The effects of climate change on potential groundwater recharge in Great Britain

The predicted increase in mean global temperature due to climate change is expected to affect water availability and, in turn, cause both environmental and societal impacts. To understand the potential impact of climate change on future sustainable water resources, this paper outlines a methodology to quantify the effects of climate change on potential groundwater recharge (or hydrological excess water) for three locations in the north and south of Great Britain. Using results from a stochastic weather generator, actual evapotranspiration and potential groundwater recharge time‐series for the historic baseline 1961–1990 and for a future ‘high’ greenhouse gas emissions scenario for the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s time periods were simulated for Coltishall in East Anglia, Gatwick in southeast England and Paisley in west Scotland. Under the ‘high’ gas emissions scenario, results showed a decrease of 20% in potential groundwater recharge for Coltishall, 40% for Gatwick and 7% for Paisley by the end of this century. The persistence of dry periods is shown to increase for the three sites during the 2050s and 2080s. Gatwick presents the driest conditions, Coltishall the largest variability of wet and dry periods and Paisley little variability. For Paisley, the main effect of climate change is evident during the dry season (April–September), when the potential amount of hydrological excess water decreases by 88% during the 2080s. Overall, it is concluded that future climate may present a decrease in potential groundwater recharge that will increase stress on local and regional groundwater resources that are already under ecosystem and water supply pressures. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

EU 20-20-20 energy policy as a model for global climate mitigation

The EU has established an aggressive portfolio with explicit near-term targets for 2020 – to reduce GHG emissions by 20%, rising to 30% if the conditions are right, to increase the share of renewable energy to 20%, and to make a 20% improvement in energy efficiency – intended to be the first step in a long-term strategy to limit climate forcing. The effectiveness and cost of extending these measures in time are considered along with the ambition and propagation to the rest of the world. Numerical results are reported and analysed for the contribution of the portfolio's various elements through a set of sensitivity experiments. It is found that the hypothetical programme leads to very substantial reductions in GHG emissions, dramatic increases in use of electricity, and substantial changes in land-use including reduced deforestation, but at the expense of higher food prices. The GHG emissions reductions are driven primarily by the direct limits. Although the carbon price is lower under the hypothetical protocol than it would be under the emissions cap alone, the economic cost of the portfolio is higher, between 13% and 22%.     

Co-designing global target-seeking scenarios: A cross-scale participatory process for capturing multiple perspectives on pathways to sustainability

The United Nations 2030 Agenda catalysed the development of global target-seeking sustainability-oriented scenarios representing alternative pathways to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Implementing the SDGs requires connected actions across local, national, regional, and global levels; thus, target-seeking scenarios need to reflect alternative options and tensions across those scales. We argue that the design of global sustainability-oriented target-seeking scenarios requires a consistent process for capturing multiple and contrasting perspectives on how to reach the goals, including the perspectives from multiple scales (e.g. local, national, regional) and geographic regions (e.g. the Global South). Here we propose a novel approach to co-design global target-seeking scenarios, consisting of (a) capturing global perspectives on pathways to the SDGs through a review of existing global scenarios; (b) a multi-stakeholder process to obtain multiple sub-global perspectives on pathways to sustainability; (c) an analysis of convergences, and crucially, divergences between global and regional perspectives on pathways to reach the SDGs, feeding into the design of new target-seeking scenario narratives. As a case study, we use the results of the 2018 African Dialogue on The World in 2050, discussing the future of agriculture and food systems. The identified divergent themes emerging from our analysis included urbanization, population growth, agricultural practices, and the roles of different actors in the future of agriculture. The results challenge some of the existing underlying assumptions of the current sustainability-oriented global scenarios (e.g. population growth, urbanisation, agricultural practices), indicating the relevance and timeliness of the proposed approach. We suggest that similar approaches can be replicated in other contexts to better inform the process of sustainability-oriented scenario co-design across scales, regions and cultures. In addition, we highlight the implications of the approach for scenario quantification and the evolution of modeling tools.     

Integrated Futures for Europe’s Mountain Regions: Reconciling Biodiversity Conservation and Human Livelihoods

Introduction Europe's mountains cover nearly half of the continent's area (Price et al. 2004) and land cover varies significantly (European Commission 2004). In most massifs, except for Sicily, southern Greece, and the British Isles, forest cover is dominant. In northern Europe, grassland is proportionately more important, and much of the mountains of the British Isles is covered by moorland. In central and southern Europe, arable land is of far greater importance than grassland, with Med…     

变化情景下昆明市松华坝水源区径流变化研究

选用昆明市日气象资料、松华坝水源区降水资料,结合水源区土壤及土地利用数据,建立松华坝水源区SWAT模型。分别用水源区牧羊河流域中和站及冷水河流域白邑站的月径流资料对模型进行参数率定和验证。结合IPCC的A1F1、B1气候变化情景以及15种假定气候情景,以19931999年为基准期,用率定好的SWAT模型预估未来变化情景下松华坝水源区两流域径流变化。结果表明,在A1F1和B1情景下牧羊河流域径流相对基准期分别减少6.7%和5.3%,而冷水河流域径流变化不大;另外,水源区温度升高1℃,牧羊河和冷水河径流分别减少9.6%和1.53%;若降水增加10%,则牧羊河和冷水河径流分别增加22.55%和13.9%。这一结果为未来变化情景下水源区水资源调度管理提供依据。     

基于ANN-CA的银川平原湿地景观演化驱动力情景模拟分析

本文通过对湿地景观的时空动态发展过程其形成空间格局的分析,构建了基于ANN-CA的银川平原湿地景观时空模拟模型,并对湿地景观格局过程与主要驱动力因子间的响应关系进行了情景模拟。研究结果表明:年降水量对天然湿地中的河流湿地和湖泊湿地的驱动作用呈正相关关系,对水稻田和坑塘湿地的影响不显著;人口密度对人工湿地的驱动作用呈正相关,随着人口密度的增加,水稻田和坑塘向各个方向大面积蔓延,河流和湖泊等天然湿地的面积则逐渐减少;随着农业生产活动的加强、农业总产值的增加,河流和湖泊缓慢减少,水稻田和坑塘等人工湿地分布迅速扩张。     

CMIP5模式对西太平洋副热带高压的模拟和预估

利用国际耦合模式比较计划第五阶段（CMIP5）26个模式的模拟结果,从空间分布和振幅变化、年际周期及年代际趋势等方面,初步评估了CMIP5模式对西太平洋副热带高压（副高）的模拟能力。在此基础上,还对未来不同典型浓度路径（RCPs）情景下副高的可能变化给出了定性的预估。CMIP5模式历史试验结果显示,大多数模式对500 hPa位势高度气候平均值的模拟有明显误差,这主要是由于模式对热带印度洋和西太平洋地区海表温度（SST）的模拟普遍较观测值低,从而导致模式对副高的模拟能力有限。但大多数模式对高度场和纬向风场变化的空间形态与振幅都有较强的模拟能力。因此,通过用NCEP/NCAR再分析资料的气候平均值替代CMIP5模式气候平均值的简单方法,对CMIP5模拟结果进行了订正。经订正后的模式结果均有能力刻画副高指数的历史时间序列,且能够反映出20世纪70年代末期之后,副高面积增大、强度增强和显著西伸的变化趋势。此外,通过对副高指数的长期趋势、年际周期及标准差等的定量评估,注意到CNRM-CM5、FGOALS-g2、FIO-ESM、MIROC-ESM和MPI-ESM-P这5个模式对副高的模拟能力较强。未来气候预估试验中,副高面积和强度均增大,且显著西伸;其线性增长趋势在RCP8.5情景下最高,RCP4.5情景下次之,RCP2.6情景下最弱。有趣的是副高脊线指数在3种排放情景下都没有明显的长期变化趋势。这些结果为选取和利用CMIP5模式进行东亚地区气候变化的归因分析和未来预估提供了一定的科学依据。     

Event Scenario Analysis for the Design of Rockslide Countermeasures

The Torgiovannetto quarry（Assisi municipality,central Italy） is an example of a site where the natural equilibrium was altered by human activity,causing current slope instability phenomena which threaten two roadways important for the local transportation.The quarry front,having a height of about 140 m,is affected by a 182,000 m3 rockslide developed in intensely fractured limestone and is too large to be stabilized.In 2003 some tension cracks were detected in the vegetated area above the quarry upper sector.From then on,several monitoring campaigns were carried out by means of different instrumentations（topographic total station,extensometers,inclinometers,ground-based interferometric radar,laser scanner and infrared thermal camera）,allowing researchers to accurately define the landslide area and volume.The latter’s major displacements are localized in the eastern sector.The deformational field appears to be related to the seasonal rainfall.The landslide hazard associated with the worst case scenario was evaluated in terms of magnitude,intensity and triggering mechanism.For the definition of the possible runout process the DAN 3D code was employed.The simulation results were used in order to design and construct a retaining embankment.Furthermore,in order to preserve both the safety of the personnelinvolved in its realization and of the roadways users,an early warning system was implemented.The early warning system is based on daily-averaged displacement velocity thresholds.The alarm level is reached if the prediction based on the methods of Saito（1969） and Fukuzono（1985） forecasts an imminent rupture.     

基于生态足迹的甘肃省耕地资源可持续利用与情景预测

 基于生态足迹理论,测算了1997-2009年甘肃省在保持社会经济可持续发展下的最佳耕地资源容量,运用ARIMA模型对甘肃省2010-2015年的生态足迹和生态承载力进行预测,按照《甘肃省国民经济和社会发展第十二个五年规划纲要》中的社会经济指标对耕地资源可持续发展容量进行情景预测。结果表明：1997-2009年,甘肃省耕地资源可持续发展容量总体上呈现上升趋势,其中1997-2002年耕地资源可持续发展容量基本低于实际耕地面积,2003-2009年,耕地资源可持续发展容量均高于实际耕地面积,出现耕地利用负荷现象;ARIMA模型预测结果显示,2010-2015年,甘肃省人均耕地生态足迹呈现上升趋势,年平均增长率为4.75%,人均耕地生态承载力呈现减少趋势,但总体上变化不大,人均耕地生态赤字从2011年成为负值,并且逐渐增加;情景预测结果显示2010-2015年,甘肃省耕地资源可持续发展容量与实际耕地面积差距愈来愈大,预计到2015年,为实际耕地面积的2.42倍,耕地利用负荷现象严重,人地关系紧张。     

Scenarios of global municipal water-use demand projections over the 21st century

Abstract

A comparison study is presented of three methods for evaluating trends in drought frequency: the standardized precipitation index (SPI), the Palmer drought severity index (PDSI), and a new method for estimation of dry spells (DS), which is based on average daily temperature and precipitation, and takes into account the length of a spell. The methods were applied to climate data from 450 stations in the Elbe River basin for the period 1951–2003, as well as data from several stations with longer observed time series. Statistical methods were used to calculate trend lines and evaluate the significance of detected trends. The dry spells estimated with the new method show significant trends in the whole lowland part of the Elbe basin during the last 53 years, and at the 10% level almost everywhere in the German part of the basin excluding mountains and the area around the river mouth. The SPI and PDSI methods also revealed significant trends, but for smaller areas in the lowland. The new DS method provides a useful supplement to other drought indices for the detection of trends in drought frequency. Furthermore, the DS method was able to detect statistically significant trends in areas where the other two methods failed to find significant trends, e.g. in the loess region in the southwest of the German part of the basin, where small insignificant changes in climate can lead to significant changes in water fluxes. This is important, because the loess region is the area within the basin having the highest crop yields. Therefore, additional research has to be done to investigate possible impacts of detected trends on water resources availability, and possible future trends in drought frequency under climate change.