It starts at home? Climate policies targeting household consumption and behavioral decisions are key to low-carbon futures

Through their consumption behavior, households are responsible for 72% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, they are key actors in reaching the 1.5 °C goal under the Paris Agreement. However, the possible contribution and position of households in climate policies is neither well understood, nor do households receive sufficiently high priority in current climate policy strategies. This paper investigates how behavioral change can achieve a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in European high-income countries. It uses theoretical thinking and some core results from the HOPE research project, which investigated household preferences for reducing emissions in four European cities in France, Germany, Norway and Sweden. The paper makes five major points: First, car and plane mobility, meat and dairy consumption, as well as heating are the most dominant components of household footprints. Second, household living situations (demographics, size of home) greatly influence the household potential to reduce their footprint, even more than country or city location. Third, household decisions can be sequential and temporally dynamic, shifting through different phases such as childhood, adulthood, and illness. Fourth, short term voluntary efforts will not be sufficient by themselves to reach the drastic reductions needed to achieve the 1.5 °C goal; instead, households need a regulatory framework supporting their behavioral changes. Fifth, there is a mismatch between the roles and responsibilities conveyed by current climate policies and household perceptions of responsibility. We then conclude with further recommendations for research and policy.     

Food Web Structure and Habitat Connectivity in Fish Estuarine Nurseries—Impact of River Flow

River flow variability is known to influence estuarine production, yet knowledge on its effect upon estuarine food webs dynamics is still scarce. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes were used to assess the effect of river flow in the connectivity and food web interactions between the two main fish nursery areas of the Tagus estuary. The aims of the present work were to investigate the seasonal variation in food web structure and the exchange rate of individuals of marine juvenile fish among estuarine nurseries, to compare the spring of a rainy year (2001) with that of an average year (2000), and to investigate the impact of the winter floods of 2001. A low level of connectivity was observed for the fish species that use these areas as nurseries. In low river flow conditions, two isotopically distinct food webs were established in each nursery area. These food webs were very sensitive to small variations in the freshwater input. Winter floods seem to disrupt the localized food webs that are established in low river flow periods, leading to the re-establishment of a wider food web. While in rainy years this wide food web is maintained until spring, in average years the food web undergoes fragmentation into two localized and isotopically distinctive food webs. The increase in frequency of droughts due to climate change should lower the connectivity of the estuarine fish nurseries food webs, causing habitat fragmentation and consequent loss in complexity and resilience.     

Analysis of microseismicity associated with the 2017 seismic swarm near the Aegean coast of NW Turkey

A thorough spatiotemporal analysis of the intense seismic activity that took place near the Aegean coast of NW Turkey during January–March 2017 was conducted, aiming to identify its causative relation to the regional seismotectonic properties. In this respect, absolute and relative locations are paired and a catalog consisting of 2485 events was compiled. Relative locations are determined with high accuracy using the double-difference technique and differential times both from phase pick data and from cross-correlation measurements. The spatial distribution of the relocated events revealed a south-dipping causative fault along with secondary and smaller antithetic segments. Spatially, the seismicity started at the westernmost part and migrated with time to the easternmost part of the activated area. Temporally, two distinctive periods are observed, namely an early period lasting 1 month and a second period which includes the largest events in the sequence. The investigation of the interevent time distribution revealed a triggering mechanism, whereas the ETAS parameters show a strong external force (μ?>?1), which might be attributed to the existence of the Tuzla geothermal field.     

Cleats and their relation to geologic lineaments and coalbed methane potential in Pennsylvanian coals in Indiana

Cleats and fractures in Pennsylvanian coals in southwestern Indiana were described, statistically analyzed, and subsequently interpreted in terms of their origin, relation to geologic lineaments, and significance for coal permeability and coalbed gas generation and storage. These cleats can be interpreted as the result of superimposed endogenic and exogenic processes. Endogenic processes are associated with coalification (i.e., matrix dehydration and shrinkage), while exogenic processes are mainly associated with larger-scale phenomena, such as tectonic stress.At least two distinct generations of cleats were identified on the basis of field reconnaissance and microscopic study: a first generation of cleats that developed early on during coalification and a second generation that cuts through the previous one at an angle that mimics the orientation of the present-day stress field. The observed parallelism between early-formed cleats and mapped lineaments suggests a well-established tectonic control during early cleat formation. Authigenic minerals filling early cleats represent the vestiges of once open hydrologic regimes. The second generation of cleats is characterized by less prominent features (i.e., smaller apertures) with a much less pronounced occurrence of authigenic mineralization. Our findings suggest a multistage development of cleats that resulted from tectonic stress regimes that changed orientation during coalification and basin evolution.The coals studied are characterized by a macrocleat distribution similar to that of well-developed coalbed methane basins (e.g., Black Warrior Basin, Alabama). Scatter plots and regression analyses of meso- and microcleats reveal a power-law distribution between spacing and cleat aperture. The same distribution was observed for fractures at microscopic scale. Our observations suggest that microcleats enhance permeability by providing additional paths for migration of gas out of the coal matrix, in addition to providing access for methanogenic bacteria.The abundance, distribution, and orientation of cleats control coal fabric and are crucial features in all stages of coalbed gas operations (i.e., exploration and production). Understanding coal fabric is important for coal gas exploration as it may be related to groundwater migration and the occurrence of methanogenic bacteria, prerequisite to biogenic gas accumulations. Likewise, the distribution of cleats in coal also determines pathways for migration and accumulation of thermogenic gas generated during coalification.     

On the Use of Random Material in Dam Cores: Case of the Manso Dam,Brazil

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - The Manso Dam, in the Brazilian State of Mato Grosso, intended for flood control and electricity generation, was built by a state-owned energy company in...     

Late quaternary palaeoclimate in the savannas of South America

The paper reviews Late Quaternary palynological evidence from eight sites in the savannas of northern South America. The sites reviewed are Lake Valencia (10°N), Carajas (6°S), Aguas Emendadas (15°S), Crominia (17°S), Salitre (19°S), Lagoa de Serra Negra (18°S), Lagoa Santa (20°S) and Lagoa dos Olhos (20°S). Four of the sites show evidence for a climate more humid than at present from ca. 36 ka BP to ca. 22–18 ka BP. Maximum dryness was reached at 14 ka to 10.5 ka BP at Lake Valencia. There was an increase in moisture from 8.8 ka BP at Lake Valencia and from 7 ka BP in Central Brazil. The presence of charcoal indicates human impact from ca. 8.6 ka BP. ©1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.