Assessing impacts of invasive phytoplankton: The Baltic Sea case

There is an increasing understanding and requirement to take into account the effects of invasive alien species (IAS) in environmental quality assessments. While IAS are listed amongst the most important factors threatening marine biodiversity, information on their impacts remains unquantified, especially for phytoplankton species. This study attempts to assess the impacts of invasive alien phytoplankton in the Baltic Sea during 1980-2008. A bioinvasion impact assessment method (BPL - biopollution level index) was applied to phytoplankton monitoring data collected from eleven sub-regions of the Baltic Sea. BPL takes into account abundance and distribution range of an alien species and the magnitude of the impact on native communities, habitats and ecosystem functioning. Of the 12 alien/cryptogenic phytoplankton species recorded in the Baltic Sea only one (the dinoflagellate Prorocentrum minimum) was categorized as an IAS, causing a recognizable environmental effect.     

Rotation broadening of spectral features from star spots

This paper presents an extension of the method of the characteristic points by Kjurkchieva (1987, 1989). This method for the analysis of light curves of spotted stars is further developed by including spectral information. Expressions describing the variation of the rotation broadening of spectral features arising from a star spot are derived for a known spot configuration. The results are used in the solution of the inverse problem by the method of the characteristic points. It is shown that the rotation broadening of spectral features from star spots can be used to easily determine the angular size and the polar distance of a circular spot. It turns out that the equatorial velocity and radius of the spotted star can be obtained in some cases by the combined analysis of the photometric and spectral data.     

B and R photometry of AM her during 1993

The results from the simultaneous observations in B and R colours of AM Her are presented. Analysis of these data shows the following: (a) There are always two clear minima in the R light curves, while the secondary minimum in B light curves sometimes is not well defined; (b) The times of the minima in R and B colour nearly coincide; (c) The photometric period changes remarkably from cycle to cycle but its mean value remains constant; (d) Short stillstands on the increasing branches of the two minima are seen similar to those visible in UX UMa-type cataclysmic stars; (e) Besides the irregular flickering with time scale of a few minutes, a variability with a period 20.28 min in the two colours is established.     

Late Pliocene–Quaternary tectonics in the frontal part of the SE Carpathians: Insights from tectonic geomorphology

The Romanian East Carpathians display large-scale heterogeneities along the mountain belt, unusual foredeep geometries, significant post-collisional and neotectonic activity, and major variations in topography, mostly developed in the aftermath of late Miocene (Sarmatian; 11 Ma) subduction/underthrusting and continental collision between the East European/Scythian/Moesian foreland and the inner Carpathians Tisza-Dacia unit. In particular, the SE corner of the arcuate orogenic belt represents the place of still active large-scale differential vertical movements between the uplifting mountain chain and the subsiding Focşani foredeep basin. In this key area, we have analysed the configuration of the present day landforms and the drainage patterns in order to quantify the amplitude, timing and kinematics of these post-collisional late Pliocene–Quaternary vertical movements. A river network is incising in the upstream a high topography consisting of the external Carpathians nappes and the Pliocene–Lower Pleistocene sediments of the foreland. Further eastwards in the downstream, this network is cross-cutting a low topography consisting of the Middle Pleistocene–Holocene sediments of the foreland. Geological observations and well-preserved geomorphic features demonstrate a complex succession of geological structures. The late Pliocene–Holocene tectonic evolution is generally characterised by coeval uplift in the mountain chain and subsidence in the foreland. At a more detailed scale, these vertical movements took place in pulses of accelerated motion, with laterally variable amplitude both in space and in time. After a first late Pliocene uplifting period, subsidence took place during the Earliest Pleistocene resulting in a basal Quaternary unconformity. This was followed by two, quantifiable periods of increased uplift, which affected the studied area at the transition between the Carpathians orogen and the Focşani foreland basin in the late Early Pleistocene and the late Middle to late Pleistocene. Both large-scale deformation events affected the western Focşani basin flank, tilting the entire structure with 9° during the late Early Pleistocene and uplifted it as a block during the early Late Pleistocene. The late Early Pleistocene tilting resulted in 750 m uplift near the frontal monocline and by extrapolation in a presumed 3000 m uplift near the central parts of the Carpathians. The late Middle to late Pleistocene cumulative uplift reaches 250 m and correlates with a contemporaneous progradation of the uplifted areas towards the Focşani Basin. The uplifting events are separated by a second Quaternary unconformity. On the whole, the late Pliocene–Quaternary evolution of the Carpathians orogen/Focşani basin structure indicate large-scale differential uplift during the latest stages of a continuous post-collisional orogenic evolution.     

The impact of the assimilation of scatterometer winds on surface wind and wave forecasts

Recent work has demonstrated that surface marine winds from the Bureau of Meteorology's operational Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) systems are typically underestimated by 5 to 10%. This is likely to cause significant bias in modelled wave fields that are forced by these winds. A simple statistical adjustment of the wind components is shown to reduce the observed bias in Significant Wave Height considerably. The impact of increasing the vertical resolution of the NWP model and assimilating scatterometer data into the model is assessed by comparing the resulting forecast wind and waves to observations. It is found that, in general, the inclusion of scatterometer observations improves the accuracy of the surface wind forecasts. However, most of the improvement is shown to arise from the increased number of vertical levels in the atmospheric model, rather than directly from the use of the observations. When the wave model is forced with surface winds from the NWP model that includes scatterometer data, it is found that the scatterometer assimilation does not reduce the systematic bias in surface wave forecasts, but that the random errors are reduced.     

XTE J1550–564: a superluminal ejection during the September 1998 outburst

In 1998 September, the X-ray transient XTE J1550–564 underwent amajor outburst in soft and hard X-rays, followed by a radio flare. Australian Long Baseline Array imagesobtained shortly after the peak in the radio flare showed evolving structure.The components observed have an apparent separation velocity of >2c.     

Using climate finance to advance climate justice: the politics and practice of channelling resources to the local level

Adaptation finance is primarily allocated to multilateral entities and national governments, rather than local organizations. This means that the social, political and economic processes that create and sustain inequalities within a country will be the same processes that determine how adaptation finance is used. Using an urban lens, we consider the obstacles currently faced by local governments and local civil society groups in accessing adaptation finance, and show that these are a function of systemic power imbalances between levels of government, and between government and vulnerable communities. We argue that even relatively small amounts of adaptation finance could have a catalytic effect on the capacities and impacts of local organizations, contributing to greater levels of both distributive and procedural justice. We analyse different financial intermediaries and planning systems that could be used to make disbursements from multilateral climate funds fairer and more effective. This could potentially create political opportunities both to respond to direct climate threats and to address underlying drivers of vulnerability, such as marginalization and exclusion. In this way, channelling adaptation finance to the local level could deliver more just processes and outcomes.

Key policy insights

1. More multilateral climate funds should establish direct access modalities, and introduce ‘fit-for-purpose’ accreditation procedures and approval processes. Those that have already established such enabling frameworks should prioritize providing readiness support to local organizations, and incentivize state and citizen collaboration in adaptation projects.

2. National governments should consider clearly enshrining the rights and responsibilities of local authorities in National Adaptation Plans, and help them to collect the information, build the capacities and acquire the resources needed to plan and implement adaptation measures. National governments should further encourage local authorities to adopt participatory planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation procedures to encourage citizen participation.

3. Local civil society groups should identify or establish collective entities that can seek accreditation with multilateral funds and then disburse money to their members. Collaboration between groups can facilitate up-scaling through replication (particularly where peer-to-peer learning is embedded in the network) and reduce the transaction costs associated with myriad small projects.

     

Same Disease—different research strategies: Bananas and Black Sigatoka in Brazil and Colombia

Fungal disease epidemics have the potential to bring about drastic innovations. However, in the case of the Black Sigatoka (Mycosphaerella fijiensis) fungus in bananas, producers and international traders are still awaiting a breakthrough in crop protection research. Using the cases of Brazil and Colombia, this paper examines different agricultural research responses to the disease. Brazil opted to replace susceptible varieties with resistant ones, whereas in Colombia chemical control by private actors dominated. We argue that these different responses result from at least three interrelated factors. First, producer type—smallholder farmers or larger export‐oriented plantations—influences the setting of crop protection research priorities. Second, a central, state‐led role versus a private sector response influences the size and time perspective of research activities. Third, domestic markets with multiple crop varieties versus Cavendish‐only export markets leads to differences in control practices and research responses. From this case study, we argue that the currently proposed innovation systems approaches in international agricultural research should adopt a broader perspective that assesses how research is interwoven with agrarian dynamics, commodity chains and particular state roles to elucidate how state–producer–researcher networks perform disease control and where and how to find new solutions.     

The Santa Filomena meteorite shower: Trajectory,classification, and opaque phases as indicators of metamorphic conditions

On August 19, 2020, at 13:18—UTC, a meteor event ended as a meteorite shower in Santa Filomena, a city in the Pernambuco State, northeast Brazil. The heliocentric orbital parameters resulting from images by cameras of the weather broadcasting system were semimajor axis a = 2.1 ± 0.1 au, eccentricity e = 0.55 ± 0.03, and inclination i = 0.15^o ± 0.05. The data identified the body as an Apollo object, an Earth-crossing object with a pericenter interior to the Earth's orbit. The chemical, mineralogical, and petrological evaluations, as well as the physical analysis, followed several traditional techniques. The meteorite was identified as a H5-6 S4 W0 ordinary chondrite genomict breccia. The large amount of metal in the meteorite made a metallographic evaluation based on the opaque phases possible. The monocrystalline kamacite crystals suggest a higher petrological type and the distorted Neumann lines imply at least two different shock events. The absence of the plessite phase shows that the meteorite did not reach the highest shock levels S5 and S6. The well-defined polycrystalline taenite is indicative of petrologic types 4 and 5 due to the conserved internal tetrataenite rim at the boundaries. The presence of polycrystalline taenites and the characteristics of the Agrell Effect suggest that the Santa Filomena meteorite did not reheat above 700°C. The absence of martensite confirms reheating temperatures <800°C and a slow cooling rate. The Ni contents and sizes of the zoned taenite particles indicate a slow cooling rate ranging from 1 to 10 K Myr⁻¹.