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The occurrence patterns of forest insect pests and diseases have been altered by global events such as climate change. Recent developments in improved monitoring methods and tools for data analyses provide new opportunities to understand the causes and consequences of such changes. Using a variety of management tools, forest pest management programs can mitigate the influence of global changes on forest health. The goal of this Special Issue is to improve our understanding of the root causes of changes that have induced global changes. Fifteen papers are included in this Special Issue, covering several issues in forest pest management. One paper reviews the causes of Korean oak wilt, and another paper discusses fourteen invasive tree pests in Russia. The remaining thirteen papers cover issues related to the monitoring and management of forest pests. These studies provide a better understanding of the causes of change in the patterns of forest pests under the influence of global changes. These reviews also contribute to the development of forest-pest-management strategies to mitigate such impacts on forests due to global changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Samoylov Island is centrally located within the Lena River Delta at 72° N, 126° E and lies within the Siberian zone of continuous permafrost. The landscape on Samoylov Island consists mainly of late Holocene river terraces with polygonal tundra, ponds and lakes, and an active floodplain. The island has been the focus of numerous multidisciplinary studies since 1993, which have focused on climate, land cover, ecology, hydrology, permafrost, and limnology. This paper aims to provide a framework for future studies by describing the characteristics of the island's meteorological parameters (temperature, radiation, and snow cover), soil temperature, and soil moisture. The land surface characteristics have been described using high resolution aerial images in combination with data from ground-based observations. Of note is that deeper permafrost temperatures have increased between 0.5 to 1 °C over the last five years. However, no clear warming of air and active layer temperatures is detected since 1998, though winter air temperatures during recent years have not been as cold as in earlier years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Externalities influencing countries, such as wars tend to disrupt the regular economic and social processes. This paper analysis how a military conflict impacts the efforts of world acters in climate change and carbon neutrality. It focuses on armed conflict between Russian Federation and Ukraine, research the most recent available data and compare the emissions in given periods in order to provide and estimated impact of such events on climate efforts of countries directly and indirectly involved in conflict. Assumption, that crises directly lead to neglecting the climate goals and therefore an increase in GHG emissions is tested. Paper also analyzes the overall impact of war on GHG emissions, providing a overview of its severity. The results indicate that emissions on territory of countries directly involved in conflict tend to increase significantly, while change in emissions of external actors are insignificant. Results that would confirm or disprove the assumption of increased GHG emissions during crises are inconclusive and indicate a high subjectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to improve understanding of carbon cycling in the Buor-Khaya Bay (BKB) by studying the inter-annual, seasonal, and meso-scale variability of carbon stocks and related hydrological and biogeochemical parameters in the water, as well as factors controlling carbon dioxide (CO2) emission. Here we present data sets obtained on summer cruises and winter expeditions during 12 yr of investigation. Based on data analysis, we suggest that in the heterotrophic BKB area, coastal erosion and river discharge serve as predominant drivers of the organic carbon (OC) cycle, determining OC input and transformation, dynamics of nutrients, carbon stocks in the water column, and atmospheric emissions of CO2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High latitude wetlands are important for understanding climate change risks because these environments sink carbon and emit methane. Fine scale heterogeneity of wetland landscapes pose challenges for producing the greenhouse gas flux inventories based on point observations. To reduce uncertainties at the regional scale, we mapped wetlands and water bodies in the taiga zone of West Siberia on a scene-by-scene basis using a supervised classification of Landsat imagery. The training dataset was based on high-resolution images and field data that were collected at 28 test areas. Classification scheme was aimed at methane inventory applications and included 7 wetland ecosystem types composing 9 wetland complexes in different proportions. Accuracy assessment based on 1082 validation polygons of 10 × 10 pixels indicated an overall map accuracy of 79 %. The total area of the wetlands and water bodies was estimated to be 52.4 Mha or 4-12 % of the global wetland area. Ridge-hollow complexes prevail in WS's taiga, occupying 33 % of the domain, followed by forested bogs or "ryams" (23 %), ridge-hollow-lake complexes (16 %), open fens (8 %), palsa complexes (7 %), open bogs (5 %), patterned fens (4 %), and swamps (4 %). Various oligotrophic environments are dominant among the wetland ecosystems, while fens cover only 14 % of the area. Because of the significant update in the wetland ecosystem coverage, a considerable revaluation of the total CH4 emissions from the entire region is expected. A new Landsat-based map of WS's taiga wetlands provides a benchmark for validation of coarse-resolution global land cover products and wetland datasets in high latitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soils are an important compartment of ecosystems and have the ability to immobilize chemicals preventing their movement to other environment compartments. Predicted climatic changes together with other anthropogenic influences on Arctic terrestrial environments may affect biogeochemical processes enhancing leaching and migration of trace elements in permafrost-affected soils. This is especially important since the Arctic ecosystems are considered to be very sensitive to climatic changes as well as to chemical contamination. This study characterizes background levels of trace metals in permafrost-affected soils of the Lena River Delta and its hinterland in northern Siberia (73.5° N-69.5° N) representing a remote region far from evident anthropogenic trace metal sources. Investigations on total element contents of iron (Fe), arsenic (As), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co) and mercury (Hg) in di?erent soil types developed in di?erent geological parent materials have been carried out. The highest concentrations of the majority of the measured elements were observed in soils belonging to ice-rich permafrost sediments formed during the Pleistocene (ice-complex) in the Lena River Delta region. Correlation analyses of trace metal concentrations and soil chemical and physical properties at a Holocene estuarine terrace and two modern floodplain levels in the southern-central Lena River Delta (Samoylov Island) showed that the main factors controlling the trace metal distribution in these soils are organic matter content, soil texture and contents of iron and manganese-oxides. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed that soil oxides play a signi?cant role in trace metal distribution in both top and bottom horizons. Occurrence of organic matter contributes to Cd binding in top soils and Cu binding in bottom horizons. Observed ranges of the background concentrations of the majority of trace elements were similar to background levels reported for other pristine arctic areas and did not exceed mean global background concentrations examined for the continental crust as well as for the world's soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the relative contribution of light and temperature on net ecosystem CO2 uptake during the 2006 growing season in a polygonal tundra ecosystem in the Lena River Delta in Northern Siberia (72º220 N, 126º300 E). We demonstrate that the timing of warm periods may be an important determinant of the magnitude of the ecosystem's carbon sink function, as they drive temperature-induced changes in respiration. Hot spells during the early portion of the growing season are shown to be more influential in creating mid-day surface-to-atmosphere net ecosystem CO2 exchange fluxes than those occurring later in the season. In this work we also develop and present a bulk flux partition model to better account for tundra plant physiology and the specific light conditions of the arctic region that preclude the successful use of traditional partition methods that derive a respiration-temperature relationship from all night-time data. Night-time, growing season measurements are rare during the arctic summer, however, so the new method allows for temporal variation in the parameters describing both ecosystem respiration and gross uptake by fitting both processes at the same time. Much of the apparent temperature sensitivity of respiration seen in the traditional partition method is revealed in the new method to reflect seasonal changes in basal respiration rates. Understanding and quantifying the flux partition is an essential precursor to describing links between assimilation and respiration at different time scales, as it allows a more confident evaluation of measured net exchange over a broader range of environmental conditions. The growing season CO2 sink estimated by this study is similar to those reported previously for this site, and is substantial enough to withstand the long, low-level respiratory CO2 release during the rest of the year to maintain the site's CO2 sink function on an annual basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During 2008 and 2009 we applied coincident Earth observation data collected from multiple sensors (RA2, AATSR and MERIS, mounted on the European Space Agency satellite Envisat) to characterise environmental conditions and net sea-air fluxes of CO2 in three Arctic seas (Greenland, Barents, Kara) to assess net CO2 sink sensitivity due to changes in temperature, salinity and sea ice duration arising from future climate scenarios. During the study period the Greenland and Barents Seas were net sinks for atmospheric CO2, with sea-air fluxes of -34±13 and -13±6 TgC yr-1, respectively and the Kara Sea was a weak net CO2 source with a sea-air flux of +1.5±1.1 Tg Cyr-1 . The combined net CO2 sea-air flux from all three was -45±18 Tg Cyr-1 . In a sensitivity analysis we varied temperature, salinity and sea ice duration. Variations in temperature and salinity led to modification of the transfer velocity, solubility and partial pressure of CO2 taking into account the resultant variations in alkalinity and dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Our results showed that warming had a strong positive effect on the annual net sea-air flux of CO2 (i.e. reducing the sink), freshening had a strong negative effect and reduced sea ice duration had a small but measurable positive effect. In the climate change scenario examined, the effects of warming in just over a decade of climate change up to 2020 outweighed the combined effects of freshening and reduced sea ice duration. Collectively these effects gave a net sea-air flux change of +3.5 Tg C in the Greenland Sea, +5.5 Tg C in the Barents Sea and +1.4 Tg C in the Kara Sea, reducing the Greenland and Barents sinks by 10% and 50% respectively, and increasing the weak Kara Sea source by 64%. Overall, the regional flux changed by +10.4 TgC, reducing the regional sink by 23%. In terms of CO2 sink strength we conclude that the Barents Sea is the most susceptible of the three regions to the climate changes examined. Our results imply that the region will cease to be a net CO2 sink by 2060. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An overview of publications on the hydrological consequences of climate change in the context of the ongoing and projected threats to water security is presented. Two hydrological indicators of water security are considered both at the global and regional scales: mean river flow regime as an indicator of the provision of the territory with surface water resources, as well as the flood regime, as an indicator of flood hazard. The paper is structured as follows. The first section briefly discusses the current understanding of the mechanisms of the influence of anthropogenic climate change on water resources and flood hazard. The second section considers the methodological aspects of constructing assessments of the ongoing changes in the river regimes, and reviews some of the estimates of changes in water resources and high river flow in the world and Russia. The third section is devoted to the global and regional assessments of future changes in the river runoff regime in the twenty-first century and discusses the methodological challenges of carrying out such assessments. The fourth section evaluates socio-economic consequences of the current and forecasted hydrological changes and their influence on water security. The paper is finalized by several summarizing remarks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Permafrost coasts in the Arctic are susceptible to a variety of changing environmental factors all of which currently point to increasing coastal erosion rates and mass fluxes of sediment and carbon to the shallow arctic shelf seas. Rapid erosion along high yedoma coasts composed of Ice Complex permafrost deposits creates impressive coastal ice cliffs and inspired research for designing and implementing change detection studies for a long time, but continuous quantitative monitoring and a qualitative inventory of coastal thermo-erosion for large coastline segments is still lacking. Our goal is to use observations of thermo-erosion along the mainland coast of the Laptev Sea in eastern Siberia to understand how erosion rates depend on coastal geomorphology and the relative contributions of waterline and atmospheric drivers to coastal thermo-erosion over the past 4 decades and in the past few years. We compared multitemporal sets of orthorectified satellite imagery from 1965 to 2011 for three segments of coastline with a length of 73 to 95 km each and analyzed thermo-denudation (TD) along cliff top and thermo-abrasion (TA) along cliff bottom for two nested time periods: long-term rates (the past 39-43 yr) and short term rates (the past 1-3 yr). The Normalized Difference Thermo-erosion Index (NDTI) was used as a proxy that qualitatively describes the relative proportions of TD and TA. Mean annual erosion rates at all three sites were higher in recent years (-5.3±1.31ma-1) than over the long term mean (-2.2±0.13m a-1). The Mamontov Klyk coast exhibit primarily spatial variations of thermo-erosion, while intrasite-specific variations were strongest at the Buor Khaya coast, where slowest long-term rates around -0.5±0.08m a-1 were observed. The Oyogos Yar coast showed continuously rapid erosion up to -6.5±0.19m a-1. In general, variable characteristics of coastal thermo-erosion were observed not only between study sites and over time, but also within single coastal transects along the cliff profile. Varying intensities of cliff bottom and top retreat are leading to diverse qualities of coastal erosion that have different impacts on coastal mass fluxes. The different extents of Ice Complex permafrost degradation within our study sites turned out to influence not only the degree of coupling between TD and TA, and the magnitude of effectively eroded volumes, but also the quantity of organic carbon released to the shallow Laptev Sea from coastal erosion, which ranged on a long-term from 88±21.0 to 800±61.1 t per km coastline per year and will correspond to considerably higher amounts, if recently observed more rapid coastal erosion rates prove to be persistent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the climate agenda in the Eurasian Economic Union. Particularly, it analyzes the current stage of implementation of green finance principles in the member states of the EAEU. In the article, the authors identify the key problems for the social and economic development of the member states in the context of the global environmental transformation and examine most relevant policy documents to address climate challenges. At present, all EAEU member states are committed to the Paris Agreement. They are developing framework for sustainable finance system at the national levels and made efforts to introduce green finance principles within the organization. However, for the most part, little progress has been made. The authors stress that different timelines and trajectories will hinder the EAEU to achieve carbon neutrality, so, in the first place, the issue of the contingency of national climate policies within the Union should be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Security Strategies Journal / Güvenlik Stratejileri Dergisi is the property of Strategic Research Institute and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Scholars have observed the need to better understand the role of emotion in the issue of climate change, as well as to better convey the relationship between climate and other global crises. This article takes up these two positions, investigating the way social media facilitates affective connections between climate and other global risks. Using Twitter data from three global events – Covid, the 2020 U.S. presidential race, and the Russia–Ukraine war – the study examines how users connect climate change to each event. Placing these discussions in the context of online issue publics and ecocriticism, the paper examines the way users employ affect to connect these events to climate change. The paper uses a quantitatively driven qualitative approach, combining computational methods with a thematic analysis of affective expressions. Interestingly, sentiment was not universally negative, and the qualitative findings further suggest that users combine emotions in contradictory ways, expressed through the themes Weary Zealotry, The Hope–Disgust Dialectic, Climate as Proto-Disaster, Idiots and Enemies, and Global Solidarity. It is argued that a modified version of Beck's 'imagined communities of global risk' provides a framework for the role of affect in people's relationship to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A carbon price is considered the most cost-efficient greenhouse gas emissions reduction tool often used as part of a climate policy. However, Russia and the other countries rich in fossil fuels tend to have weak incentives for proactive climate policies including carbon pricing which may lead to falling revenues in emitting industries. Can the carbon price be implemented as part of the development strategy in fossil fuel exporting countries, including Russia? The paper analyzes the variety of existing approaches to applying the carbon price across various energy exporting economies. The paper contributes to the existing literature with the analysis of challenges and opportunities of carbon pricing in these countries and proposes key principles of a viable carbon pricing system in Russia. These principles are (a) balanced emissions coverage and support of vulnerable industries and social groups, (b) fiscal neutrality, (c) gradualness of implementation and (d) use of carbon offsets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past two decades, heritage has become a political instrument in the nation-building portfolio of the Kremlin. To restore Russia as a great geopolitical power and promote Russian national identity, culture has become a vehicle to instill national pride. World Heritage (WH) Sites have played a small but important role in cultural politics in Russia. UNESCO-labeled cultural landscapes, architecture, and classical sites are mobilized to instill patriotism at home and convince international audiences that Russia is a grand civilization. The discourses presented at WH Sites might help in normalizing the patriotic ideas and geopolitical ambitions of the Kremlin, but it is regional governments and nongovernmental actors that implement Russia's world heritage agenda. These players have agency and use existing conventions and standards to further their own agenda and craft a political environment favorable to their needs. However, compared to the late Soviet period, especially the Yeltsin years, the power relations have dramatically evolved. This paper describes and analyzes the mobilization of world heritage and UNESCO more broadly since Putin's first term in 2000. World heritage is used as a lens through which broader developments in the field of cultural and heritage politics are discussed. We focus on (1) how World Heritage Sites are key in narrating patriotic histories, (2) the instrumentalization of UNESCO in Russia's ambition to establish a multipolar world order, and (3) the power relations between the Kremlin and stakeholders in the cultural heritage field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing climate change and protecting the environment have become the key global challenges and priorities and requires a whole-of-society approach. Many countries are increasing their commitments to meet the Paris Agreement's goals, introducing green budgeting among them. The goal of the paper is to understand how public participation in public budgeting with green objectives is being effectuated in the Russian Federation, and to look at what governments can do to facilitate it. The author explores the relevance of environmental problems for Russians, and analyses public participation in environmental policy-making with a focus on budgeting in Russia. The paper provides examples of green participatory budgeting practices of global interest, highlights the potential of participatory budgeting encouraging pro-environmental behaviour, potentially enriching the repertoire of climate-friendly actions and fostering the growing interest in green budgeting. The author concludes with recommendations on how to improve public participation in relation to greening the budget process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relative roles of fire and climate in determining canopy species composition and aboveground carbon stocks were investigated. Measurements were made along a transect extending from the dark taiga zone of Central Siberia, where Picea and Abies dominate the canopy, into the Larix zone of Eastern Siberia. We test the hypotheses that the change in canopy species composition is based (1) on climate-driven performance only, (2) on fire only, or (3) on fire-performance interactions. We show that the evergreen conifers Picea obovata and Abies sibirica are the natural late-successional species both in Central and Eastern Siberia, provided there has been no fire for an extended period of time. There are no changes in the climate-driven performance of the observed species. Fire appears to be the main factor explaining the dominance of Larix. Of lesser influence were longitude, hydrology and active-layer thickness. Stand-replacing fires decreased from 300 to 50 yr between the Yenisei Ridge and the upper Tunguska. Repeated non-stand-replacing surface fires eliminated the regenera tion of Abies and Picea. With every 100 yr since the last fire, the percentage of Larix decreased by 20 %. Biomass of stems of single trees did not show signs of age-related decline. Relative diameter increment was 0.41±0.20% at breast height and stem volume increased linearly over time with a rate of about 0.36 tCha-1 yr-1 independent of age class and species. Stand volumes reached about 130 tCha-1 (equivalent to about 520m³ ha-1). Individual trees of Larix were older than 600 yr. The maximum age and biomass seemed to be limited by fungal rot of heart wood. 60% of old Larix and Picea and 30% of Pinus sibirica trees were affected by stem rot. Implications for the future role of fire and of plant diseases are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate warming is amplified in the land-sea system of the East Siberian Arctic, which also holds large pools of vulnerable carbon in permafrost. This coastal area is strongly influenced by sediment and carbon transport from both its large rivers and extensive erosion of Pleistocene permafrost along its coastline. This study is investigating the coastal fate of the sediment and organic carbon delivered to the Buor-Khaya Gulf, which is the first recipient of the 16 overwhelming fluvial discharge from the Lena River and is additionally receiving large input from extensive erosion of the coastal ice-complex (permafrost a.k.a. Yedoma; loess soil with high organic carbon content). Both water column suspended particulate matter (SPM) and surface sediments were sampled at about 250 oceanographic stations in the Gulf in this multiyear effort, including one winter campaign, and analyzed for the distribution and sorting of sediment size, organic carbon content, and stable carbon isotope signals. The composition of the surface sediment suggests an overwhelmingly terrestrial contribution from both river and coastal erosion. Based on data collected during several years in the period 2000-2008, two different sedimentation regimes were revealed for the Buor-Khaya Gulf, the relative importance of each at a given time depend on hydrometeorological conditions, the Lena River water discharge and sea-ice regime: Type 1 erosion-accumulation and Type 2 accumulation. The Type 1 erosion-accumulation sedimentation regime is typical (2000-2006) for the ice-free period of the year (here considered in detail for August 2005). Under such conditions terrigenous sources of suspended particulate matter (SPM) and particulate organic carbon (POC) stem predominantly from river discharge, thermal erosion of coastal ice-complex and remobilized bottom sediments. The Type 2 accumulation sedimentation regime develops under ice-covered conditions, and only occasionally during the ice-free period (August 2008). In Type 2 winter, combined terrigenous and marine-biogenic SPM and POC sources are dominating due to relatively low overall terrigenous input (April 2007). In Type 2 summer, river alluvium becomes the major SPM and POC source (August 2008). The water column SPM and POC loadings vary by more than a factor of two between the two regimes. This study underscores the necessity of multi-year investigations to better understand the functioning of the primary recipient of terrestrially expulsed matter in the East Siberian Arctic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the changing nature of Russia-Turkey energy trade relations. The main argument of the article is that climate change, as well as EU institutions and environmental protection regulations, have been decisive in the long-term transformation of bilateral natural gas relations. The EU favors competitive market structures to combat climate change, and the EU Green Deal sets ambitious targets for renewable energy consumption. These variables establish grounds for legitimacy among EU members in the face of Russian dominance of the EU energy market. However, as discussed in this paper, the Russian government's main strategy to counter this opposition from the EU side is to circumvent the EU's institutional arrangements through its relations with Turkey. The final point to be discussed in this paper is the impact of the EU energy and environment policies on changes in Russian perceptions of Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, has already caused large amounts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and will continue to do so for manyyears after hostilities have ceased mainly because of the emissions linked to the rebuilding of destroyed or damaged housing, public buildings, infrastructure, factories, and the like. My aim in this paper is to discuss how in a time of climate emergency such emissions of war should impact the political morality of states initiating, continuing, and ending war (through a just and enduring peace) as understood by just war theory (JWT). My point of departure is a study by Lennard de Klerk and six co-authors detailing the emissions of the first year of the Russo-Ukrainian war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition to a new reference period of 1991–2020 requires updating the estimates of agroclimatic resources in agricultural regions. The paper summarizes the results of the annual monitoring of agroclimatic conditions over 1961–1990 and 1991–2020 obtained by both the statistical analysis and the Climate–Soil–Yield simulation system and provides their comparative evaluation. It has been noted that along with growing aridity of the most fertile areas of the steppe and forest-steppe zones, there is an almost universal growth of spring precipitation, which compensates to some extent the negative impact of high summer temperatures on the yield. A significant decrease in the climate-driven productivity of spring wheat from the period of 1961–1990 to the new reference period of 1991–2020 has been revealed for the main grain-producing regions. Estimates of productivity trends for major grain crops, spring and winter wheat, are given in connection with climate change and the development of agricultural technologies. Estimates of changes in the wintering indices and sown areas for winter wheat are also given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overview of papers dealing with the analysis of current and future climate change on the territory of Russia and their impact on the crop productivity is presented. Using the reanalysis data for 1950–2020, trends in air temperature and precipitation are estimated for different regions of Russia. A correlation was found between changes in temperature and atmospheric circulation indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detailed palaeogeographical studies of the accumulative fan in the Serteyka River valley in W Russia and underlying biogenic deposits were carried out. The base of a representative core of biogenic sediments in the distal zone is dated to 1291 BC, while its top to 1631 AD. In this paper, palynological, plant macrofossils, Chironomide and Cladocera, geochemical, geochronological and sedimentological analysis were performed. Four phases of biogenic deposition were distinguished by pollen and geochemical analyses. Two of them coincide with the climatic fluctuation during Medieval Climate Anomaly and Little Ice Age. During the formation of the fan, overbank deposits were accumulated also, indicating numerous and intense floods, which are in line with the trend observed for other sites in this region. The accumulative fan is formed by lower, middle and upper deluvia and agricultural diamicton in its top. All units have specific sedimentological and geochemical features as well as low admixture of plant macrofossils. The beginning of the formation of this relief form dates back to the second half of the 17th century AD, and the end of the accumulation falls on the second half of the 18th century AD. Our work suggests that natural conditions had an impact on the formation and development of studied accumulative fan, however, the decisive factor causing the intensification of the slope processes were related with deforestation resulted from strong human impact, which was marked in palynological and macrofossils analyses (e.g. increase in the contribution of plants macrofossils related to agriculture). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Arctic is rapidly warming posing a significant threat to underlying permafrost. Permafrost degradation has already resulted in extensive damage to the Arctic's built infrastructure, putting communities and industries at risk. Projected climate warming will further reduce the capacity of permafrost to support infrastructure, thereby requiring a rethinking of construction and development of permafrost regions in the future. This paper focuses on three Arctic regions with a substantial presence of population and infrastructure on permafrost: USA (Alaska), Canada, and Russia. The three regions' permafrost construction practices are examined in order to identify best practices and major gaps. We identify a lack of standardized, codified construction guidelines; an absence of permafrost-geotechnical monitoring in communities; barriers to integrating climate scenarios into future planning; limited data sharing; and low numbers of permafrost professionals as major constraints limiting the region's resilience in the face of climate change. Refining building practices and standards, implementing operational permafrost monitoring systems, developing downscaled climate projections, and integrating local knowledge will minimize the impacts of permafrost degradation under rapidly warming climatic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the evaluation and digital mapping of forest growing stock volume (GSV) and carbon stocks of the natural park Kandry-Kul (Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia). The field observations were conducted in the process of forest surveys in 1994 and 2018. According to these materials, we identified the predominant tree species in each studied plot. Then, we produced the digital maps of GSV and carbon stocks for each study year and calculated the annual increment. The results showed that birch (Betula pendula) and pine (Pinus sylvestris) were the dominant species in the studied park. The comparison of the two maps showed that the maximum annual GSV between 1994 and 2018 occurred in areas with a fairly small GSV in 1994. These areas were characterized by young trees of different species and pines of different ages, which had not yet reached the age of maturity, when the growth of trees is significantly reduced. We found that young pine crops contributed the greatest potential of carbon sequestration, with an annual GSV of 4.2 m3/ha per year. The birch trees made a minor contribution to the sequestration potential, characterized by relatively average annual growth (1.2 m3/ha per year). The change in carbon stocks for pine stands was on average 2 t/ha per year. For birch stands, the change in carbon stocks was approximately 0.5 t/ha per year, which is 30% of the average values for the forest-steppe region. Our results provide quantitative information on the carbon accumulation rate in secondary forests under conditions of intensive recreational load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deciduous shrubs are expected to rapidly expand in the Arctic during the coming decades due to climate warming. A transition towards more shrub-dominated tundra may have large implications for the regional surface energy balance, permafrost stability and carbon storage capacity, with consequences for the global climate system. However, little information is available on the natural long-term shrub growth response to climatic variability. Our aim was to determine the climate factor and time period that are most important to annual shrub growth in our research site in NE-Siberia. Therefore, we determined annual radial growth rates in Salix pulchra and Betula nana shrubs by measuring ring widths. We constructed shrub ring width chronologies and compared growth rates to regional climate and remotely sensed greenness data. Early summer temperature was the most important factor influencing ring width of S. pulchra (Pearson's r = 0.73, p < 0.001) and B. nana (Pearson's r = 0.46, p < 0.001). No effect of winter precipitation on shrub growth was observed. In contrast, summer precipitation of the previous year correlated positively with B. nana ring width (r = 0.42, p < 0.01), suggesting that wet summers facilitate shrub growth in the following growing season. S. pulchra ring width correlated positively with peak summer NDVI, despite the small coverage of S. pulchra shrubs (< 5% surface cover) in our research area. We provide the first climate-growth study on shrubs for Northeast Siberia, the largest tundra region in the world. We show that two deciduous shrub species with markedly different growth forms have a similar growth response to changes in climate. The obtained shrub growth response to climate variability in the past increases our understanding of the mechanisms underlying current shrub expansion, which is required to predict future climate-driven tundra vegetation shifts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union is facing a complex geopolitical crisis, which represents a threat to its energy security. Having this in mind, EU must redouble its efforts to become energy independent, focusing on renewable energy. In the following paper, we intend to analyze the measures that the Union wants to take in order to combat the energy crisis. Therefore, it will be analyzed the situation of nuclear energy and natural gas in the EU, given that these were the two technologies with the greatest contribution to electricity generation. At the same time, in the paper we will examine the REPowerEU plan, which the Commission wants to develop, in order to support sources of electricity supply, improve energy efficiency and to make the switch to renewable energy faster. The purpose of these actions is to gradually eliminate gas imports from the Russian Federation and also the EU's dependence on fossil fuels and would function as an insurance against the shocks of prices. Also, at the end of the paper, we will expose small-scale energy solutions that can be applied in residential areas but also largescale solutions that can significantly contribute to reducing dependence on fossil fuels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reports the observed data of average annual temperatures and precipitation for the period 1985–2016 for the regions of the Republic of Bashkortostan and an analysis of the influence of climate change on the soil climate. The Republic is one of Russia's largest producers of agricultural products, and the forest cover of the territory is almost 40%. Given the existence of extensive oil pipelines and water supply networks, the issue of soil climate is relevant also to the management of such infrastructure. The average annual air temperature in the region has increased by 0.7°C and some weather stations have recorded absolute increases in maximum temperatures. Thus, there is an increase in the length of the vegetative period but at the same time there is increased risk of drought. Further, the average annual rainfall is increasing. The importance of the depth of freezing of the soil for agriculture was considered; deep and unstable freezing zones were identified. The height of the snow cover has also decreased. The paper considers implications for engineering systems such as pipelines and basements for different buildings and constructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A new dataset on the diet of Atlantic cod in the Barents Sea from the 1930s to the present day has been compiled to produce one of the largest fish diet datasets available globally. Atlantic cod is one of the most ecologically and commercially important fish species in the North Atlantic. The stock in the Barents Sea is by far the largest, as a result of both successful management and favourable environmental conditions since the early 2000s. As a top predator, cod plays a key role in the Barents Sea ecosystem. The species has a broad diet consisting mainly of crustaceans and teleost fish, and both the amount and type of prey vary in space and time. The data – from Russia, Norway and the United Kingdom – represent quantitative stomach content records from more than 400 000 fish and qualitative data from 2.5 million fish. Many of the data are from joint collaborative surveys between Norway and Russia. The sampling was conducted throughout each year, allowing for seasonal, annual and decadal comparisons to be made. Visual analysis shows cod diets have changed considerably from the start of the dataset in the 1930s to the present day. There was a large proportion of herring in the diets in the 1930s, whereas in more recent decades capelin, invertebrates and other fish dominate. There are also significant interannual asynchronous fluctuations in prey, particularly capelin and euphausiids. Combining these datasets can help us understand how the environment and ecosystems are responding to climatic changes, and what influences the diet and prey switching of cod. Trends in temperature and variability indices can be tested against the occurrence of different prey items, and the effects of fishing pressure on cod and prey stocks on diet composition could be investigated. The dataset will also enable us to improve parametrization of food web models and to forecast how Barents Sea fisheries may respond in the future to management and to climate change. The Russian data are available through joint projects with the Polar Branch of the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO). The UK and Norwegian data (Townhill et al., 2020) are being released with this paper at 10.21335/NMDC-2139169383. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors explore the trends in the human health risks caused by air pollution and changing levels of weather and climate comfort on the territory of Russia in 2020–2050 under two climate change scenarios. Generally, the dynamics of risks is expected to be moderate. It will presumably be characterized by inter-scenario variability and dispersion by the country's climate zones. In certain areas, primarily in Siberia, very noticeable trends have been revealed. The paper shows a need for additional attention when planning the measures of adaptation to climate change in southern and central regions of European Russia, most of Western Siberia, the Magadan oblast and Kamchatka. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The retreat rates of Arctic coasts have increased in recent decades at many sites, and an essential part of coasts considered accumulative before have turned erosional due to global climate changes and construction in the coastal zone. In this paper, we study a 7 km long coastal section of the western Gydan Peninsula in a new construction area. Based on the interpretation of multi-temporal satellite imagery, we assessed coastal dynamics in distinct periods from 1972 to 2020. We analyzed the geological structure of the coast as well as changes in hydrometeorological parameters with time, and considering the human impact, we proposed the main drivers of spatial and temporal variations of coastal dynamics. The studied low-lying sandy accumulative marine terrace was more or less stable in the period before construction (1972–2014). However, with the area's development, the coast dynamics changed drastically: in 2014–2017, three-quarters of the studied area experienced retreat, and the average retreat rate amounted to 5.8 m/yr, up to 28.5 m/yr near the construction sites. We relate this coastal erosion intensification to human impact combined with the growth of hydrometeorological forcing. Although coastal erosion slowed down after 2017, the retreat trend remained. In the coming years, with Arctic climate warming, erosion of the studied coast will continue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present stage of development of artificial intelligence (AI) is based on advanced technologies and modern methods and algorithms of machine learning (ML) including deep machine learning, intellectual data analysis and other fundamental scientific areas, which in turn play an important role in delivering applied solutions in almost all areas of digital economy. However, the corresponding expansion of the AI application range and complication of the class of problems, as well as of the spectrum and the volume of data used for creation of applied AI models and AI-based intelligent system call for a significant expansion of the theoretical and algorithmic basis of AI including development of ML methods that involve mathematical and physical models of objects and phenomena of domains, methods of fusion of multimodal data, methods for constructing geometric and topological components of deep neural networks, methods for modeling 3D objects, etc. In 2021, in order to cope well with these challenges, Skoltech Research Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence was created with support from the Federal Program "Artificial Intelligence." The aims of the Center are as follows: creation of a scientific and technological basis for solution of a wide range of relevant applied tasks for purposes of sustainable development of the economy of the Russian Federation including optimization problems of managerial decisions aimed at reduction of the carbon footprint and other urgent ESG tasks; environmental monitoring tasks for detection of anomalies and extreme situations forecast; assessment of economic and social risks and their dynamics caused by climatic changes; predictive analytic problems, etc. In the present paper, we describe new AI technologies, models, methods and algorithms developed in the Center, describe the main applied areas of research of the Center, and provide a briefly survey of the already developed scientific and applied results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The megatrends of climate change, China's Belt and Road Initiative, and the Western sanctions against Russia have made the once calm Arctic an arena of geopolitical competition. Before the Crimea crisis of 2014, the Nordics were the primary advocates for a Chinese role in the Arctic when Russia was still hesitant. In 2017 Russia and China agreed to build a Polar Silk Road along the Northern Sea Route, which complements China's 21st Century Maritime Silk Road plans. Russia financially depends on China for its aspirational Arctic plans. Meanwhile, China increasingly perceives the five Nordic states as a unit to negotiate projects under the Belt and Road Initiative and suggested a 5 + 1 format. Thus, China's rising Arctic presence made the age-old Nordics-Russia relations triangular. What does the Sino-Russian strategic partnership mean for the Nordics' preference formation concerning the Polar Silk Road? This paper traces the triangular ties before and after the Crimea crisis and finds that the actors switched from liberal towards defensive neorealist perspectives. The Nordics have become worried about the Sino-Russian Arctic honeymoon, Russia's Arctic military assertiveness and China's intentions. As the triangular links are out-of-balance, the Nordics might apply complex balancing to achieve collective goods along the Northern Sea Route. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of observed and projected climate changes, it is necessary to develop science-based methods and criteria to assess the need for preventive adaptation to the consequences of climate change and associated risks. The nature, the population, and the economy always respond to changing conditions, including climate changes, and adapt to them. However, the speed and effectiveness of such reactive adaptation may be insufficient. For this reason, planning adaptation measures and implementing preventive adaptation have become critical for the sustainable development of the economy, improving the quality of life of people, and preserving ecosystems. This paper proposes an approach to identifying the quantitative indicators of climate impact that show the need for preventive adaptation when they exceed threshold values. This approach can also be used in the development and implementation of adaptation plans for the sectors of the economy and the subjects of the Russian Federation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This perspective paper explores the rising impacts of the COVID-19 and the Russia–Ukraine war from different perspectives, with an emphasis on the role of climate financing in achieving equitable and just transition mechanisms and that of peace in expediting this pursuit and sustaining this drive. It is motivated by the realization that there is an urgent need for accelerating the decarbonisation agenda, as highlighted in pre-COP26 debates and in the resulting Glasgow Climate Pact, through the mitigation measures that can be unpacked at both cost and scale. This is further reiterated in the third instalment of Assessment Report 6 (AR6) the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, dwelling on Mitigation of Climate Change, underlining the required policy shifts and technology developmental needs. Green technology, however, comes at a green premium, being more expensive to implement in geographies that cannot absorb its cost in the immediate short term. This engenders an inequitable and unjust landscape, as those that require green technology are unable to have access to it but are most often on the frontlines of the impacts of climate change. While it is urgent to review this issue and to encourage more cooperation for technology development and transfer, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia–Ukraine war are posing mounting challenges for achieving these objectives. These two crises are causing an unprecedented rise in commodities and labour pricing, with further knock-on impacts on global supply chains for technology. This is in turn rendering green technology unattainable for developing and less developed countries and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents recent data on the demographic structure and population size of C. calceolus in European Russia. The assessment of the species distribution and population size is based on the global classification of terrestrial ecoregions. The long-term dynamics of the number and age structure (150 populations) of C. calceolus were revealed for the 20-year research period, 1997–2020. It has been reliably determined that the number of reproductive plants is positively related to temperature indicators, while the number of pre-reproductive individuals depends on humidity factors and negatively on temperature. Three types of basic age spectra were identified: (1) centered 3:10:47:40 (juvenile (j): immature (im): virginal (v): reproductive (g)), the most common in the European part of the Russian Federation (RF); (2) bimodal 15:26:33:26 (j:im:v:g), mainly found in the western regions; (3) right-hand 0:3:13:82:2 (j:im:v:g:s), which steadily appears in the continental climate of eastern regions of European Russia. The current baseline spectra of C. calceolus populations differ from the baseline spectrum of the species given in the 20th century. The base spectra significantly depends on ecological-phytocoenotic plant community structure and abiotic features of habitats, it shown using the ecological indicator values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even with substantial uncertainty over the timing and magnitude of climate change, the potential impacts pose significant risks to long-term global economic development. This paper reviews relevant literature on economic effects of climate change with respect to Russia, which faces physical risks as well as risks created by the transition to a low-carbon economy. Most risks arise from the orientation of Russian production and exports to carbon-intensive sectors, particularly oil and gas. Nevertheless, Russia has shown little ambition in addressing risks related to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen has the potential to revolutionize how we power our lives, from transportation to energy production. This study aims to compare the climate change impacts and the main factors affecting them for different categories of hydrogen production, including grey hydrogen (SMR), blue hydrogen (SMR-CCS), turquoise hydrogen (TDM), and green hydrogen (PEM electrolysis). Grey hydrogen, blue hydrogen, and turquoise hydrogen, which are derived from fossil sources, are produced using natural gas and green hydrogen is produced from water and renewable electricity sources. When considering natural gas as a feedstock, it is sourced from the pipeline route connected to Russia and through the liquefied natural gas (LNG) route from the USA. The life cycle assessment (LCA) result showed that grey hydrogen had the highest emissions, with the LNG route showing higher emissions, 13.9 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2, compared to the pipeline route, 12.3 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2. Blue hydrogen had lower emissions due to the implementation of carbon capture technology (7.6 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2 for the pipeline route and 9.3 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2 for the LNG route), while turquoise hydrogen had the lowest emissions (6.1 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2 for the pipeline route and 8.3 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2 for the LNG route). The climate change impact showed a 12–25% increase for GWP20 compared to GWP100 for grey, blue, and turquoise hydrogen. The production of green hydrogen using wind energy resulted in the lowest emissions (0.6 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2), while solar energy resulted in higher emissions (2.5 kg CO2 eq. per kg H2). This article emphasizes the need to consider upstream emissions associated with natural gas and LNG extraction, compression, liquefaction, transmission, and regasification in assessing the sustainability of blue and turquoise hydrogen compared to green hydrogen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract—The paper presents the results of a study of spatiotemporal variability of the characteristics of the wind field in the free atmosphere of the Northern Hemisphere in the SEVIRI radiometer field of view of European geostationary meteorological satellites of the second generation Meteosat 8–Meteosat 11 in the time interval 2007–2021. It is noted that the maximum wind speeds, as well as the maximum average monthly and seasonal anomalies of the wind speed modulus, are observed over the Atlantic. A feature of the temporal variability of the area-averaged wind speed modulus is revealed, which consists in a change in the sign of the trend at the turn of 2015–2017 from positive to negative. At the same time, positive linear trends in the time intervals from 2007 to the points of a change in the sign of the trend over the Atlantic, the entire region under consideration and Eurasia, including the European territory of the Russian Federation, are significantly different from zero with a probability of more than 95% and the negative trend is significant only over the Atlantic. A high correlation was noted in the area of seasonal wind speed variations with the area of Arctic sea ice and temperature characteristics of the troposphere at levels of 500 and 200 hPa. Based on the analysis of the relationship between wind speed variability and the main climatic characteristics and large-scale atmospheric processes, a scheme is proposed for the effect of the accelerating reduction in the area of Arctic sea ice associated with global warming on wind speed in the free atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The war in Ukraine deteriorated the security context in Europe, as well as the ties between the West and the East. The new security context in Europe has reverberations on multiple sectors, among which energy, food and migration, as well as on the whole international system. In this new context, the implications of the war in Ukraine are also echoed in the Arctic region, considering Russia’s presence and role in the High North. Characterized through its exceptionalism, the High North is currently confronting with new tensions due to Russia assertiveness and the other seven arctic states’ reluctance to continue their cooperation with Russia, in the light of its aggression in Ukraine. China’s ambitions and interests in the High North and its partnership with Russia will further debilitate the security context in the region. At the same time, the Arctic region is still confronting with issues such as climate change, environmental protection, oil pollution, sustainability and underdevelopment, issues that until recently were addressed through cooperation and dialogue among all arctic states. The present paper explores the different changes and challenges that the region is currently confronting with, in the context of the war in Ukraine, and how the future will look like in the near future. The partial freeze of the Arctic Council activity was the first sign of the relationship deterioration between Russia and the Western countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows the relevance of the problem of fire hazard in the forests of the Volga Federal District (VFD) of European Russia. The Nesterov index and the Selyaninov hydrothermal coefficient (HTC) are considered as indicators of fire hazard. The changes in climatic conditions in the VFD during 1955–2018 are shown; a trend towards warming and an increase in aridity in the study region were revealed. The repeatability of various fire hazard classes from May to September was calculated using the Nesterov method. It is shown that in July, the most dangerous situation was in the south of the VFD, where the repeatability of class IV fire hazard reached 27%. Using the HTC index, the degree of aridity of the district in the summer period was estimated. The frequency of the most arid conditions (HTC < 0.5) increases from the north to the south of the district, from 6% (Kirov Region) to 47% (Orenburg Region). Using the TT index, the potential thunderstorm danger in the VFD was assessed. With the help of the constructed maps, the hotspots of the most probable occurrence of thunderstorms were detected. The use of Rosstat data on the number of forest fires from 1992 to 2020 made it possible to consider the spatiotemporal distribution of forest fires in 14 administrative regions of the VFD. The distribution of the number of fires by the regions is shown depending on their forest cover and season. The peak of the number of fires was revealed in 2010, when the entire territory of the study region was covered by a severe drought, as a result of which the area of forests covered by fire increased many times over. In recent years (since 2017), there has been an increase in the area of burned forest due to the active phase of climate warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

German Strategic Policy (1991-2017) changed because of several factors, which included the assertive behaviour of Russia, incoming refugees, the threat of terrorism, Brexit, the waning interests of the United States in Europe, and escalating climate change problems. The German Strategic Policy that spanned over two decades focused on developing and modernizing military hardware. This requirement in fact can be observed by analysing the recent shifts in German policies and politics at large. These shifts are largely based on the German strong economy based on free trade and policies of economic development. Many scholars argue a facet of economic strength is reflected in military power. This paper analyses German defence policy change and discusses factors that led to changes in German strategic position in the EU as a strong military power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a discussion on an opinion about the stability margin towards an emergency in local climate dynamics from the bifurcation analysis viewpoint. With this purpose we propose to attract the practice-oriented bifurcation analysis, where the conflict-of-units between notions used to understand natural evolution processes and notions used to describe desirable artificial regimes is resolved by integrating analytics on the basis of modified bifurcation diagrams. The discussion focuses on the phenomenon of interannual temperature variability, where local annual maximums and minimums are analyzed with daily details in both time and temperature coordinates. This phenomenon is considered via the probable, periodical and regulator conceptions. Advantages of the regulator conception are verified by results of processing the data of temperature meteorological observations on daily means over the last 135 years. This conception is based on the HDS-hypothesis, in accordance to which local climate dynamics is determined by the natural competition between the amplitude quantization (restricted by the temperature Hysteresis) and time quantization (caused by the Double Synchronization). Thus an alternation between three elementary processes with the same period (year) and different patterns of annual warming–cooling cycles is supposed as a typical behavior for local climate systems, and the idea on high-dynamic local climate ensembles is developed instead of the conventional opinion on quasi-static local climate norms. Mechanisms of temperature changes due to abrupt shifts (so-called change-points) of the HDS-regulator parameters are distinguished from mechanisms of temperature changes due to bifurcations. The notion of a stability margin is used as a distance to an emergency and is visualized in the parametrical space. So, in spite of the mechanisms of temperature changes with/without bifurcations are different, their conflict-free sewing becomes conceptually possible in the context of the stability margin towards emergencies determined relatively bifurcation boundaries in the parametrical space. Since the discussed dynamics is not supposed to exist in terms of the traditional estimations concerning the observed local climate changes, then we believe that the paper would be interesting for scientists in the field of bifurcation analysis as well as for scientists and specialists, activity areas of which relate to the contemporary challenges connected with climate changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the world's largest fossil fuels exporter, Russia is one of the key countries for addressing global climate change. However, it has never demonstrated any significant ambitions to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This paper applies ideational research methodology to identify the structural differences in economic, political, and social normative contexts between industrialized fossil fuel importing economies and Russia that lead to the fundamental gap in motivations driving decarbonization efforts. Russia is unlikely to replicate the approach to the green transition and climate policy instruments of energy-importing countries. In order to launch decarbonization in Russia, interested stakeholders need to frame climate policies in Russia differently. Specifically, the framing must address the priority of diversification as a means to adapting the national economy to a new green landscape, the combination of diverse channels for decarbonization, the promotion of energy-efficiency, closer attention to climate-related forest projects, and linkage of climate change with other environmental problems. Moreover, considering Russia's emissions as a part of the global economic system and shifting from a simplistic national focus on GHG emissions reduction would help coordinate policies through dialogue between exporters and importers of fossil fuel energy-intensive goods, which is essential for the global movement towards a net-zero future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an assessment of the rates of erosion and sedimentation in hollows of the Temeva Rechka small dry valley catchment, dominated by forest-steppe gray forest soils (Luvic Retic Greyzemic Phaeozems), over the past 55–60 years with the use of the radiocesium technique. This catchment is located in the Myosha River basin (Republic of Tatarstan, European Russia). The hollows have been grouped by the catchment's slope aspects, hollow length, hollow bottom gradient, and shape of the thalweg profile of the hollow bottoms; origin and age, as well as by the specifics of erosion/sedimentation processes. Short agrogenic hollows with a small catchment area on relatively steep western slopes of the Temeva Rechka small dry valley, probably formed after human deforestation, have been identified. The shape of their catchments contributes to the formation of surface runoff, sufficient for the erosion of a significant part of their bottoms at a rate of about 2–4 t/ha per year. Older, polygenetic, and relatively long hollows with a slightly sloping bottom and larger catchments serve as sediment transit zones between plowed areas and the Temeva Rechka small dry valley bottom. They are characterized by alternating areas of soil erosion and sediment accumulation. The average rate of soil erosion in these landforms is 0.8 t/ha per year. In some hollows, when several small tributaries (smaller hollows) flow into their lower parts, soil erosion loss increases to 3 t/ha per year. The average soil erosion loss is 6 t/ha per year on short slopes of the hollows; in their upper parts, it can reach 11 t/ha per year. There is a general decrease in the rates of soil erosion and accumulation of eroded material in recent decades due to changes in climate and land use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Warming of the earth is considered as the major adverse effect of climate change along with other abnormalities such as non-availability of water resources, decreased agriculture production, food security, rise in seawater level, glaciers melting, and loss of biodiversity. Over the years, decreased agriculture production and water quality degradation have been observed due to climatic abnormalities. Crop production is highly sensitive to climate. It gets affected by long-term trends in average rainfall and temperature, annual climate variations, shocks during different stages of growth, and extreme weather events. Globally, the areas sown for the major crops of barley, maize, rice, sorghum, soya bean, and wheat have all seen an increase in the percentage of area affected by drought as defined in terms of the Palmer Drought Severity Index since the 1960s, from approximately 5–10% to approximately 15–25%. Increase in temperature will be observed in terms of wheat yield losses − 5.5 ± 4.4% per degree Celsius for the United States, − 9.1 ± 5.4% per degree Celsius for India, and − 7.8 ± 6.3% per degree Celsius for Russia as these countries are more vulnerable to temperature increase. Water management through increasing storage capacity (or rainwater storage), fair policies for water supply and distribution, river health, and watershed management can reduce the negative effects of climate change on water resource availability. Similarly, climate change-resistant crop development, water management in irrigation, adapting climate-smart agriculture approach, and promoting indigenous knowledge can ensure the food security via increasing agricultural yield. Technical intervention can equip the farmers with the scientific analyses of the climatic parameters required for the sustainable agriculture management. These technologies may include application of software, nutrient management, water management practices, instruments for temperature measurement and soil health analysis etc. Holistic efforts of the stakeholders (farmers, local society, academia, scientists, policy makers, NGOs etc.) can provide better results to reduce the risks of climate change on agriculture and water resources as discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores which actors and factors influence media coverage of climate change in Russia. It does this by analysing the coverage of three events by five Russian national newspapers (Komsomol’skaya pravda, Rossiyskaya gazeta, Izvestiya, Kommersant and Sovetskaya Rossiya). The three events are the Kyoto Conference in 1997, the Copenhagen Conference in 2009 and the Russian heat-wave of 2010. This paper concludes that regardless of the ownership structure of the newspapers or their dependence on advertising, there is little difference in quantity and quality of overall coverage on climate change. With most newspapers relying on Russian officials as information sources, almost none criticise or question Russian climate policy. Furthermore, the article concludes that, in Russia, the omission of climate change issues from discussion in national newspapers becomes a greater problem than biased coverage, as the lack of commentary decidedly prevents these issues from entering the public debate. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents two new pollen records and quantitative climate reconstructions from northern Chukotka documenting environmental changes over the last 27.9 ka. Open tundra‐ and steppe‐like habitats dominated between 27.9 and 18.7 cal. ka BP. Betula and Alnus shrubs might have grown in sheltered microhabitats but disappeared after 18.7 cal. ka BP. Although the climate was rather harsh, local herb‐dominated communities supported herbivores as is evident by the presence of coprophilous spores in the sediments. The increase in Salix and Cyperaceae ~16.1 cal. ka BP suggests climate amelioration. Shrub Betula appeared ~15.9 cal. ka BP, and became dominant after ~15.52 cal. ka BP, whilst typical steppe communities drastically reduced. Very high presence of Botryococcus in the Lateglacial sediments reflects widespread shallow habitats, probably due to lake level increase. Shrub Alnus became common after ~13 cal. ka BP reflecting further climate amelioration. Simultaneously, herb communities gradually decreased in the vegetation reaching a minimum ~11.8 cal. ka BP. A gradual decrease of algae remains suggests a reduction of shallow‐water habitats. Shrubby and graminoid tundra was dominant ~11.8–11.1 cal. ka BP, later Salix stands significantly decreased. The forest‐tundra ecotone established in the Early Holocene, shortly after 11.1 cal. ka BP. Low contents of green algae in the Early Holocene sediments likely reflect deeper aquatic conditions. The most favourable climate conditions were between ~10.6 and 7 cal. ka BP. Vegetation became similar to the modern after ~7 cal. ka BP but Pinus pumila came to the Ilirney area at about 1.2 cal. ka BP. It is important to emphasize that the study area provided refugia for Betula and Alnus during MIS 2. It is also notable that our records do not reflect evidence of Younger Dryas cooling, which is inconsistent with some regional environmental records but in good accordance with some others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Open access to occurrence records of the most dangerous invasive species in a standardised format have important potential applications for ecological research and management, including the assessment of invasion risks, formulation of preventative and management plans in the context of global climate and land use changes in the short and long perspective. The striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius Pallas, 1771) is a common species in the temperate latitudes of the Palaearctic. Due to land use and global climate changes, several waves of expansion of the range of this species have been observed or inferred. By intrusion into new regions, the striped field mouse has become an alien species there. Apodemus agrarius causes significant harm to agriculture and is one of the most important pests of grain crops. In tree nurseries, A. agrarius destroys seeds of valuable tree species and gnaws at the bark of saplings of broadleaf species and berry bushes. It is one of the most epidemiologically important rodents, involved in the circulation of the causative agents of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and many other zoonotic infections. The foregoing allows us to classify the striped field mouse as a dangerous invasive alien species in the expanding part of the range. A lot of data accumulated for this species are of interest from both ecological and applied points of view. The accumulation and aggregation of data on the occurrence records of A. agrarius is relevant for the study of ecology, biogeography and construction of the spatial distribution and ecological niche models in the context of global climate change. We have created a dataset of 1603 occurrence records of this species, collected from 1936 to December 2020 by various zoologists, previously published or original. These records relate to a significant part of the striped field mouse's range in Russia (1264 records) and neighbouring countries (339 records). The dataset shows the position of the northern and central parts of A. agrarius range, the disjunction of the range in Transbaikalia and isolated populations in the north of the range. The data were obtained in different formats from literature, indicating different degrees of accuracy of geographic coordinates and with several variations of the species' name. In the process of aggregating and fixing errors, we created a set of georeferenced occurrence records, adopted a controlled vocabulary, removed duplicates and standardised the format of records using unified data structure. We examined the dataset for inconsistencies with the taxonomic position of A. agrarius and removed the incorrect records. This paper presents the resulting dataset of A. agrarius occurrence records in the territory of Russia and neighbouring countries in a standardised format. New information This is a validated and comprehensive dataset of occurrence records of A. agrarius, including both our own observations and records from literature. This dataset is available for extension by other researchers using a standard format in accordance with Darwin Core standards. In different countries, there are a lot of occurrence records for the striped field mouse, but the overwhelming part of them is presented in separate literary sources, stored in the form of maps and in zoological collections. Prior to this project, such information was not available to a wide range of researchers and did not allow the use of these spatial data for further processing by modern methods of analysis, based on geographic information systems (GIS technologies). The created dataset combines species occurrence records of many Soviet zoologists who studied the distribution of the striped field mouse over a significant part of its recent range, in Russia and neighbouring countries (within the former USSR). The final set of records was created by combining the species occurrence records using a uniform data structure, checking geographic coordinates and removing duplicate and erroneous records. The dataset expands the available information on the spatial and temporal distribution of the dangerous invasive species in Russia and neighbouring countries of the former USSR (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]