Comment on Rust et al.: Human–Carnivore Conflict in Namibia Is Not Simply About Black and White

Carnivore conservationists agree that addressing the socioeconomic needs of people is critical to human-carnivore conflict mitigation. We therefore welcome studies that encompass complex social and cultural factors that affect the severity of human-carnivore conflict on Namibian farmlands. However, we contend that the recent study by Rust et al. (2016 Rust, N. A., J. Tzanopoulos, T. Humle, and D. C. MacMillan. 2016. Why has human–carnivore conflict not been resolved in Namibia? Society &; Natural Resources 29 (9):1079–94. doi:10.1080/08941920.2016.1150544[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) was poorly designed, used inappropriate sampling methods, lacked quantitative information on their qualitative results, and ultimately produced unsupported conclusions about the role of historic apartheid and current racism in exacerbating human-carnivore conflict in Namibia. We outline our concerns regarding the methods used, and demonstrate that the conclusions drawn by Rust et al. were not supported by their data.     

VMF3/GPT3: refined discrete and empirical troposphere mapping functions

Incorrect modeling of troposphere delays is one of the major error sources for space geodetic techniques such as Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) or Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). Over the years, many approaches have been devised which aim at mapping the delay of radio waves from zenith direction down to the observed elevation angle, so-called mapping functions. This paper contains a new approach intended to refine the currently most important discrete mapping function, the Vienna Mapping Functions 1 (VMF1), which is successively referred to as Vienna Mapping Functions 3 (VMF3). It is designed in such a way as to eliminate shortcomings in the empirical coefficients b and c and in the tuning for the specific elevation angle of \(3^{\circ }\). Ray-traced delays of the ray-tracer RADIATE serve as the basis for the calculation of new mapping function coefficients. Comparisons of modeled slant delays demonstrate the ability of VMF3 to approximate the underlying ray-traced delays more accurately than VMF1 does, in particular at low elevation angles. In other words, when requiring highest precision, VMF3 is to be preferable to VMF1. Aside from revising the discrete form of mapping functions, we also present a new empirical model named Global Pressure and Temperature 3 (GPT3) on a \(5^{\circ }\times 5^{\circ }\) as well as a \(1^{\circ }\times 1^{\circ }\) global grid, which is generally based on the same data. Its main components are hydrostatic and wet empirical mapping function coefficients derived from special averaging techniques of the respective (discrete) VMF3 data. In addition, GPT3 also contains a set of meteorological quantities which are adopted as they stand from their predecessor, Global Pressure and Temperature 2 wet. Thus, GPT3 represents a very comprehensive troposphere model which can be used for a series of geodetic as well as meteorological and climatological purposes and is fully consistent with VMF3.     

Robust date for the Bronze Age Avellino eruption (Somma-Vesuvius): 3945 ± 10 calBP (1995 ± 10 calBC)

We found Bronze Age lake sediments from the Agro Pontino graben (Central Italy) to contain a thin (2–3 cm) continuous tephra layer composed of lithics, crystals and minor volcanic glass. Tephrochronological and compositional constraints strongly suggest that this layer represents the Avellino pumice eruption, which has also been identified in Central Italian lake cores. Its provenance is corroborated by electron-microprobe analyses performed on juvenile pumice grains, showing that the tephra layer is probably the distal equivalent of the EU2 event of the Avellino eruption. We used multiple ¹⁴C age estimations of two lacustrine sequences with intercalated tephra layer, from the western border zone (Migliara 44.5) and the centre of the former lake (Campo Inferiore), for in tandem dating of this eruption, employing the OxCal code, which yielded a robust age of 3945 ± 10 calBP (1995 ± 10 calBC). To date, this is the only study providing both a terminus post and terminus ante quem of this precision, also demonstrating the advantage of dating distal tephra layers in a clear stratigraphic context over proximal deposits in sequences with major stratigraphic hiatuses. Our new results underscore the importance of the Avellino tephra layer as a precise time marker for studies on the Early Bronze Age of Central Italy.     

Climate change: Motivation for taking measure to adapt

We tested two consequences of a currently influential theory based on the notion of seeing adaptations to climate change as local adjustments to deal with changing conditions within the constraints of the broader economic–social–political arrangements. The notion leaves no explicit role for the strength of personal beliefs in climate change and adaptive capacity. The consequences were: (i) adaptive action to climate change taken by an individual who is exposed to and sensitive to climate change is not influenced to a considerable degree by their strength of belief in climate change and (ii) adaptive action to climate change taken by an individual who is exposed to and sensitive to climate change is not influenced to a considerable degree by their strength of belief in an adaptive capacity. Data from a 2004 questionnaire of 1950 Swedish private individual forest owners, who were assumed exposed to and sensitive to climate change, were used. Strength of belief in climate change and adaptive capacities were found to be crucial factors for explaining observed differences in adaptation among Swedish forest owners.     

Who uses the Clean Development Mechanism? An empirical analysis of projects in Chinese provinces

China is by far the largest host of projects implemented under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). However, earlier studies shed little light on the determinants of the distribution of CDM projects across Chinese provinces. Given China's large size and political-economic diversity, this dearth of research is troubling. We provide an empirical analysis of 2097 CDM projects in 30 Chinese provinces, 2004–2009. We find that high electricity consumption, low per capita income, and a lack of foreign direct investment are all associated with CDM project implementation. The findings are particularly strong for electricity and foreign direct investment. These findings are consistent with the economic theory of CDM project implementation. Project developers focus on minimizing the cost of carbon abatement. Moreover, they suggest that the CDM can, despite its limitations, contribute to reducing economic inequality and uneven development in China.