Impact cratering and the Oort Cloud

We calculate the expected flux profile of comets into the planetary system from the Oort Cloud arising from Galactic tides and encounters with molecular clouds. We find that both periodic and sporadic bombardment episodes, with amplitudes an order of magnitude above background, occur on characteristic time-scales ∼25–35 Myr. Bombardment episodes occurring preferentially during spiral arm crossings may be responsible both for mass extinctions of life and the transfer of viable microorganisms from the bombarded Earth into the disturbing nebulae. Good agreement is found between the theoretical expectations and the age distribution of large, well-dated terrestrial impact craters of the past 250 Myr. A weak periodicity of ∼36 Myr in the cratering record is consistent with the Sun's recent passage through the Galactic plane, and implies a central plane density  ∼0.15 M_⊙ pc⁻³  . This leaves little room for a significant dark matter component in the disc.     

Quantifying groundwater sensitivity and resilience over peninsular India

Groundwater in India plays an important role to support livelihoods and maintain ecosystems and the present rate of depletion of groundwater resources poses a serious threat to water security. Yet, the sensitivity of the hydrological processes governing groundwater recharge to climate variability remains unclear in the region. Here we assess the groundwater sensitivity (precipitation–recharge relationship) and its potential resilience towards climatic variability over peninsular India using a conceptual water balance model and a convex model, respectively in 54 catchments over peninsular India. Based on the model performance using a comprehensive approach (Nash Sutcliffe Efficiency [NSE], bias and variability), 24 out of 54 catchments are selected for assessment of groundwater sensitivity and its resilience. Further, a systematic approach is used to understand the changes in resilience on a temporal scale based upon the convex model and principle of critical slowing down theory. The results of the study indicate that the catchments with higher mean groundwater sensitivity (GWS) encompass high variability in GWS over the period (1988–2011), thus indicating the associated vulnerability towards hydroclimatic disturbances. Moreover, it was found that the catchments pertaining to a lower magnitude of mean resilience index incorporates a high variability in resilience index over the period (1993–2007), clearly illustrating the inherent vulnerability of these catchments. The resilience of groundwater towards climatic variability and hydroclimatic disturbances that is revealed by groundwater sensitivity is essential to understand the future impacts of changing climate on groundwater and can further facilitate effective adaptation strategies.     

Climate-smart agriculture: perspectives and framings

This paper offers a systematic analysis of the concepts and contexts that frame the climate-smart agriculture (CSA) discourse in the academic and policy literature. Documents (n?=?113) related to CSA and published in peer-reviewed journals, books, working papers, and scientific reports from 2004 to 2016 were reviewed. Three key trends emerged from the analysis: studies are biased towards global policy agendas; research focuses on scientific and technical issues; and the integration of mitigation, adaptation, and food security (the three pillars of CSA) is becoming a popular scholarly solution. Findings suggest that CSA is a fairly new concept used to describe a range of adaptation and mitigation practices without a specific set of criteria. Although CSA is often framed around the three pillars, the underlying issues constructing the discourse differ at global, developing, and developed country scales. Although there is increasing research on developing countries, particularly in relation to how CSA can transform smallholder agriculture, there is a paucity of research documenting the experiences from developed countries. The findings suggest that research on CSA needs to move beyond solely focussing on scientific approaches and only in certain geographical contexts. If CSA is to be applicable for farmers across the globe, then cross-disciplinary research that is underpinned by broad socio-economic and political contexts is essential to understand how differences in narratives might affect implementation on-the-ground in both developing and developed countries.

POLICY RELEVANCE

Although policy makers are increasingly supportive of the climate-smart agriculture (CSA) approach, the rhetoric has largely been developed on the basis of scientific and technical arguments. The political implications of varying perspectives have resulted in a growing divide between how developing and developed countries frame solutions to the impacts of climate change on agriculture under the 2015 Paris Agreement. Different framings are part of the explanation for why the scope of CSA is being rethought, with the scientific community redirecting attention to seeking a separate work programme under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The current policy framing of CSA will give no new policy direction unless it grounds itself in the smallholder farmer and civil society contexts.     

An Integrated 2.5–12.5 μm Emission Spectrum of Naturally-Occurring Aromatic Molecules

The expected emission features from an ensemble of naturally-occurring aromatic molecules is shown to be in satisfactory agreement with the emission properties of `PAH molecules' associated with planetary nebulae. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Astonishing Redness of Kuiper-Belt Objects

The recently reported extreme redness of a class of Kuiper-belt objects could be yet another indirect indication of extraterrestrial microbiology in the outer solar system. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Composition of Cometary Dust: The Case against Silicates

It is argued that the infrared emission including 10 and 18 μ features observed in recent comets is unlikely to be due to silicates. The vaporization temperature of the emitting material∼ 500 K is consistent with emission by crystalline polyformaldehyde. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Case Against Graphite Particles in Interstellar Space

Graphite flakes are excluded as a major component of interstellar grains because their ultraviolet extinction peaks occur at wavelengths longward of 2700 Å. Mie calculations for spherical graphite particles are shown to have no physical or astronomical relevance.     

Primitive Grain Clumps and Organic Compounds in Carbonaceous Chondrites

Refractory interstellar grains acquire tarry polymeric coatings in dense protostellar molecular clouds. Collisions between polymer-coated grains lead to the formation of micron sized grain clumps that are subsequently expelled into the diffuse interstellar medium. Such grains could contain the building blocks of life such as amino acids in their interiors protected from dissociative ultraviolet radiation. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A Unified Model for The 3.28 μ Emission and The 2200 Å Interstellar Extinction Feature

The 3.28 μm feature observed in the diffuse galactic emission and the 2200 Å interstellar extinction feature must have a common source. This requirement rules out graphitic-type PAH molecules such as coronone and tends to favour naturally occurring bi-cyclic ring structures typified by quinoline and its derivatives.