Climate justice and global cities: Mapping the emerging discourses

Ever since climate change came to be a matter of political concern, questions of justice have been at the forefront of academic and policy debates in the international arena. Curiously, as attention has shifted to other sites and scales of climate change politics matters of justice have tended to be neglected. In this paper, we examine how discourses of justice are emerging within urban responses to climate change. Drawing on a database of initiatives taking place in 100 global cities and qualitative case-study research in Philadelphia, Quito and Toronto, we examine how notions of distributive and procedural justice are articulated in climate change projects and plans in relation to both adaptation and mitigation. We find that there is limited explicit concern with justice at the urban level. However, where discourses of justice are evident there are important differences emerging between urban responses to adaptation and mitigation, and between those in the north and in the south. Adaptation responses tend to stress the distribution of ‘rights’ to protection, although those in the South also stress the importance of procedural justice. Mitigation responses also stress ‘rights’ to the benefits of responding to climate change, with limited concern for ‘responsibilities’ or for procedural justice. Intriguingly, while adaptation responses tend to stress the rights of individuals, we also find discourses of collective rights emerging in relation to mitigation.     

Perceptions and responses to climate policy risks among California farmers

This paper considers how farmers perceive and respond to climate change policy risks, and suggests that understanding these risk responses is as important as understanding responses to biophysical climate change impacts. Based on a survey of 162 farmers in California, we test three hypotheses regarding climate policy risk: (1) that perceived climate change risks will have a direct impact on farmer's responses to climate policy risks, (2) that previous climate change experiences will influence farmer's climate change perceptions and climate policy risk responses, and (3) that past experiences with environmental policies will more strongly affect a farmer's climate change beliefs, risks, and climate policy risk responses. Using a structural equation model we find support for all three hypotheses and furthermore show that farmers’ negative past policy experiences do not make them less likely to respond to climate policy risks through participation in a government incentive program. We discuss how future research and climate policies can be structured to garner greater agricultural participation. This work highlights that understanding climate policy risk responses and other social, economic and policy perspectives is a vital component of understanding climate change beliefs, risks and behaviors and should be more thoroughly considered in future work.     

Multivariate analysis of flood characteristics in a climate change context of the watershed of the Baskatong reservoir,Province of Québec,Canada

The analysis of the impact of climate change (CC) on flood peaks has been the subject of several studies. However, a flood is characterized not only by its peak, but also by other characteristics such as its volume and duration. Little effort has been directed towards the study of the impact of CC on these characteristics. The aim of the present study is to evaluate and compare flood characteristics in a CC context, in the watershed of the Baskatong reservoir (Province of Québec, Canada). Comparisons are based on observed flow data and simulated flow series obtained from hydrological models using meteorological data from a regional climate model for a reference period (1971–2000) and a future period (2041–2070). To this end, two hydrological models HSAMI and HYDROTEL are considered. Correlations, stationarity, change‐points, and the multivariate behaviour of flood series were studied. The results show that, at various levels, all flood characteristics could be affected by CC. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modelling the January and July Climate of 9000 Years before Present

ＭｏｄｅｌｌｉｎｇｔｈｅＪａｎｕａｒｙａｎｄＪｕｌｙＣｌｉｍａｔｅｏｆ９０００ＹｅａｒｓｂｅｆｏｒｅＰｒｅｓｅｎｔ￥ＷａｎｇＨｕｉｊｕｎ（王会军）（ＬＡＳＧ，ＩｎｓｔｉｔｕｔｅｏｆＡｔｍｏｓｐｈｅｒｉｃＰｈｙｓｉｃｓ，ＣｈｉｎｅｓｅＡｃａｄｅｍｙｏｆ...     

气候周期与天体活动周期的对应性及其区域特征的初步探讨*

在众多文献中整理、归纳出各区域气候周期与天体活动周期的基础上,初步探讨了二者间的对应性及其区域特征.指出:(1)气候变化周期与大体活动周期之间有着密切的成因联系和对应关系;(2)天体活动对地球气候系统的影响以及区域气候对天体活动的响应都表现出较强的区域差异.对此需进一步开展研究.     

气候变化对我国红松林的影响

在对红松适生范围、生态习性等广泛深入调查分析基础上,依据环境因子对树木生长影响的作用规律,首先推出一个能反映红松年生长量与水热因子间关系的W-T模式,进而分析了各种可能的气候变化对红松生长量与分布的影响。结果表明,气温升高,无论降水增减,都将使红松适生范围与生长量大幅度减少。但在可预见的气候变化范围内,红松不会退出我国的东部山地。     

全球增暖下我国旱涝灾害可能情景的初步研究

在全球变暖的情况下,我国东南沿海、西南、西北、内蒙古和东北部分地区,洪涝灾害可能增加;而黄河中游以南和华北平原干旱可能增加.这一变化特征与本世纪暖期降水分布变化,以及与CO_2倍增情况下气候模似结果基本一致.     

气候变暖对黄淮海地区小麦产量可能影响的模拟试验

本文分析了黄淮海地区小麦生育期内不同时段的温度、降水与产量的关系,分别得到了不同类型的偏回归系数曲线。在此基础上,进行了不同季节温度升高对小麦产量的影响及温度、降水同时变化综合影响的模拟试验。结果表明,各地不同季节气候变暖对小麦产量的影响不同:北部、中部地区秋季、冬季变暖将导致增产,春季减产;而南部地区则秋季、春季将减产,冬季增产(河南南部略有不同)。降水量变化对各地各季气候变暖产量效应的迭加作用不同:北部、中部地区秋、冬季降水有利于增产,春季降水对减产略起缓解作用;南方各季降水过多均对小麦不利。总的说来,大部分地区若小麦生育期内气候变暖变湿,将有利于增产,但南部地区降水过多有不容忽视的负作用。     

模拟人类活动影响气候变化的新进展

文章给出近几年国内外研究人类活动影响全球气候变化的数值模拟的新进展。     

Assessment of the sensitivity of the landscape in a sample area in Hungary for climatic variability

In the northeastern part of Hungary near the township of Tokaj a landscape research project has been performed in a 9 km² area. The aim of this study is to examine the possibilities of expressing the climatic sensitivity of the given small landscape unit by analysing the capabilities of such a small sample area and synthésizing the data obtained. The landscape analysis consisted of field and laboratory measurements, theoretical calculations, analyses of maps, as well as the construction of thematic maps (on the scale of 1:10000) and cartograms. In view of climatic sensitivity four of the landscape factors were regarded as crucial: (1) the water budget of the soils, (2) the thickness of the soils and loose sediments, (3) insolation, and (4) land use. By synthesis of these factors a five-grade climatic sensitivity map was produced. On the basis of the areal proportion of the different classes of sensitivity it was established that the study area is moderately sensitive to climate. Examination of the moisture content of soil clearly indicated different responses of the areas from the different sensitivity classes to changes in temperature and precipitation. The four main landscape factors selected proved to be useful in the rough delineation of the classes on the climatic sensitivity map. However, the use of the other landscape factors improved its accuracy.