Climate‐induced migration: Exploring local perspectives in Kiribati

A number of studies have indicated that the long term habitability of Kiribati, a low‐lying country in the central tropical Pacific Ocean, is tenuous given the impacts of climate change, particularly sea level rise. In an effort to plan for the resultant challenges ahead, a number of national policies and programs have surfaced to reduce the impact of localized changes on people's livelihoods. This study explores how local community members (n = 60) have taken it upon themselves to respond to the impacts of climate change by utilizing a number of different strategies. The results highlight that: first, respondents consider climate change to be the most concerning issue for sustaining their livelihoods; second, respondents have built physical defences, relocated temporarily or permanently, and sought government assistance to adapt to localized climate‐related impacts; and third, the majority of respondents indicated that they would migrate as a long term strategy to respond to the future impacts of climate change.     

Contemporary Refugee‐Border Dynamics and the Legacies of the 1919 Paris Peace Conference

While the geopolitical legacies of the World War I peace negotiations are widely recognized, this article examines the often overlooked connection between the WWI Paris Peace Conference's spatial and geopolitical logics and contemporary refugee‐border dynamics. We argue that the spatial and geopolitical logics that framed the WWI Paris Peace Conference—the creation of new states, the propagation of the Western ideal of bounded sovereign states, the nationalist goals of self‐determination and homogeneous ethnic nations, and the establishment of a system of international governance—continue to impact refugee‐border dynamics and “crises” today. The categories, ideals, and practices of the international refugee regime that emerged over the last one‐hundred years stem in great part from these logics. In this paper, we urge critical contemplation about how these foundations—including the establishment of the post of High Commissioner for Refugees in 1921, the resultant Nansen Passports, the post‐WWI minority treaties, and lastly the 1933 Convention Relating to the International Status of Refugees—connect to contemporary human (im)mobility and border violence. We also introduce the articles in this special issue and highlight key themes and future directions for research in critical migration studies.     

Australian Climate,Energy and Water Policies: conflicts and synergies

Responding to the threat of climate change, conserving freshwater ecosystems and securing adequate energy and water supplies are among the greatest challenges facing modern societies. Yet recognition of the interdependencies between climate, energy and water policy—with resulting synergies and trade-offs—remains limited, leaving societies and governments alike vulnerable to the dangers of conflicted or unintended policy outcomes from sectoral decisions. In this paper, we analyse current Australian climate, energy and water policies to identify the risks of perverse outcomes between the three policy sectors. In doing so we categorise the conflicts and synergies between particular energy generation, carbon sequestration and water supply policies to improve understandings of the challenges facing decision makers in Australia and internationally. Four types of interventions are identified that would enable integration and optimisation of policies, namely: better cross-sectoral knowledge to inform decisions; the identification of technologies with co-benefits; markets with broader cross-sectoral participation (including linking water and carbon markets); and better-integrated governance institutions.     

Human-ecosystem interactions in relation to Holocene environmental change in Port Joli Harbour,southwestern Nova Scotia,Canada

A high-resolution pollen record from Path Lake in Port Joli Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada, provides a paleo-ecological perspective on Holocene climate and vegetation variability within the context of local archaeological research. Pollen assemblages in the early Holocene reflect a post-glacial forest dominated by Pinus, Tsuga, Betula and Quercus. During this time, a lower frequency of radiocarbon dated cultural material suggests lower human settlement intensity. Shallow water aquatic (Isoetes) and wetland (Alnus, Sphagnum) taxa increased after 3400 cal yr BP in response to a transition towards wetter climatic conditions. Culturally significant periods, where settlement intensity increased in the Maritimes and Maine, coincide with maximum values of reconstructed total annual precipitation, suggesting that environmental conditions may have influenced prehistoric human activity. European settlement, after 350 cal yr BP, was marked by a rise in Ambrosia. The impact of anthropogenic fire disturbances on the landscape was evidenced by peak charcoal accumulations after European settlement.     

The Near Infrared Spectrum of Miranda: Evidence of Crystalline Water Ice

A spectrum from 1.2 to 2.5 μm of Uranus' small satellite Miranda obtained in June 1999 reveals strong water-ice signatures. It confirms the existence of a 2.0-μm water feature previously detected on Miranda and shows a strong second broad 1.5-μm water-ice absorption feature. The spectra also reveal a weak absorption band at 1.65 μm that is indicative of crystalline water ice. Reflectance models which combine the new spectra with new photometry indicate that the spectra are characteristic of a mostly water-ice surface, with a large fraction of carbonaceous or silicate contaminates, and the possible presence of ammonia hydrate, as implied by an apparent weak feature near 2.2 μm. The possible presence of other volatiles is also investigated.     

Chemical and physical studies of type 3 chondrites—IV: Annealing studies of a type 3.4 ordinary chondrite and the metamorphic history of meteorites

Samples of a type 3.4 chondrite have been annealed at 400–1000°C for 1–200 hours, their thermoluminescence properties determined and analyzed for K, Na, Mn, Sc and Ca by instrumental neutron activation analysis. After annealing at ?900°C, the samples showed a 50% decrease in TL sensitivity, while after annealing at 1000°C it fell to 0.1-0.01 times its unannealed value and loss of Na and K occurred. The TL and compositional changes resemble those observed for the equilibrated Kernouve chondrite after similar annealing treatments, except that the sharp TL decrease, and element loss, occurred at ~ 1100°C; this difference is presumably due to petrographic differences in the feldspar of the two meteorites. The temperature and the width of the TL peak showed a discontinuous increase after annealing at 800°C; peak temperature jumped from 130 to 200°C and peak width increased from 90 to 150°C. The activation energies for these TL changes are 7–10 kcal/mole. Similar increases in the TL peak temperature have been reported in TL studies of Amelia, VA, albite, where they were associated with the low to high-temperature transformation. However, the activation energy for the transformation is ~80 kcal/mole. These changes in TL emission characteristics resemble trends observed in type 3 ordinary chondrites and it is suggested that type 3.3–3.5 chondrites have a low-feldspar as TL phosphor and > 3.5 have high-feldspar as the phosphor. Thermoluminescence therefore provides a means of palaeothermometry for type 3 ordinary chondrites.     

Advancing New Testament interpretation through spatio‐temporal analysis: Demonstrated by case studies

This article explores, via three case studies, how spatio‐temporal analysis can advance New Testament text interpretation. Acts 2, verse 9 to 11 is the text of study. Case study 1 applies network analysis to data representing the Roman road network constrained by parameters valid for ancient times. This analysis provided new information on the background of people attending a festival in Jerusalem. Case study 2 located geographical entities from the text in a cartographic visualization and provided supportive information to compare contemporary textual resources. For the disciplines of textual and conjectural criticism (case study 3), spatio‐temporal analysis opens a new window to study what would be the most probable variant of the original text. The case study puts emendations that have been proposed over centuries in a 3D spatial context and provides in this way a sophisticated tool to relate different alternative variants of a specific text. From the case studies, it can be concluded that spatializing, visualizing, and spatially analyzing geographical concepts from the texts in Acts 2 contributes to the field of New Testament interpretation. Further work will elaborate on the findings.     

The excited spin state of Comet 2P/Encke

Ways to rationalize the different periods (e.g., 15.08 h, Luu and Jewitt, 1990, Icarus 86, 69-81; 11.01 h, Fernández et al., 2004, Icarus, in this issue; Lowry et al., 2003, Lunar Planet. Sci. XXXIV, Abstract 2056) seen in near aphelion R-band light curves of Comet 2P/Encke are explored. We show that the comet is usually active at aphelion and it's observed light curves contain signal from both the nucleus and an unresolved coma. The coma contribution to the observed brightness is generally found to dominate with the nucleus providing from 28 to 87% of the total brightness. The amplitude of the observed variations cannot be explained by the nucleus alone and are due to coma activity. We show that some seven periodicities exist in the observed light curves at various times and that this is likely the result of an active nucleus spinning in an excited spin state. The changing periodicities are probably due to changes in the relative strengths of the active areas. We work out possible excited states based on experience with model light curves and by using an analogy to light curve observations of Comet 1P/Halley for which the spin state has been separately determined from spacecraft observations. There is a possibility of a fully relaxed principal axis spin state (0.538 d⁻¹; P=44.6 h) but, because it provides a poorer fit to the observed periodicities than the best fit excited state together with the absence of a peak near 1.08 d⁻¹ (2fφ) in the frequency spectrum of the Fernández et al. (2000, Icarus 147, 145-160) thermal IR lightcurve, we consider it unlikely. Both SAM and LAM excited states are allowed by the underlying periodicities and additional information is needed to choose between these. Our choice of a low excitation SAM state, i.e., one in which the instantaneous spin axis nutates around the total angular momentum vector in a motion that is characterized by limited angular oscillations around the long axis, is based on Sekanina's (1988, Astron J. 95, 911-924, 1988, Astron. J. 96, 1455-1475) interpretation of the fan coma that this comet often displays. We argue that possible LAM states are excluded either because they are too difficult to excite or because they would be inconsistent with the formation of the observed fan morphology. Two possible SAM states emerge that provide good fits to the observed periodicities, one with a precessional frequency for the long axis about the total angular momentum vector of 1.614 d⁻¹ (P?=14.9 h) and an oscillation frequency around the long axis of 0.539 d⁻¹ (Pψ=44.5 h) and a second with a precessional frequency of 2.162 d⁻¹ (P?=11.1 h) combined with an oscillation around the long axis of 0.502 d⁻¹ (Pψ=47.8 h). While either solution is possible, the latter is, in a least squares sense, more likely to be the actual spin state. In both cases the direction of the total angular momentum vector (αM,δM[J2000]=198.6, −0.3 deg) is assumed to be defined by the evolving geometry and morphology of the coma (Sekanina, 1988, Astron J. 95, 911-924, 1988, Astron. J. 96, 1455-1475; Festou and Barale, 2000, Astron J. 119, 3119-3132). We discuss the possible locations of the primary active areas found by Sekanina (1988, Astron J. 95, 911-924, 1988, Astron. J. 96, 1455-1475) and, while they are at high cometographic latitudes, they do not have to be physically located close the region were the axis of maximum moment of inertia pierces the surface (i.e., at high cometocentric latitude). We offer a new interpretation of the 10.7 μm data by Fernández et al. (2000, Icarus 147, 145-160) which yields an axial ratio a/b=2.04. This, with the two SAM states that we have found, requires that b/c>1.18 or >1.09 implying a significant asymmetry in the shape of the elongated nucleus. For the observed fan morphology to be maintained, the true axial ratio b/c cannot be much larger than these limiting values otherwise the amplitude of the oscillation about the long axis becomes too large and the fan morphology would be destroyed. The precise phasing of the spin modes, i.e., the value of the Euler angles at a particular time, is not determinable from the current data set, but a set of well sampled thermal infrared observations of the nucleus covering many periods and a wide range of observing geometries could provide this information in the future as well as clearly distinguishing between the two excited spin states.     

Atmospheric Electrification in Dusty,Reactive Gases in the Solar System and Beyond

Detailed observations of the solar system planets reveal a wide variety of local atmospheric conditions. Astronomical observations have revealed a variety of extrasolar planets none of which resembles any of the solar system planets in full. Instead, the most massive amongst the extrasolar planets, the gas giants, appear very similar to the class of (young) brown dwarfs which are amongst the oldest objects in the Universe. Despite this diversity, solar system planets, extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs have broadly similar global temperatures between 300 and 2500 K. In consequence, clouds of different chemical species form in their atmospheres. While the details of these clouds differ, the fundamental physical processes are the same. Further to this, all these objects were observed to produce radio and X-ray emissions. While both kinds of radiation are well studied on Earth and to a lesser extent on the solar system planets, the occurrence of emissions that potentially originate from accelerated electrons on brown dwarfs, extrasolar planets and protoplanetary disks is not well understood yet. This paper offers an interdisciplinary view on electrification processes and their feedback on their hosting environment in meteorology, volcanology, planetology and research on extrasolar planets and planet formation.