are a reflection of the natural variability of climatic parameters within the context of a stationary climate. However, there is no doubt about the reality and importance of the observed changes.     

(Re)Framing ocean acidification in the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Paris Agreement

ABSTRACT

Ocean acidification is most frequently framed by the scientific community as a concurrent threat to climate change, rather than an effect of it. This separation of the two phenomena has long been deemed as a way of garnering heightened policy attention for ocean acidification rather than having it bound up in the often contested politics of climate change. This effort, however, appears to have resulted in the inadvertent placing of ocean acidification outside of the mandate of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This has created a significant gap in the global governance of this issue with no multilateral agreement understood as having jurisdiction over the mitigation of rising ocean acidity. For these reasons this paper argues that an alternative framing of ocean acidification as an effect of climate change is warranted. This would include ocean acidification in the core obligations of the Convention, thereby filling the mitigation governance gap and avoiding perverse implementation outcomes. It is contended that interpreting the UNFCCC in this way is more consistent with its objective and purpose than the existing interpretations that place ocean acidification beyond the remit of the Convention.

Key policy insights

• Ocean acidification is best understood as an effect of climate change in the context of the UNFCCC, and therefore is included in its obligations to combat climate change and its adverse effects.

• An obligation to address ocean acidification has implications for the way that the provisions of the Convention, particularly on mitigation, are implemented. Mitigation activities that exacerbate ocean acidification or lead to emission reduction pathways that do not prevent dangerous acidification should be deemed inconsistent with the Convention.

• Protection, conservation and restoration of coastal and marine ecosystems should become a priority area for action within the UNFCCC.

     

Adaptive Management of the Global Climate Problem: Bridging the Gap Between Climate Research and Climate Policy

To date the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concerned itself with gathering a state of the art review of the science of climate change. While significant progress has been made in enhancing our integrated understanding of the climate system and the dynamics of the social systems that produce an array of potential greenhouse gases, it is also clear from the panel's reports how far the science community is from being able to present a dynamic and synoptic view of the climate system as a whole. Clear evidence of these complexities and uncertainties inherent in the climate system is evident in efforts aimed at designing robust policy interventions. In this paper, we argue that the adaptive management framework in ecosystem management may be a useful model for guiding how the IPCC can continue to be relevant both as a scientific establishment and as a policy-relevant scientific endeavor.     

全球(Z)双三次数值模式的设计与个例模拟(I): 模式动力框架设计

引入双三次数值模式:双三次数值模式是通过作三次样条与双三次曲面拟合,实现各个大气要素量场的二阶可导,从而可对各个预报方程作时间积分。双三次数值模式适合采用大气运动原始方程组和采用水平方向准拉格朗日/垂直方向欧拉时间积分方案。且本文的全球(Z)双三次数值模式与个例模拟实际采用Navier-Stokes"浅薄大气"原始方程组,建立球面Z坐标系上的非静力、全可压、干/湿绝热大气运动动力框架。其离散化气压、气温预报方程与个例模拟揭示出大气运动中凝结降水,其天气学原因不仅是湿空气作Z坐标垂直上升运动,而且是湿空气被"减压/减温",即湿空气作P坐标"垂直上升运动",后者可由大气平流运动(如Rossby波)引起。     

欧盟《气候与能源2030政策框架》要点分析与启示

通过分析《气候与能源2030政策框架》（以下简称《框架》）方案要点,认为欧盟2030年的减排目标相对2020年承诺目标更为积极,可再生能源目标略高于之前官方预期。由于东欧国家的参与,欧盟一方面获得了这些国家盈余的排放配额,帮助欧盟作为一个整体实现减排目标;另一方面,成员国经济发展水平差异增大,导致欧盟施行相对积极的环境政策阻力加大,未来大幅调整减排目标的可能性不大。《框架》目标将可能对2020年后国际碳市场需求预估产生影响,未来国际碳市场的健康运行,将不仅需要欧盟外的发达国家提出具有雄心的减排目标,也需要欧盟提高减排目标,增加其对于国际减排配额的需求;此外,欧盟辅助实现40%减排目标的相关生产标准和措施,可能对未来全球自由贸易产生影响,其他国家尤其是对外贸易依存度较高的发展中国家需要密切关注相关动向。《框架》方案所提出的以应对气候变化引领和促进经济发展、采用组合目标且针对不同目标采取不同实现形式、展现制定目标的透明度、充分考虑成员国差异等提法和操作方式值得中国借鉴。     

Conceptual Framework for Changes of Extremes of the Hydrological Cycle with Climate Change

A physically based conceptual framework is put forward that explains why an increase in heavy precipitation events should be a primary manifestation of the climate change that accompanies increases in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increase downwelling infrared radiation, and this global heating at the surface not only acts to increase temperatures but also increases evaporation which enhances the atmospheric moisture content. Consequently all weather systems, ranging from individual clouds and thunderstorms to extratropical cyclones, which feed on the available moisture through storm-scale moisture convergence, are likely to produce correspondingly enhanced precipitation rates. Increases in heavy rainfall at the expense of more moderate rainfall are the consequence along with increased runoff and risk of flooding. However, because of constraints in the surface energy budget, there are also implications for the frequency and/or efficiency of precipitation. It follows that increased attention should be given to trends in atmospheric moisture content, and datasets on hourly precipitation rates and frequency need to be developed and analyzed as well as total accumulation.     

为IPCC第五次评估报告提供的全球气候模式预估

IPCC自1990年到2007年的4次评估报告都进行了未来气候变化预估,唱主角的一直是全球气候模式.从对未来气候变化的预估,到气候变化影响和对策评估研究,全球模式起了主导作用.因此,关注全球气候模式预估动态对第五次评估报告是非常重要的一个环节.     

中国应对气候变化谈判的几点思考

通过中国和欧盟内部可以增加排放的中等发达国家在人均能源消费、人均CO2排放和人均GDP以及人文发展指标的对比,可以看出中国远低于欧盟5个中等发达国家的水平。因此,中国提出在达到中等发达国家水平之后承担减排义务是有根据的,中国要求获得与自身经济社会发展相适应的温室气体排放空间,以满足国民基本生存和发展的需要是合理的。中国在达到中等发达国家之前,可以考虑承诺在一定时期内保持CO2排放强度不增加。     

气候行动最前线的高标准农田生产气象保障

以变暖为主要特征的全球气候变化已经严重威胁到全球粮食安全,高标准农田建设作为农业适应气候变化的重要措施已经在中国推广实施。为助力气候变暖影响下的高标准农田生产,文章梳理了国际土地整理与我国高标准农田建设历程,并从高标准农田适宜性评价、土地要素配置的粮食效应、高标准农田监督管理和高标准农田建设效益评价四个方面综述了高标准农田的最新研究进展,指出目前缺乏高标准农田生产气象保障相关研究。在此基础上,针对高标准农田旱涝保收、抗灾能力强和生态良好“三位一体”的要求,提出气象助力高标准农田生产应加强三个方面研究:农田生态系统-气候-水资源相互作用与农田节水灌溉;主要粮食作物气象灾变精准监测模拟与快速解析归因;农田生态气象风险敏感因子检测及其气象监测评价,以实现气象为农服务提质增效,助力高标准农田高产增效。     

Impacts of Climate Change on the Global Forest Sector

The path and magnitude of future anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide will likely influence changes in climate that may impact the global forest sector. These responses in the global forest sector may have implications for international efforts to stabilize the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide. This study takes a step toward including the role of global forest sector in integrated assessments of the global carbon cycle by linking global models of climate dynamics, ecosystem processes and forest economics to assess the potential responses of the global forest sector to different levels of greenhouse gas emissions. We utilize three climate scenarios and two economic scenarios to represent a range of greenhouse gas emissions and economic behavior. At the end of the analysis period (2040), the potential responses in regional forest growing stock simulated by the global ecosystem model range from decreases and increases for the low emissions climate scenario to increases in all regions for the high emissions climate scenario. The changes in vegetation are used to adjust timber supply in the softwood and hardwood sectors of the economic model. In general, the global changes in welfare are positive, but small across all scenarios. At the regional level, the changes in welfare can be large and either negative or positive. Markets and trade in forest products play important roles in whether a region realizes any gains associated with climate change. In general, regions with the lowest wood fiber production cost are able to expand harvests. Trade in forest products leads to lower prices elsewhere. The low-cost regions expand market shares and force higher-cost regions to decrease their harvests. Trade produces different economic gains and losses across the globe even though, globally, economic welfare increases. The results of this study indicate that assumptions within alternative climate scenarios and about trade in forest products are important factors that strongly influence the effects of climate change on the global forest sector.     

Analysing the conflicting requirements of the Framework Convention on Climate Change

The objectives of the Framework Convention on Climate Change imply the conflicting constraints of minimising concentrations and maximising emissions (i.e. minimising emission restrictions). Carbon cycle models are readily used for ‘forward’ calculations of future CO₂ given specified emissions and the ‘inverse’ problem of deducing the emissions required to achieve specified concentration profiles. However these approaches (a) are each geared to only one side of the problem; and (b) each requires the specification of a particular pathway in terms of either emissions or concentrations. These limitations can be avoided by analysing the relations between future emissions and concentrations of CO₂ using a formalism that optimises over all possible future emission profiles, subject to relevant constraints on both emissions and concentrations. We present specific calculations indicating which combinations of upper bounds on concentrations and lower bounds on emissions are mutually inconsistent and which are consistent. We also calculate the (smaller) consistency regions that apply if emission reductions are restricted to less than 0.5% p.a. or less than 1% p.a. In each case, two reference periods (1990-2100 and 1990-2200) are considered.     

美国公众对全球变暖的认知和对气候政策的支持

利用民意调查数据,以相关研究作为补充,分析美国公众对全球变暖的认知、减缓行为和气候政策的支持等。分析表明,大部分美国民众认为全球在变暖,但很多人不了解全球变暖与温室气体的关系,把全球变暖混为大气污染和臭氧层耗竭等;不到一半的公众认为全球变暖对个人和美国是现实威胁,更多的公众认为全球变暖对后代和发展中国家是严重威胁;大部分公众认为减缓全球变暖需要改变现有的生活方式和行为,他们愿意选择较容易从事和成本低的行为减少碳排放,但不愿意从根本上改变生活方式,改变自驾车、乘飞机长途旅游这些碳排放量更大的行为;公众普遍支持政府采取措施限制温室气体排放,但不希望所采取的措施对就业和经济带来不利影响;支持通过技术进步和减免税收等措施提高能效,减少碳排放,但大部分反对为节能而提高能源税收。     

Assessing the Impacts of Eurasian Snow Conditions on Climate Predictability with a Global Climate Model

On the basis of two ensemble experiments conducted by a general atmospheric circulation model (Institute of Atmospheric Physics nine-level atmospheric general circulation model coupled with land surface model, hereinafter referred to as IAP9L_CoLM), the impacts of realistic Eurasian snow conditions on summer climate predictability were investigated. The predictive skill of sea level pressures (SLP) and middle and upper tropospheric geopotential heights at mid-high latitudes of Eurasia was enhanced when improved Eurasian snow conditions were introduced into the model. Furthermore, the model skill in reproducing the interannual variation and spatial distribution of the surface air temperature (SAT) anomalies over China was improved by applying realistic (prescribed) Eurasian snow conditions. The predictive skill of the summer precipitation in China was low; however, when realistic snow conditions were employed, the predictability increased, illustrating the effectiveness of the application of realistic Eurasian snow conditions. Overall, the results of the present study suggested that Eurasian snow conditions have a significant effect on dynamical seasonal prediction in China. When Eurasian snow conditions in the global climate model (GCM) can be more realistically represented, the predictability of summer climate over China increases.     

Numerical Experiment for the Impact of the Ozone Hole over Antarctica on the Global Climate

A numerical experiment has been carried out with IAP (Institute of Atmospheric Physics) 9-layer general circulation model to investigate the influence of the Antarctic Ozone Hole on the global climate. The results show that the changes of total amount of ozone over higher latitude and polar region of the Southern Hemisphere affect not only the climate in the Southern Hemisphere, but also that in the Northern Hemisphere significantly. In the next spring, although the total amount of ozone over Antarctica has returned to the normal value, the influences of Ozone Hole still exist. Suppported by LASG and the National Key Project of Fundamental Research “Climate Dynamics and Climate Prediction Theory.≓     

Numerical Experiment for the Impact of the Ozone Hole over Antarctica on the Global Climate

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气候变化对食品安全的影响

最近一系列的研究集中讨论气候变化对农产品、陆地利用、污染和生物多样性的影响,意味着气候变化对食品安全的影响已成为广泛关注和研究的焦点。虽然如此,气候变化对消费者的食物和饲料安全影响的专题研究报道仍然很少。通过文献综述,主要围绕气候变化对种植业和畜牧业的影响,分析气候变化对食品安全的各种影响。一般认为,种植业是农业和养殖业中对气候变化反映最为敏感的环节,气候参数如温度、干旱、降雨、风和CO2水平的变化,将改变农业化肥、农药投入,引起土壤退化,加重作物害虫、昆虫和病害受灾程度。气候变化对畜牧业也将产生严重的影响,而且,极端天气如洪水和热浪伴随的食品病原菌污染都对将来的食品安全构成严重威胁。因此,在气候变化背景下人类将面临食品安全的严峻挑战。