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Industrial enterprises around the world are grappling with greenhouse gas emission reduction expectations, whether being driven by respective government policy for climate change or by shareholders to drive corporate sustainability through maintaining access to their 'net zero'-demanding markets. In some instances, the enterprises co-located within complex industrial areas are coming together to face the common carbon reduction challenge as a collective. The Kwinana Industrial Area in Perth, Western Australia is well regarded on the world's stage as a successful integrated heavy industrial precinct, presenting as an extensive, complex, and broad-based example of Industrial Symbiosis. In earlier papers, the authors have posited a novel four-dimensional framework to expand the definition of Industrial Symbiosis to be used to understand why one industrial precinct may be more successful for its resident industries to operate within than another, and for application in the design of new industrial areas. The four dimensions are described as Materials Exchange, Skilled Workforce, Support Industry, and Governance. Through the lens of climate change literature and policy frameworks, we investigate the governance dimension and industry's response to the contemporary climate challenge. The outputs of the paper include a literature review of the governance dimension, and a description of the cascading nature of climate change policy from global through to the enterprise level. We illustrate how climate change governance is enhanced in practice by detailing how the enterprises in Kwinana collectively responded to the global requirement for carbon reduction, achieved through the facilitative governance-based intervention of their industry association, the Kwinana Industries Council. Exploring this in-practice example helped to consolidate the hypothesis that successful industrial symbiosis is about positive relationships across several dimensions building towards improved Circular Economy outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Cahiers Agriculture is the property of EDP Sciences 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.)

This paper presents a two-way optimization of the Perturb & Observe (P&O) maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique using current correction and fuzzy logic techniques. In fact, photovoltaic (PV) energy has become more and more coveted today. In the future, it will become a necessity. To ensure its optimization, maximum operating point tracking method is considered as a technological key in PV systems. One of the most used MPPT methods is the P&O technique. In this paper, we will focus on optimizing this method based on two techniques. A first attempt has been made to estimate a current correction of the P&O algorithm in case of illumination variation. Then, fuzzy logic optimization attempt had been highlighted to improve power loss. It is shown that both proposed techniques are very effective and allow considerable improvement of accuracy and are less affected by sudden variation of climatic parameters. The proposed approaches are tested via Matlab software and compared the classical P&O algorithm. Through applications, we could conclude that the two optimized proposed methods offer a remarkable improvement concerning power losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Oilseeds & Fats, Crops & Lipids (OCL) is the property of EDP Sciences 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.)

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences 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.)

The property and construction industry are known to be a main contributor to climate change contributing more than 40% of the world's emissions. In direct response to this, there has been a call for corporations to be more transparent and align themselves to the requirements of the task force for climate financial disclosures (TCFD). This paper seeks to provide a briefing on the requirements of the TCFD. It highlights common challenges faced by the property and construction industry in implementing TCFD such as the difficulty in integrating climate related risks and translating them into quantitative measures, lack of capability within the industry to understand the complexities of climate risks and data collection issues among others. Recommendations are proposed to address these issues including setting up an industry specific network to share best practices in TCFD, harmonisation of existing frameworks to include TCFD requirements and exploring opportunities for incentivisation and rewards for early movers. This paper will be useful to property and construction industry practitioners who are looking at aligning to the requirements of the TCFD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, changes in Class III peroxidase (POX) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity in Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. Ex Steud. Utricularia vulgaris L. and Salvinia natans (L.) from the Bardača wetland during one vegetation season (June-October) were monitored. The highest activities of soluble and ionic cell wall bound peroxidases (solPOX and ionPOX, respectively) were measured for Phragmites communis (leaf > root > rhizome), followed by Utricularia vulgaris (whole plant), then Salvinia natans (whole plant). The results showed that during the vegetation period (August-September) the activity of solPOX, ionPOX and PPO in Phragmites communis increased, but the activity decreased drastically in October. For Salvinia natans and Utricularia vulgaris, a different seasonal distribution was obtained in the PPO activity, i.e. with a maximum activity during July and a minimum one during September. Different seasonal trends in enzyme activities are probably the result of abiotic stress caused by changing physic-chemical environmental conditions and different adaptive capacities of the studied species to habitat conditions. Correlations between physicochemical environmental parameters and enzyme activities indicate the possibility of using POX and PPO activities as an important bioindicatos of environmental status. The paper examined changes in the activity of Class III Peroxidase (POX) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) in Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. Ex Steud. Utricularia vulgaris L. and Salvinia natans (L.) from two sites on Bardača wetland during one vegetation season (June-September). The results showed differences in POX and PPO activities between emergent, submersed and floating plants, depending on both the sampling period and the site. The obtained differences in enzyme activities are probably a reflection of the influence of different types of abiotic stress on plants in their natural habitat, but also specific adaptive characteristics of each of the investigated species. The obtained results indicate that the activities of POX and PPO in examined water macrophytes can be used as bioindicators of environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seasonal variations of phytoplankton abundance, species composition, and their interaction with environmental parameters were investigated in the Azad Dam Lake, in the West of Iran during 2015–2016. Sampling was conducted seasonally at five stations in the lake. Multivariate statistical analyses were carried out to define the abiotic variables influencing phytoplankton community composition. A total of 51 taxa of phytoplankton belonging to six phyla were identified. Bacillariophyta (diatoms) were most diverse with 22 taxa, comprised more than 90% of the total density. Despite the low Shannon–Wiener index (H ′) diversity (0.10–1.54), pointing out the dominant density of Bacillariophyta resulted in high water quality. Statistical analysis showed seasonal phytoplankton assemblages differences indicating a biogeographical gradient. Distance-based Linear Model (DisTLM) analysis displayed six environmental variables showing significant relationships with the phytoplankton abundance in the resemblance matrix (p < 0.05). Based on Akaike's information criterion (AIC), the combination of total phosphorus (TP), water temperature (WT), Secchi disc depth (SD), total nitrogen (TN), nitrite (NO2−), and dissolved oxygen (DO) by the DisTLM model elucidated 63.1% of the total variability. Since the dam is newly constructed and has not yet been exploited, and the factors caused by human activities that threaten the lake have not yet spread much, findings of the present study suggest Azad Dam Lake appears to have been not highly affected by anthropogenic activities up to now. This paper investigates the variation of the phytoplankton community and its interaction with environmental parameters in the Azad Dam Lake in Iran. We show that the diversity index was low, pointing out a high level of Bacillariophyta dominance. Moreover, environmental variables show significant relationships with phytoplankton abundance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aquatic environments in urban centers suffer constantly from changes in limnological variables, mainly due to increased pollution in these systems. Aquatic Oligochaeta are bioindicators of environmental change. The Iguaçu River is the second most polluted river in Brazil and in the Middle Iguaçu region is used for the public water supply. Efforts to understand the dynamics and conservation of this river are necessary, since this region has a gap in studies with aquatic invertebrates. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate temporally the Oligochaeta species composition and the beta diversity of an anthropized stretch of a subtropical urban river, predicting that changes in abiotic variables cause changes in species composition and decrease the beta diversity over the years. We measured abiotic variables (water temperature, dissolved oxygen, electrical conductivity, pH, organic matter, aluminum and lead) and collected sediment samples using a grab in a stretch of the Iguaçu River over three years. We recorded 35 species of Oligochaeta and observed that changes in abiotic variables caused changes in species composition and beta diversity over the years, corroborating our prediction. The abiotic variables electrical conductivity, organic matter and aluminum were negatively related to species composition. In conclusion, the stretch studied in the middle Iguaçu showed an evident inter-annual variation in the Oligochaetaspecies composition, with a tendency to decrease the beta diversity, probably caused by changes in the abiotic variables. This paper evaluates changes in the β-temporal diversity and species composition of aquatic Oligochaeta in an impacted urban river stretch. We show that changes in abiotic conditions might cause differences in species composition between years, leading to a reduction in β-temporal diversity. Thus, our results support the idea that Oligochaeta are indicators of environmental variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences 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.)

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences 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.)

Copyright of Matériaux et Techniques is the property of EDP Sciences 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.)

Copyright of Journal of Viticulture & Enology / Ciência e Técnica Vitivinícola is the property of EDP Sciences 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.)

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences 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.)

Copyright of Cahiers Agriculture is the property of EDP Sciences 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.)

The paper gives a comprehensive review of how human activities influence normal hydrological forms by clarifying the diverse impacts on the accessibility, quality, and conveyance of water. The paper revealed the complex exchange between data and natural morals that are reconfiguring the worldwide water scene through conflicting facts of major causes like urbanization, deforestation, industrialization, and climate change. The natural areas are all disturbed by human activities and pollution and by these changes the impact is on run-off patterns, infiltration rates, and groundwater recharge processes. In metropolitan cities, there are more impermeable spaces which leads to more runoffs. In these areas, the water filtration rate and groundwater recharge are very low. Dams and other hydropower and water system processes that disturb the natural stream of waterways in addition to their aquatic habitat division have too changed stream morphology. Urban stormwater, industrial and farming runoff, are among numerous other sources contaminate freshwater systems with pathogens heavy metals, chemicals supplements, etc hence risking both human life and natural maintainability. Changes in precipitation and temperature impact the timing of snow melt, patterns of river flow, and restoration of groundwater; changes in disaster patterns together with sea level rise worsen coastal flooding and fresh-water salinization. These adjustments to common hydrologic processes have significant suggestions for biological systems, communities, and economies consisting of water accessibility for farming, industry, and domestic purposes, energy generation, and human well being. Among procedures aimed at reacting to these challenges is the Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) which contends for comprehensive approaches that accommodate competing requests over water resources while guaranteeing their supportability as well as adaptability to hydrological unpredictability of availability. Feasible water administration requires an extend of activities such as water preservation and proficiency measures, contamination control, watershed management, and climate alteration adjustment. As it may, social orders can explore these exceedingly complicated interconnected issues on their water assets by adopting administrative systems, innovative advancements, and shifts in social conduct that will be pointed at economical water utilization for the eras to come.

Climate change as a challenge imposes an obligation on nations to indicate that climate change mitigation is at the core of their domestic policymaking. As a responsible stakeholder in climate change mitigation, India responded by announcing constitutional protection for the environment under the constitution. Since then, India has enacted several legislations to protect and conserve the environment. In 1994, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was one such attempt to forecast and mitigate possible harm to the environment. Recently, the Government of India has amended the EIA process by introducing changes to the law through the EIA Notification 2020. The paper identifies the problems associated with recent changes and produces empirical evidence to substantiate the study. It further attempts to appraise the Sustainable Development Goals and the importance given to environmental impact assessment by international organizations including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. The paper further studies several best practices in the European Union and concludes by suggesting law reforms in Indian law.

Africa is facing an urgent need to increase food production to meet increasing demands. Targeted investments in integrated agriculture and, water management systems are required to meet this challenge. However, there is a lack of comprehensive information on the potential applications of climate-smart agriculture (CSA). This paper reviews current crop modeling technologies and their applications within the scope of climate change and the CSA framework in Africa. It evaluates current research trends in various crop simulation models and suggest advanced approaches to improve crop and environmental assessment, crop management, and decision-making. A total of 140 relevant papers were considered. Results showed that 84% of studies used process-based models, with Maize being the most studied crop. Additionally, DSSAT crop models and analysis of variance models have the highest contribution of physical and empirical crop modeling studies respectively. Over 72% of studies have contributed to adaptation strategies and reducing yield gaps, while only 8% of studies have been conducted on climate change mitigation and their trade-offs with adaptation using crop models under CSA. To ensure food security through sustainable agricultural practices in Africa, there is crucial to implement CSA models with a focus on the climate change mitigation component.

Utilized the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) across different watershed scales, from small to large, under a variety of climate conditions, aiming to quantify and mitigate the impacts of climate change on watershed hydrology and water resources. Additionally, the paper explores the development of conservation strategies for water and soil, aimed at managing both water and sediment yields effectively. By examining research at international, national, and regional levels, with a particular focus on climate change projections for Morocco, this review critically assesses the SWAT model’s operational framework, including its inputs and outputs. The operational intricacies of the SWAT model are dissected to understand its utility in hydrological modeling, emphasizing its role in climate change assessment. Through this examination, the paper highlights the expanding application of SWAT in water resource assessments globally, demonstrating its significance in understanding and addressing the challenges posed by climate change on hydrological systems worldwide.

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences 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.)

Copyright of Cahiers Agriculture is the property of EDP Sciences 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.)

Heat-related problems have become a global issue resulted from climate change. Prolonged exposure to extreme high temperatures increased the percentage of mortality and morbidity in cities worldwide. Urbanization and population contribute to urban heat islands effect (UHIE). The purpose of this paper is to prioritize urban areas at high risk for heat related incidents in mega cities and to propose the implementation of urban green coverage (UGC) strategies which contribute to mitigating UHIE. The methodology includes a review on the UHI problems, along with the cooling benefits the UGC can produce. Then, the study's application is mainly focused on Cairo Governorate, Egypt as an example of a developing country. Cairo Governorate, Egypt lacks well maintained vegetation in almost all districts as results indicated that it has a mean normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) ranging from 0.08 to 0.25. The study adopts the Australian model developed by Norton et al. [Landsc. Urban Plan. 134, 127 (2015)], which includes the intersection of three factors (heat exposure, vulnerability, and behavioural exposure) to identify a high priority area. It was difficult to assess the behaviour of population in outdoor public spaces in a city like Cairo; hence, the study follows "Crichton's Risk Triangle" conducted by Morabito et al. [PLoS One 10, e0127277 (2015)], to identify high risk areas based on the intersection of three layers: (a) high day-time/night-time surface temperatures − hazard; (b) total exposed population in a city − exposure; and (c) sub-populations at risk of being harmed during extreme heat − vulnerability. In the simulation, the risk assessment method simplifies the process of constructing the GIS database as it is composed of layering system. The development of a Heat-related Vulnerability Index (HVI) map for Cairo districts was conducted by over layering the natural hazard layer (land surface temperature) with spatial demographic data using GIS Software. Results of risk maps of Cairo were presented and showed normalized HVI values ranging between 0.0 and 1.0, which can be categorized into five risk levels (very low to very high). Results also indicated that 13 out of the 46 districts in Cairo are at very high/high risk, while only 5 districts have a very low risk. Finally, a tool was established to map the population vulnerability to extreme heat events by identifying high priority risk areas that requires urgent intervention by applying more UGC to mitigate UHIE and climate action and adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the results of time-related changes in maximum temperatures in lakes. The analysis was carried out on the basis of 9 lakes located in the northern part of Poland. The analysis was based on daily water and air temperatures in the period 1971–2015. Mann–Kendall's and Sen's tests were applied to determine the directions and rates of change of maximum air and water temperatures. The average increase of maximum water temperature in analysed lakes was found to be 0.39 °C dec–1, while the warming trend of the maximum air temperature was 0.48 °C dec–1. Cluster analysis (CA) was used to group lakes characterised by similar changes of maximum water temperature. The first group included five lakes in which the values of the maximum temperature trends were 0.41 °C dec–1. In the second cluster the average value of maximum water temperature increase was smaller than in the first cluster (0.36 °C dec–1). Comparing the results of cluster analysis with morphometric data show that in the first cluster lakes are having a greater average depth, maximum depth and water transparency in comparison to the lakes of the second cluster. The study showed significant changes in the maximum annual water temperatures in post-glacial lakes located in Poland in the years 1971-2015. The highest rate of increase in monthly maximum water temperature was recorded in April and the lowest in January and February. The value of maximum water temperature trends was lower than annual air temperature trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Water temperature plays a primary role in controlling a wide range of physical, geochemical and ecological processes in lakes, with considerable influences on lake water quality and ecosystem functioning. In this paper, we report on the ability of the one-dimensional lake model to simulate the water temperature of Moroccan lakes, i.e., Sidi Boughaba and Sidi Ali lakes, over a 35 yrs period from 1979 to 2014, affected by climate change and based on a freshwater lake model (FLake). During the study periods, two variables are studied, the epilimnion and metalimnion temperatures. The result analysis shows that epilimnion temperatures increased, while metalimnion temperatures decreased. Additionally, we calculate significant air temperature, wind speed and water temperature variation and illustrate, using a sequential t test analysis of regime shifts (STARS) based on the Rodionov method, a substantial increase in annually averaged of all variables, in response to an abrupt shift in the climate. Schmidt stability showed a significant increase for Sidi Ali Lake and near 0 for Sidi Boughaba Lake. On the other hand, the sensitivity analysis (i.e., one-at-a-time (OAT) method) of the atmospheric variable is discussed. The results show good agreement with water temperature observations that suggests that the predictive model can be used to obtain a firstorder estimation of water temperature in Moroccan lakes. Hence, it is possible to apply this model in other Moroccan lakes to simulate the behavior of temperature and to investigate the potential future warming of the water column in lakes, affected by climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences 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.)

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences 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.)

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences 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.)

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences 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.)

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences 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.)

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences 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.)

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences 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.)

Biofuels are fuels produced from biomass, mostly in liquid form, within a time frame sufficiently short to consider that their feedstock (biomass) can be renewed, contrarily to fossil fuels. This paper reviews the current and future biofuel technologies, and their development impacts (including on the climate) within given policy and economic frameworks. Current technologies make it possible to provide first generation biodiesel, ethanol or biogas to the transport sector to be blended with fossil fuels. Still under-development 2nd generation biofuels from lignocellulose should be available on the market by 2020. Research is active on the improvement of their conversion efficiency. A ten-fold increase compared with current cost-effective capacities would make them highly competitive. Within bioenergy policies, emphasis has been put on biofuels for transportation as this sector is fast-growing and represents a major source of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Compared with fossil fuels, biofuel combustion can emit less greenhouse gases throughout their life cycle, considering that part of the emitted CO2 returns to the atmosphere where it was fixed from by photosynthesis in the first place. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is commonly used to assess the potential environmental impacts of biofuel chains, notably the impact on global warming. This tool, whose holistic nature is fundamental to avoid pollution trade-offs, is a standardised methodology that should make comparisons between biofuel and fossil fuel chains objective and thorough. However, it is a complex and time-consuming process, which requires lots of data, and whose methodology is still lacking harmonisation. Hence the life-cycle performances of biofuel chains vary widely in the literature. Furthermore, LCA is a site- and time-independent tool that cannot take into account the spatial and temporal dimensions of emissions, and can hardly serve as a decision-making tool either at local or regional levels. Focusing on greenhouse gases, emission factors used in LCAs give a rough estimate of the potential average emissions on a national level. However, they do not take into account the types of crop, soil or management practices, for instance. Modelling the impact of local factors on the determinism of greenhouse gas emissions can provide better estimates for LCA on the local level, which would be the relevant scale and degree of reliability for decision-making purposes. Nevertheless, a deeper understanding of the processes involved, most notably NO emissions, is still needed to definitely improve the accuracy of LCA. Perennial crops are a promising option for biofuels, due to their rapid and efficient use of nitrogen, and their limited farming operations. However, the main overall limiting factor to biofuel development will ultimately be land availability. Given the available land areas, population growth rate and consumption behaviours, it would be possible to reach by 2030 a global 10% biofuel share in the transport sector, contributing to lower global greenhouse gas emissions by up to 1 GtCO eq · year (IEA, 2006), provided that harmonised policies ensure that sustainability criteria for the production systems are respected worldwide. Furthermore, policies should also be more integrative across sectors, so that changes in energy efficiency, the automotive sector and global consumption patterns converge towards drastic reduction of the pressure on resources. Indeed, neither biofuels nor other energy source or carriers are likely to mitigate the impacts of anthropogenic pressure on resources in a range that would compensate for this pressure growth. Hence, the first step is to reduce this pressure by starting from the variable that drives it up, i.e. anthropic consumptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptation to climate change: so ambiguous. The paper consiçlers the meaning of the increasing importance given to adaptation to climate change. First it examines the theoretical challenge of the concept from the systems theory standpoint. Paradoxically this leads to focussing attention on the values and structural features specific of the system considered rather than on the features of its environment. This outcome justifies the introduction of a key distinction between those features and components touching the identity of the system and those that are purely instrumental. The status of adaptation is then scrutinized both in the discourse of economic experts and in international negotiations that aim to set up a new climate agreement. Beyond the need to take account of the inescapable part of climate change over the next thirty years, the paper shows how in the past the notion of adaptation has been mobilized to downsize the pressing need to take immediate vigorous mitigation policies. At present, its seems that the rise of adaptation is the sign and vector of an implicit abandonment of the goal of containing climate change within the 2°C increase range from pre-industrial levels. This meaning finds an appropriate vehicle in the economic mode of representation that considers mitigation and adaptation as two alternative means towards the same end, i.e. maximization of an intertemporal social utility function. Several objections are raised against the current assumptions made in that context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Annals of Forest Science (EDP Sciences) is the property of EDP Sciences 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.)

Research background: Globalization is a powerful engine of structural changes in national, regional and global economies. Except for positive economic effects, globalization also has negative effects. One of them is the deterioration of the global environmental situation and the ongoing global climate change. Purpose of the article: The paper focuses on the current global financing trends to mitigate the effects of climate change. Generally financial funds come from international, national and regional actors. Governments have a range of funding mechanisms and resources at their disposal. Within the EU, these are the Structural Funds, investment funds and the financing from European Investment Bank. At the national level, it is financial assistance from state budgets and local government budgets. Methods: The paper provides literature review of the possibilities of financing climate change at the national and international level and, using analysis and synthesis, points to future trends and sources of financing climate change. We also analyse the proposal of Common agricultural policy 2021-2027 and effects on Slovak agriculture. European Commission wants member states to use up to 40% of the budget for environmental goods and climate change. Slovakia might have problems to spend the allocation due to the fact, that most of the money will be voluntary schemes. Farmers will have the option to participate. Findings & Value added: Agriculture is seriously exposed to the adverse effects of climate change as agricultural activities are directly depending on climate conditions. The article analyses in detail the possibilities and sources of financing adaptation measures in the Slovak agricultural sector.

This paper presents the spatial indicators used in the European project FISBOAT. These are statistics intended to capture spatial patterns of fish populations, using fish density data collected during scientific surveys. To handle diffuse population limits, indicators are designed not to depend on arbitrary delineation of the domain. They characterize the location (centre of gravity and spatial patches), occupation of space (inertia, isotropy, positive area, spreading area and equivalent area) and microstructure. Collocation between different populations is summarized by a global index of collocation. These spatial indicators have the potential to be used in a monitoring system to detect changes in spatial distribution. They could be helpful for relating the spatial distribution properties of fish stocks to their dynamics, their habitats, or to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the framework of technology, design and material production are profoundly influenced by the class relations of production. Artifacts and objects are no longer seen as separate from society, but as part of the social matter that regulates and holds the society together. The development and use of materials are also closely connected to the social systems in which they operate. To date we have few empirical observations in this regard, especially on the investigation of the female presence in the discourse of material design. The connection between material research and gender has recently become an issue of social and technological relevance, as there is a lack of data on women activity. In addition, the communicative aspect of the material design approach will be analysed through forms of social constructivism, which foresees people working together constructing artifacts, and their potential to enhance the perception of matter in its forthcoming dimension. This contribution aims to investigate the approaches of women designers to the innovation of materials. It will start from an historical perspective via figures such as the Italian architect Anna Castelli Ferrieri up to the new generations of women designers and researchers who consider specific factors for each study and observation, applying what is called the "clinical approach". We will encompass selected examples of good practices of social sustainability through the inclusion of women in the field of material research and production. In addition, we consider the profound impact of contemporary good design practices, questioning what impact they have on social life and the environment, due to the relationships with our artifacts and habitat under the climate crisis. Overall, we propose that gender issues are finally embedded in the design discourse and some results are emerging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality of water serves as a fundamental gauge of environmental health influenced by the interplay between land use practices and climate change. Globally, water quality is deteriorating largely due to the inevitable growth of population. This relationship is complex, land use practices significantly shape climate dynamics, while climate change modifies land use patterns in response to climatic variability. In developing countries like India, currently the most populous nation, around 60% of the population relies on agricultural productivity which is closely tied to water quality. Due to temperature variations brought on by climate change, hydrological patterns and precipitation dynamics are altered resulting in extreme weather events like floods and droughts that have a negative impact on water quality. Moreover, the concentration of pollutants in aquatic bodies is influenced by land use patterns. To analyze these complex interactions, climatic projections, hydrological models, watershed models, and various techniques such as GIS and remote sensing are utilized. This paper aims to review how land use practices intersect with the effects of climate change specifically in relation to water quality in India providing insights on the negative impacts of this interaction in an era of environmental awareness.