The relative influence of climate and housing development on current and projected future fire patterns and structure loss across three California landscapes

Climate and land use patterns are expected to change dramatically in the coming century, raising concern about their effects on wildfire patterns and subsequent impacts to human communities. The relative influence of climate versus land use on fires and their impacts, however, remains unclear, particularly given the substantial geographical variability in fire-prone places like California. We developed a modeling framework to compare the importance of climatic and human variables for explaining fire patterns and structure loss for three diverse California landscapes, then projected future large fire and structure loss probability under two different climate (hot-dry or warm-wet) and two different land use (rural or urban residential growth) scenarios. The relative importance of climate and housing pattern varied across regions and according to fire size or whether the model was for large fires or structure loss. The differing strengths of these relationships, in addition to differences in the nature and magnitude of projected climate or land use change, dictated the extent to which large fires or structure loss were projected to change in the future. Despite this variability, housing and human infrastructure were consistently more responsible for explaining fire ignitions and structure loss probability, whereas climate, topography, and fuel variables were more important for explaining large fire patterns. For all study areas, most structure loss occurred in areas with low housing density (from 0.08 to 2.01 units/ha), and expansion of rural residential land use increased structure loss probability in the future. Regardless of future climate scenario, large fire probability was only projected to increase in the northern and interior parts of the state, whereas climate change had no projected impact on fire probability in southern California. Given the variation in fire-climate relationships and land use effects, policy and management decision-making should be customized for specific geographical regions.     

Flood insurance arrangements in the European Union for future flood risk under climate and socioeconomic change

Flood risk will increase in many areas around the world due to climate change and increase in economic exposure. This implies that adequate flood insurance schemes are needed to adapt to increasing flood risk and to minimise welfare losses for households in flood-prone areas. Flood insurance markets may need reform to offer sufficient and affordable financial protection and incentives for risk reduction. Here, we present the results of a study that aims to evaluate the ability of flood insurance arrangements in Europe to cope with trends in flood risk, using criteria that encompass common elements of the policy debate on flood insurance reform. We show that the average risk-based flood insurance premium could double between 2015 and 2055 in the absence of more risk reduction by households exposed to flooding. We show that part of the expected future increase in flood risk could be limited by flood insurance mechanisms that better incentivise risk reduction by policyholders, which lowers vulnerability. The affordability of flood insurance can be improved by introducing the key features of public-private partnerships (PPPs), which include public reinsurance, limited premium cross-subsidisation between low- and high-risk households, and incentives for policyholder-level risk reduction. These findings were evaluated in a comprehensive sensitivity analysis and support ongoing reforms in Europe and abroad that move towards risk-based premiums and link insurance with risk reduction, strengthen purchase requirements, and engage in multi-stakeholder partnerships.     

Planning for the past: Local temporality and the construction of denial in climate change adaptation

Climate change is upon us. While debates continue over how to mitigate emissions, it is evident that many parts of the world will need to adapt to an increasingly unstable climate. However, the persistence of climate denial presents a significant barrier to climate change response; if a future in which the climate has dramatically changed cannot be imagined, there is little motivation to act. Using qualitative interview data, our research investigates community responses to climate change adaptation planning in a coastal region of Australia identified as highly vulnerable to future sea level rise. While the local council engaged in extensive consultation to develop an adaptation plan, community opposition to proposed development changes ultimately resulted in a ‘wait and see’ response. We show how the community’s local understandings of place informed temporalities that led to a practice of climate denial. We outline three processes by which climate denial is socially organised: anchoring the past via historical reference; projecting continuity through a nostalgic lens of managing disaster; and enclosing the present by prioritising existing economic value. We show how these processes result in the social organisation of climate denial, and an inability to plan for a climate changed future.     

On matryoshkas and meaning-making: Understanding the plasticity of climate change

Climate change is a complex issue and means different things to different people. Numerous scholars in history, philosophy, and psychology have explored these multiple meanings, referred to as the plasticity of climate change. Building on psychological research that seeks to explain why meanings differ, I present an analytical framework that draws on adult developmental psychology to explore how meaning is constructed, and how it may become increasingly more complex across a lifespan in a nested manner, much like Russian dolls (or matryoshkas). I then use the framework to analyze photo voice data from a case study about local perspectives on climate change in El Salvador. The main finding from this analysis is that a developmental approach can help to make sense of why there is such plasticity of meanings about climate change. Using photos and their interpretations to illustrate these findings, I examine how perspective-taking capacities arrive at different meanings about climate change, based on the object of awareness, complexity of thought, and scope of time. I then discuss implications of this preliminary work on how developmental psychology could help climate change scholar-practitioners to understand and align with different climate change meanings and support local actors to translate their own meanings about climate change into locally-owned actions.     

内蒙古冬季极端多雪气候事件环流演变特征及季节预测信号

文章研究关注了内蒙古冬季极端多雪气候事件的季节预测问题,在对大量降水观测资料、海温及大气环流场资料进行统计、分析、研究的基础上,确定了历史上58a(1960—2017年)内蒙古冬季极端多雪和少雪气候事件样本,通过对大气环流场的对比分析发现极端多雪或少雪冬季环流场特征显著不同,分析后确定了影响内蒙古冬季降雪的主要环流系统,包括西太平洋副热带高压、极涡、东亚大槽、环流E型及南方涛动等系统。同时,探索了对这些主要环流系统具有预测意义的来自海洋和大气场的预测信号,对预测信号关键区做了标准化定量提取,确定了预测信号综合指数分段判别阈值,给出了预测概念模型,取得了较好预测效果。     

内蒙古东南部暴雨洪涝灾害风险评估与区划——以通辽市为例

文章选取通辽市各气象站点气象数据、基础地理信息数据、历史灾情数据、第二次土地调查数据及相关社会经济等统计数据,基于自然灾害风险原理,利用数理统计、层次分析法及空间叠加分析等方法,提出了通辽市暴雨洪涝灾害风险评价指标体系,得到通辽市暴雨洪涝灾害风险评估空间分布图。结果表明:高风险区主要分布在通辽市北部山区、中东部地区及偏南部地区,包括扎鲁特旗鲁北镇、科尔沁区、科左中旗东南部及库伦旗东南部;而科左后旗大部地区易形成由短时强降水引发的洪涝,为次高风险区;低风险区及次低风险区主要分布在通辽市中部、西南部地区,包括开鲁县、奈曼旗北部、科左中旗西部。     

杭锦旗北部牧草引种试验

利用在内蒙古杭锦旗北部进行牧草引种试验的数据,结合产量效益分析了4个牧草品种对当地土壤与气候条件的适应性,初步得出适应杭锦旗北部气候、生态条件的牧草品种,并通过产量效益分析,确定了适合当地的牧草间、混作模式,为当地建立人工饲草基地发展生态畜牧业提供决策参考。     

丽水山地夏季避暑旅游气候适宜度评价

利用2015—2019年丽水市283个气象观测站的逐日和逐时资料,采用中国气象局“避暑旅游气候适宜度评价方法”行业标准,在研究避暑旅游气候适宜度时空分布的基础上,运用GIS平台建立不同地形条件下避暑旅游适宜度地理推算模型,对丽水避暑旅游气候适宜度进行区划。结果表明,丽水山地夏季避暑旅游气候适宜等级为很适宜,所占区域居绝对比重。6月丽水各站避暑适宜度为很适宜,以海拔800 m为界,随着海拔高度的升高,适宜度先增后减。7—8月避暑旅游气候适宜度随海拔高度增加而提升,300 m以上为较适宜及以上级别。地理推算模型表明,丽水避暑旅游气候适宜度与海拔高度密切相关,庆元适宜及以上等级区域面积占比为全市最高,避暑旅游气候条件最优,其次景宁、遂昌、龙泉避暑旅游气候适宜度也较优越。     

中更新世气候转型时期南海生态环境的南北差异

中更新世气候转型在南海浮游有孔虫、氧同位素和其它生物记录上主要反映在900 ka BP前后发生高频率变化,特别是指示表层水骤然降温。北部冬季表层水温从24~25℃降至17~28℃,而南部也从26~27℃降至23~24℃。总的降温趋势与开放西太平洋一致,直接反映了西太平洋暖池在900 ka BP之后MIS22期间有明显的减弱。表层水大幅度降温还发生在后继的MIS 20、18、16几大冰期,说明主要冰期旋回周期由41 ka转变为100 ka经历了长达400 ka的过渡时期,并且冬季风增强也在过渡时期的后半段最明显。南海南北生物组合和δ18O值的差异,突出了中更新世气候转型期边缘海区南北气候梯度反差和冬季风在冰期增强的讯号。结论是：生态环境系统反应总体表现与冰期旋回一致的同时,还包含了独特的地区性系统演变特征。但是,南海—西太平洋地区在0.9 Ma BP前后表层海水盐度因东亚冬季风和海平面下降的定量变化,以及这些变化对气候转型时期海—气耦合过程和生态环境系统的影响,尚缺乏足够的资料和证据。     

洞庭湖流域气候变化特征(1961-2003年)

以22个气象站1961-2003年的气象观测数据为基础,对洞庭湖流域的气温、降水和参照蒸散量进行趋势与突变分析．从1970年开始,洞庭湖流域经历了一个缓慢而稳定的增温过程,1990s发生突变进入快速增温时期;尤其是是在春、冬季节,这种突变式的增温特征非常显著;秋季持续而稳定增温,而夏季气温并无明显变化．进入1990s,洞庭湖流域降水有明显增多,尤其是夏季降水突变式增加;与此同时,夏季暴雨频率也突变式增大,但是暴雨强度并无明显变化．1900s迄今,参照蒸散量持续而稳定的减少,夏季减少量尤为显著．全球变暖的区域响应,驱动洞庭湖流域水循环速度加快,夏季降水增多,而蒸发能力减弱,这是1990s洞庭湖流域洪水频发的主要气候因子．