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In the pursuit of global net zero carbon emissions and climate change mitigation, ongoing research into sustainable energy sources and emission control is paramount. This review examines methane leakage from abandoned oil and gas (AOG) wells, focusing particularly on Lubbock, a geographic area situated within the larger region known as the Permian Basin in West Texas, United States. The objective is to assess the extent and environmental implications of methane leakage from these wells. The analysis integrates pertinent literature, governmental and industry data, and prior Lubbock reports. Factors affecting methane leakage, including well integrity, geological characteristics, and human activities, are explored. Our research estimates 1781 drilled wells in Lubbock, forming a foundation for targeted assessments and monitoring due to historical drilling trends. The hierarchy of well statuses in Lubbock highlights the prevalence of "active oil wells," trailed by "plugged and abandoned oil wells" and "inactive oil wells." Methane leakage potential aligns with these well types, underscoring the importance of strategic monitoring and mitigation. The analysis notes a zenith in "drilled and completed" wells during 1980e1990. While our study's case analysis and literature review reiterate the critical significance of assessing and mitigating methane emissions from AOG wells, it's important to clarify that the research does not directly provide methane leakage data. Instead, it contextualizes the issue's magnitude and emphasizes the well type and status analysis's role in targeted mitigation efforts. In summary, our research deepens our understanding of methane leakage, aiding informed decision-making and policy formulation for environmental preservation. By clarifying well type implications and historical drilling patterns, we aim to contribute to effective strategies in mitigating methane emissions from AOG wells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secondary tropical forests play an increasingly important role in carbon budgets and biodiversity conservation. Understanding successional trajectories is therefore imperative for guiding forest restoration and climate change mitigation efforts. Forest succession is driven by the demographic strategies—combinations of growth, mortality and recruitment rates—of the tree species in the community. However, our understanding of demographic diversity in tropical tree species stems almost exclusively from old‐growth forests. Here, we assembled demographic information from repeated forest inventories along chronosequences in two wet (Costa Rica, Panama) and two dry (Mexico) Neotropical forests to assess whether the ranges of demographic strategies present in a community shift across succession. We calculated demographic rates for >500 tree species while controlling for canopy status to compare demographic diversity (i.e., the ranges of demographic strategies) in early successional (0–30 years), late successional (30–120 years) and old‐growth forests using two‐dimensional hypervolumes of pairs of demographic rates. Ranges of demographic strategies largely overlapped across successional stages, and early successional stages already covered the full spectrum of demographic strategies found in old‐growth forests. An exception was a group of species characterized by exceptionally high mortality rates that was confined to early successional stages in the two wet forests. The range of demographic strategies did not expand with succession. Our results suggest that studies of long‐term forest monitoring plots in old‐growth forests, from which most of our current understanding of demographic strategies of tropical tree species is derived, are surprisingly representative of demographic diversity in general, but do not replace the need for further studies in secondary forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU Nature Restoration Law (NRL) is critical for the restoration of degraded ecosystems and active afforestation of degraded peatlands has been suggested as a restoration measure under the NRL. Here, we discuss the current state of scientific evidence on the climate mitigation effects of peatlands under forestry. Afforestation of drained peatlands without restoring their hydrology does not fully restore ecosystem functions. Evidence on long-term climate benefits is lacking and it is unclear whether CO2 sequestration of forest on drained peatland can offset the carbon loss from the peat over the long-term. While afforestation may offer short-term gains in certain cases, it compromises the sustainability of peatland carbon storage. Thus, active afforestation of drained peatlands is not a viable option for climate mitigation under the EU Nature Restoration Law and might even impede future rewetting/restoration efforts. Instead, restoring hydrological conditions through rewetting is crucial for effective peatland restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns have major consequences for smallholder farmers, especially in the Global South. Our study examined spatial patterns and climatic drivers of farmers' perceptions of climate change, and how these perceptions translated into adaptation actions. We interviewed 56 farmers in southwestern Ethiopia and analyzed ERA5-Land reanalysis climate data from 1971 to 2020. The majority of farmers perceived the recorded temperature increase as well as a decrease and shift in the timing of rainfall. Perceived climate change varied with local climate factors and not with the rate of climate change itself. Farmers' adaptation practices showed associations with local temperature, but not with farmers' perceptions of climate change. Our findings highlight that even if farmers perceive climate change, perceptions are most common in areas where climate action is already urgent, and perceptions may not translate into adaptation. Thus, targeted and timely information and extension programs are crucial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Societal Impact Statement: Efficient mitigation of climate change requires predictive models of forest ecosystems as sinks for atmospheric carbon. Mycorrhizal fungi are drivers of soil carbon storage in boreal forests, yet they are typically excluded from ecosystem models, because of a lack of information about their growth and turnover. Closing this knowledge gap could help us better predict future responses to climate change and guide policy decisions for sustainable management of forest ecosystems. This study provides new estimates of the production and turnover of mycorrhizal mycelial biomass and necromass. This information can facilitate the integration of mycorrhizal fungi into new predictive models of boreal forest soils. Summary: In boreal forests, turnover of biomass and necromass of ectomycorrhizal extraradical mycelia (ERM) are important for mediating long‐term carbon storage. However, ectomycorrhizal fungi are usually not considered in ecosystem models, because data for parameterization of ERM dynamics is lacking.Here, we estimated the production and turnover of ERM biomass and necromass across a hemiboreal Pinus sylvestris chronosequence aged 12 to 100 years. Biomass and necromass were quantified in sequentially harvested in‐growth bags, and incubated in the soil for 1–24 month, and Bayesian calibration of mathematical models was applied to arrive at parametric estimates of ERM production and turnover rates of biomass and necromass.Steady states were predicted to be nearly reached after 160 and 390 growing season days, respectively, for biomass and necromass. The related turnover rates varied with 95% credible intervals of 1.7–6.5 and 0.3–2.5 times yr−1, with mode values of 2.9 and 0.9 times yr−1, corresponding to mean residence times of 62 and 205 growing season days.Our results highlight that turnover of necromass is one‐third of biomass. This together with the variability in the estimates can be used to parameterize ecosystem models, to explicitly include ERM dynamics and its impact on mycorrhizal‐derived soil carbon accumulation in boreal forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial and temporal patterns of future coral bleaching are uncertain, hampering global conservation efforts to protect coral reefs against climate change. Our analysis of daily projections of ocean warming establishes the severity, annual duration, and onset of severe bleaching risk for global coral reefs this century, pinpointing vital climatic refugia. We show that low-latitude coral regions are most vulnerable to thermal stress and will experience little reprieve from climate mitigation. By 2080, coral bleaching is likely to start on most reefs in spring, rather than late summer, with year-round bleaching risk anticipated to be high for some low-latitude reefs regardless of global efforts to mitigate harmful greenhouse gasses. By identifying Earth's reef regions that are at lowest risk of accelerated bleaching, our results will prioritize efforts to limit future loss of coral reef biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate modeling of snow depth (SD) processes is critical for understanding global energy balance changes, affecting climate change mitigation strategies. This study evaluates the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) model performance in simulating daily SD across Canada. We assess CMIP6 outputs against observed data, focusing on daily SD averages, snow cover durations, and rates of accumulation and depletion, alongside annual SD peaks for 11 major Canadian catchments. Our findings reveal that CMIP6 simulations generally overestimate daily SD by 57.7% and extend snow cover duration by 30.5 days on average. While three models (CESM2, UKESM1‐0‐LL and MIROC6) notably align with observed annual SD peaks, simulation biases suggest the need for enhanced model parameterization to accurately capture snow physics, particularly in regions with permanent snow cover and complex terrains. This analysis underscores the necessity of refining CMIP6 simulations and incorporating detailed geographical data for better SD predictions. Plain Language Summary: Precise simulations of snow depth (SD) are crucial for understanding changes in the Earth's energy balance and helping efforts to combat climate change. In this research, we evaluate how well the latest phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) can simulate the daily SD across Canada. By comparing these simulations to various SD data sets, we looked at average daily SD, how long snow remains on the ground, and how quickly it accumulates or melts away, focusing on 11 major catchments in Canada. Our study found that the CMIP6 models tend to simulate more SD, by about 57.7% on average, and suggest that snow cover remains around 30.5 days longer than observed durations. Although three specific models excel in matching the annual peak of daily SD, we noticed biases that point to a need for improving how these models represent various land covers. Our findings highlight the importance of making these models more accurate by using more detailed information about land cover properties, which helps better predict SD and understand its role in climate change. Key Points: Coupled model intercomparison project phase 6 (CMIP6) simulations mostly overestimate the average daily SD values by a median of 57.7% (6.9 cm)The average snow cover duration is overestimated by 30.5 days compared to station data, confirmed by the CMC data setCMIP6 simulations relatively capture extremes well, with a median bias of 12.73% [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maladaptation is steadily increasing its presence in agenda and debates about climate change and its impacts. The term denotes actions undertaken, at the individual or collective level, to defend against the adverse effects of climate change or environmental degradation, but that ultimately exacerbate the underlying risk factors. In this paper, we investigate the effects of maladaptation in terms of well-being and inequality in a two-population (North–South) evolutionary model. While agents in the South often face higher vulnerability to environmental degradation and limited defense mechanisms compared to their Northern counterparts, the latter stand to endure greater economic losses, in absolute terms. Our model demonstrates that the diffusion of maladaptive choices could result in a Pareto-dominated steady state, influencing inequality levels positively or negatively based on the scale of maladaptation impacts relative to the existing environmental degradation. These findings stress the imperative of integrating environmental risk studies with maladaptive effects and dynamics. Additionally, they advocate for international discourse not only on climate change mitigation but also on adaptive measures among countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biochar (BC) application to croplands aims to sequester carbon and improve soil quality, but its impact on soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics is not represented in most land models used for assessing land-based climate change mitigation; therefore, we are unable to quantify the effects of biochar application under different climate or land management conditions. Here, to fill this gap, we implement a submodel to represent biochar in a microbial decomposition model named MIMICS (MIcrobial-MIneral Carbon Stabilization). We first calibrate and validate MIMICS with new representations of the density-dependent microbial turnover rate, adsorption of available organic carbon on mineral soil particles, and soil moisture effects on decomposition using global field-measured cropland SOC at 285 sites. We further integrate biochar in MIMICS by accounting for its effect on microbial decomposition and SOC sorption/desorption and optimize two biochar-related parameters in these processes using 134 paired SOC measurements with and without biochar addition. The MIMICS-biochar version can generally reproduce the short-term (≤ 6 years) and long-term (8 years) SOC changes after adding (mean addition rate of 25.6 t ha -1) biochar (R2= 0.79 and 0.97, respectively) with a low root-mean-square error (RMSE = 3.73 and 6.08 g kg -1 , respectively). Our study incorporates sorption and soil moisture processes into MIMICS and extends its capacity to simulate biochar decomposition, providing a useful tool to couple with dynamic land models to evaluate the effectiveness of biochar application with respect to removing CO 2 from the atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change mitigation technologies have been a focus in reducing atmospheric carbon levels for the past few years. One such mitigation technology is pyrolysis, where biomass feedstocks are combusted at elevated temperatures for varying durations to produce three main products: biochar, bio-oil, and biogas. While bio-oil and biogas are typically used to produce energy via further combustion, biochar can be used in several different applications. Furthermore, using forest harvest residues as a feedstock for biochar production helps use excess biomass from the forestry industry that was previously assumed unmarketable. In our study, we combined forest carbon analysis modelling with cradle-to-gate life cycle emissions to determine the greenhouse gas emissions of biochar produced from forest harvest residues. We examined three collection scenarios, spanning two harvesting methods in one forest management unit in northern Ontario, Canada. From our analysis, we observed immediate reductions (− 0.85 tCO2eq·tbiochar−1 in year 1) in CO2-equivalent emissions (CO2eq) when producing biochar from forest harvest residues that would have undergone controlled burning, without considering the end use of the biochar. For the forest harvest residues that would remain in-forest to decay over time, producing biochar would increase overall emissions by about 6 tCO2eq·tbiochar−1. Throughout the 100-year timeframe examined–in ascending order of cumulative emissions–scenario ranking was: full tree harvesting with slash pile burn < full tree harvesting with slash pile decay < cut-to-length/tree-length harvesting. Highlights: Cradle-to-gate life cycle analysis for biochar production was evaluated. Forest harvest collection methods influence overall life cycle emissions for biochar. Harvest residues that typically undergo controlled burning are an ideal feedstock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding and quantifying the global methane (CH4) budget is important for assessing realistic pathways to mitigate climate change. Emissions and atmospheric concentrations of CH4 continue to increase, maintaining CH4 as the second most important human-influenced greenhouse gas in terms of climate forcing after carbon dioxide (CO2). The relative importance of CH4 compared to CO2 for temperature change is related to its shorter atmospheric lifetime, stronger radiative effect, and acceleration in atmospheric growth rate over the past decade, the causes of which are still debated. Two major challenges in reducing uncertainties in the factors explaining the well-observed atmospheric growth rate arise from diverse, geographically overlapping CH4 sources and from the uncertain magnitude and temporal change in the destruction of CH4 by short-lived and highly variable hydroxyl radicals (OH). To address these challenges, we have established a consortium of multi-disciplinary scientists under the umbrella of the Global Carbon Project to improve, synthesise and update the global CH4 budget regularly and to stimulate new research on the methane cycle. Following Saunois et al. (2016, 2020), we present here the third version of the living review paper dedicated to the decadal CH4 budget, integrating results of top-down CH4 emission estimates (based on in-situ and greenhouse gas observing satellite (GOSAT) atmospheric observations and an ensemble of atmospheric inverse-model results) and bottom-up estimates (based on process-based models for estimating land-surface emissions and atmospheric chemistry, inventories of anthropogenic emissions, and data-driven extrapolations). We present a budget for the most recent 2010–2019 calendar decade (the latest period for which full datasets are available), for the previous decade of 2000–2009 and for the year 2020. The revision of the bottom-up budget in this edition benefits from important progress in estimating inland freshwater emissions, with better accounting of emissions from lakes and ponds, reservoirs, and streams and rivers. This budget also reduces double accounting across freshwater and wetland emissions and, for the first time, includes an estimate of the potential double accounting that still exists (average of 23 Tg CH4 yr-1). Bottom-up approaches show that the combined wetland and inland freshwater emissions average 248 [159–369] Tg CH4 yr-1 for the 2010–2019 decade. Natural fluxes are perturbed by human activities through climate, eutrophication, and land use. In this budget, we also estimate, for the first time, this anthropogenic component contributing to wetland and inland freshwater emissions. Newly available gridded products also allowed us to derive an almost complete latitudinal and regional budget based on bottom-up approaches. For the 2010–2019 decade, global CH4 emissions are estimated by atmospheric inversions (top-down) to be 575 Tg CH4 yr-1 (range 553–586, corresponding to the minimum and maximum estimates of the model ensemble). Of this amount, 369 Tg CH4 yr-1 or ~65 % are attributed to direct anthropogenic sources in the fossil, agriculture and waste and anthropogenic biomass burning (range 350–391 Tg CH4 yr-1or 63–68 %). For the 2000–2009 period, the atmospheric inversions give a slightly lower total emission than for 2010–2019, by 32 Tg CH4 yr-1 (range 9–40). Since 2012, global direct anthropogenic CH4 emission trends have been tracking scenarios that assume no or minimal climate mitigation policies proposed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (shared socio-economic pathways SSP5 and SSP3). Bottom-up methods suggest 16 % (94 Tg CH4 yr-1) larger global emissions (669 Tg CH4 yr-1, range 512–849) than top-down inversion methods for the 2010–2019 period. The discrepancy between the bottom-up and the top-down budgets has been greatly reduced compared to the previous differences (167 and 156 Tg CH4 yr-1 in Saunois et al. (2016, 2020), respectively), and for the first time uncertainty in bottom-up and top-down budgets overlap. The latitudinal distribution from atmospheric inversion-based emissions indicates a predominance of tropical and southern hemisphere emissions (~65 % of the global budget, <30° N) compared to mid (30° N–60° N, ~30 % of emissions) and high-northern latitudes (60° N–90° N, ~4 % of global emissions). This latitudinal distribution is similar in the bottom-up budget though the bottom-up budget estimates slightly larger contributions for the mid and high-northern latitudes, and slightly smaller contributions from the tropics and southern hemisphere than the inversions. Although differences have been reduced between inversions and bottom-up, the most important source of uncertainty in the global CH4 budget is still attributable to natural emissions, especially those from wetlands and inland freshwaters. We identify five major priorities for improving the CH4 budget: i) producing a global, high-resolution map of water-saturated soils and inundated areas emitting CH4 based on a robust classification of different types of emitting ecosystems; ii) further development of process-based models for inland-water emissions; iii) intensification of CH4 observations at local (e.g., FLUXNET-CH4 measurements, urban-scale monitoring, satellite imagery with pointing capabilities) to regional scales (surface networks and global remote sensing measurements from satellites) to constrain both bottom-up models and atmospheric inversions; iv) improvements of transport models and the representation of photochemical sinks in top-down inversions, and v) integration of 3D variational inversion systems using isotopic and/or co-emitted species such as ethane as well as information in the bottom-up inventories on anthropogenic super-emitters detected by remote sensing (mainly oil and gas sector but also coal, agriculture and landfills) to improve source partitioning. The data presented here can be downloaded from https://doi.org/10.18160/GKQ9-2RHT (Martinez et al., 2024). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has evolved over the years, and climate change mitigation and sustainability were recently added as objectives to the policy. This sustainability policy includes subsidies for farmers. The success of EU policies relies on positive public perception. This study aimed to investigate Europeans' perception of EU sustainability subsidies. This analysis was complemented by evaluating citizens' attitudes towards agriculture and climate change and socio-economic variables. Overall, EU citizens support CAP and sustainability practices. Our findings reveal that EU citizens strongly in favour of this support tend to be older, more educated, politically left-wing, from higher social classes, residing in smaller communities, and optimistic about the EU's future. Additionally, these citizens hold strong environmental concerns and support innovative practices to benefit sustainable agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To mitigate the impact of greenhouse gas (GHG) and air pollutant emissions, it is of utmost importance to understand where emissions occur. In the real world, atmospheric pollutants are produced by various human activities from point sources (e.g. power plants and industrial facilities) but also from diffuse sources (e.g. residential activities and agriculture). However, as tracking all these single sources of emissions is practically impossible, emission inventories are typically compiled using national-level statistics by sector, which are then downscaled at the grid-cell level using spatial information. In this work, we develop high-spatial-resolution proxies for use in downscaling the national emission totals for all world countries provided by the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR). In particular, in this paper, we present the latest EDGAR v8.0 GHG, which provides readily available emission data at different levels of spatial granularity, obtained from a consistently developed GHG emission database. This has been achieved through the improvement and development of high-resolution spatial proxies that allow for a more precise allocation of emissions over the globe. A key novelty of this work is the potential to analyse subnational GHG emissions over the European territory and also over the United States, China, India, and other high-emitting countries. These data not only meet the needs of atmospheric modellers but can also inform policymakers working in the field of climate change mitigation. For example, the EDGAR GHG emissions at the NUTS 2 level (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics level 2) over Europe contribute to the development of EU cohesion policies, identifying the progress of each region towards achieving the carbon neutrality target and providing insights into the highest-emitting sectors. The data can be accessed at 10.2905/b54d8149-2864-4fb9-96b9-5fd3a020c224 specifically for EDGAR v8.0 (Crippa et al., 2023a) and 10.2905/D67EEDA8-C03E-4421-95D0-0ADC460B9658 for the subnational dataset (Crippa et al., 2023b). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between natural cycles and human actions in causing climate change and its impacts on society have been a subject of debate. This paper explores the responses of pre-modern Koreans to climate change and natural disasters. The focus of this paper is on the societal reactions to these natural calamities and disasters during the Koryŏ dynasty (936–1392 A.D.) and their influence on Korea afterwards. This paper investigates the reasons behind the retention of primal religious worldviews in the face of ecological crises while other major imported religions were abandoned. The research method involved in this paper is archival research, and the literature sources include ancient records and other ecotheological resources. Through an analysis of the archival research and ecotheological resources, this study sheds light on the interpretation of climatic events in pre-modern Korea. Furthermore, based on the research findings, it presents missional implications for the Korean church in the post-pandemic era. This study underscores the importance of the church's responses to environmental awareness, collective responsibility, and spiritual support in addressing the challenges of climate change and provides missional implications for the Korean Church in response to the post-COVID-19 era based on the results of the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a summary of a special issue in the journal Biology that focuses on the conservation and evolution of wildlife in the context of climate change and human population growth. The issue includes five articles that cover a range of topics related to wildlife conservation. Three articles use species distribution models to predict suitable habitats for endangered species under future climate change. Another article explores variations in egg and clutch size in high-altitude birds, while the final article examines the cultural and medicinal significance of birds and mammals in a national park in Pakistan. The articles provide valuable insights into the effects of climate change and human activity on wildlife conservation and offer suggestions for conservation managers. It is worth noting that all the articles are based on studies conducted in Asian countries, which adds novelty to the research. [Extracted from the article]

Natural forests are crucial for climate change mitigation and adaptation, but deforestation and degradation challenges highly reduce their value. This study evaluates the potential of natural forest carbon stock and the influence of management interventions on enhancing forest carbon storage capacity. Based on forest area cover, a study was conducted in nine purposely selected forest patches across various forest ecosystems. Data on diameter, height, and environmental variables from various forest management approaches were collected and analyzed with R Ver. 4.1. The findings revealed a substantial difference (p.029) in carbon stock between environmental variables and management interventions. The findings revealed a strong connection between environmental variables and the overall pool of carbon stock within forest patches (p.029). Carbon stocks were highest in the Moist‐montane forest ecosystem (778.25 ton/ha), moderate slope (1019.5 ton/ha), lower elevation (614.50 ton/ha), southwest‐facing (800.1 ton/ha) and area exclosures (993.2 ton/ha). Accordingly, natural forests, particularly unmanaged parts, are sensitive to anthropogenic stresses, decreasing their ability to efficiently store carbon. As a result, the study highlighted the importance of sustainable forest management, particularly area exclosures and participatory forest management, in increasing forest carbon storage potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring ecosystems at regional or continental scales is paramount for biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation, and sustainable land management. Effective monitoring requires satellite imagery with both high spatial resolution and high temporal resolution. However, there is currently no single, freely available data source that fulfills these needs. A seamless fusion of data from the Sentinel-3 and Sentinel-2 optical sensors could meet these monitoring requirements as Sentinel-2 observes at the required spatial resolution (10 m) while Sentinel-3 observes at the required temporal resolution (daily). We introduce the Efficient Fusion Algorithm across Spatio-Temporal scales (EFAST), which interpolates Sentinel-2 data into smooth time series (both spatially and temporally). This interpolation is informed by Sentinel-3's temporal profile such that the phenological changes occurring between two Sentinel-2 acquisitions at a 10 m resolution are assumed to mirror those observed at Sentinel-3's resolution. The EFAST consists of a weighted sum of Sentinel-2 images (weighted by a distance-to-clouds score) coupled with a phenological correction derived from Sentinel-3. We validate the capacity of our method to reconstruct the phenological profile at a 10 m resolution over one rangeland area and one irrigated cropland area. The EFAST outperforms classical interpolation techniques over both rangeland (−72% in the mean absolute error, MAE) and agricultural areas (−43% MAE); it presents a performance comparable to the Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model (STARFM) (+5% MAE in both test areas) while being 140 times faster. The computational efficiency of our approach and its temporal smoothing enable the creation of seamless and high-resolution phenology products on a regional to continental scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mangrove ecosystems exhibit significant carbon storage and sequestration. Its capacity to store and sequester significant amounts of carbon makes this ecosystem very important for climate change mitigation. Indonesia, owing to the largest mangrove cover in the world, has approximately 3.14 PgC stored in the mangroves, or about 33% of all carbon stored in coastal ecosystems globally. Unfortunately, our comprehensive understanding of carbon flux is hampered by the incomplete repertoire of field measurement data, especially from mangrove ecosystem-rich regions such as Indonesia and Asia Pacific. This study fills the gap in greenhouse gases (GHGs) flux studies in mangrove ecosystems in Indonesia by quantifying the soil CO2 and CH4 fluxes for different land use types in mangrove ecosystems, i.e., secondary mangrove (SM), restored mangrove (RM), pond embankment (PE) and active aquaculture pond (AP). Environmental parameters such as soil pore salinity, soil pore water pH, soil temperature, air temperature, air humidity and rainfall are also measured. Results: GHG fluxes characteristics varied between land use types and ecological conditions. Secondary mangrove and exposed pond embankment are potential GHG flux sources (68.9 ± 7.0 and 58.5 ± 6.2 MgCO2e ha− 1 yr− 1, respectively). Aquaculture pond exhibits the lowest GHG fluxes among other land use types due to constant inundation that serve as a barrier for the release of GHG fluxes to the atmosphere. We found weak relationships between soil CO2 and CH4 fluxes and environmental parameters. Conclusions: The data and information on GHG fluxes from different land use types in the mangrove ecosystem will be of importance to accurately assess the potential of the mangrove ecosystem to sequester and emit GHGs. This will support the GHG emission reduction target and strategy that had been set up by the Indonesian Government in its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) and Indonesia's 2030 Forest and Other Land Use (FOLU) Net Sink. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of growing environmental concerns, the reduction of CO2 emissions is increasingly vital. Particularly in the construction industry, a major contributor to global carbon emissions, addressing this issue is critical for environmental sustainability and mitigating the accelerating impacts of climate change. This study proposes the Optimal Green Design Model for Mega Structures (OGDMM) to optimise CO2 emissions, cost-effectiveness, and serviceability in highrise buildings with mega structures. The OGDMM examines the impact of each material and structural design of main members on these three critical aspects. Analytical results for high-rise buildings (120-200 m, slenderness ratio: 2.0-8.0) demonstrate that OGDMM can reduce CO2 emissions and costs by an average of 4.67% and 3.97%, respectively, without compromising serviceability. To ensure comprehensive evaluation, this study introduces five new evaluation indicators encompassing environmental, economic, and serviceability performances of high-rise buildings. Based on these criteria, optimised structural designs for high-rise buildings are classified into four categories according to slenderness ratio, leading to the formulation of corresponding design guidelines. The model's applicability is further validated through its application to a 270-m-tall high-rise building in Korea, showing reductions in CO2 emissions and costs by 8.99% and 18.50%, respectively, while maintaining structural serviceability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) or utilization (BECCU) allows net zero or negative carbon emissions and can be a breakthrough technology for climate change mitigation. This work consists of an energetic, exergetic, and economic analysis of an integrated process based on chemical looping combustion of solar-torrefied agro-industrial residues, followed by methanation of the concentrated CO2 stream with green H2. Four agro-industrial residues and four Italian site locations are considered. Depending on the considered biomass, the integrated plant processes about 18–93 kg h−1 of raw biomass and produces 55–70 t y−1 of synthetic methane. Global exergetic efficiencies ranged within 45–60% and 67–77% when neglecting and considering, respectively, the valorization of torgas. Sugar beet pulp and grape marc required a non-negligible input exergy flow for the torrefaction, due to the high moisture content of the raw biomasses. However, for these biomasses, the water released during drying/torrefaction and CO2 methanation could be recycled to the electrolyzer to eliminate external water consumption, thus allowing for a more sustainable use of water resources. For olive stones and hemp hurd, this water recycling brings, instead, a reduction of approximately 65% in water needs. A round-trip electric efficiency of 28% was estimated assuming an electric conversion efficiency of 40%. According to the economic analysis, the total plant costs ranged within 3–5 M€ depending on the biomass and site location considered. The levelized cost of methane (LCOM) ranged within 4.3–8.9 € kgCH4−1 but, if implementing strategies to avoid the use of a large temporary H2 storage vessel, can be decreased to 2.6–5.3 € kgCH4−1. Lower values are obtained when considering hemp hurd and grape marc as raw biomasses, and when locating the PV field in the south of Italy. Even in the best scenario, values of LCOM are out of the market if compared to current natural gas prices, but they might become competitive with the introduction of a carbon tax or through government incentives for the purchase of the PV field and/or electrolyzer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on climate change mitigation has increasingly considered carbon pricing, with these efforts concentrating on reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Our comprehensive cross-country analysis extends this focus by quantitatively evaluating the effects of carbon pricing on four major pollutants: CO2, nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4), and particulate matter (PM). We use regressions and introduce entropy balancing to this research area. Analyzing data from 132 countries from 1992 to 2019, we find that carbon pricing is associated with an average annual reduction in CO2 emissions by 3 percentage points. A one-unit increase in a coverage-weighted carbon price is associated with reductions in N2O emissions by approximately 0.1 percentage points. A shorter panel for 2010–2017 shows a larger impact of 0.3 percentage points for PM. These findings underline the efficacy of carbon pricing not just in curtailing CO2 but in significantly mitigating other harmful pollutants on a global scale. Reductions in pollutants beyond CO2 provide further motivation for policymakers to pursue carbon pricing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Due to the health consequences arising from climate change, medical students will inevitably interact with affected patients during their training and careers. Accordingly, medical schools must incorporate education on the impacts of climate change on health and equity into their curricula. We created a curricular thread called "Climate Change, Health, and Equity" in the first-year preclinical medical program to teach foundational concepts and foster self-reflection and critical consciousness. Methods: The authors developed a continuum of practice including administrators, educators and faculty members, students, and community partners to plan and design curricular activities. First-year medical students at Duke University School of Medicine participated in seven mandatory foundational lectures and two experiential learning opportunities in the local community. Following completion of activities, students wrote a critical reflection essay and completed a self-directed learning exercise. Essays were evaluated using the REFLECT rubric to assess if students achieved critical reflection and for thematic analysis by Bloom's Taxonomy. Results: All students (118) submitted essays. A random sample of 30 (25%) essays underwent analysis. Evaluation by the REFLECT rubric underscored that all students were reflecting or critically reflecting on thread content. Thematic analysis highlighted that all students (30/30, 100%) were adept at identifying new areas of medical knowledge and connecting concepts to individual experiences, institutional practices, and public health and policy. Most students (27/30; 90%) used emotionally laden words, expressing negative feelings like frustration and fear but also positive sentiments of solidarity and hope regarding climate change and effects on health. Many students (24/30; 80%) expressed actionable items at every level including continuing self-directed learning and conversing with patients, minimizing healthcare waste, and advocating for climate-friendly policies. Conclusion: After participating in the curricular thread, most medical students reflected on cognitive, affective, and actionable aspects relating to climate change, health, and equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring methane emissions is crucial in mitigating climate change as it has a relatively short atmospheric lifetime of about 12 years and a significant radiative forcing impact. To measure the impact of methane-controlling policies and techniques, a deep understanding of methane emissions is of great importance. Remote sensing offers scalable approaches for monitoring methane emissions at various scales, from point-source high-resolution monitoring to regional and global estimates. The TROPOMI satellite instrument provides daily XCH4 data globally, offering the opportunity to monitor methane at a moderate spatial resolution with an acceptable level of sensitivity. To infer emissions from TROPOMI data, we used the prior emission estimates from global and national inventories and the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model to simulate atmospheric methane along with actual observations of TROPOMI. In this study, methane emissions from Toronto, Montreal, New York, Los Angeles, Houston, and Mexico City have been estimated using the analytical solution of Bayesian inversion using the cloud-based Integrated Methane Inversion (IMI) framework. Using the result from ensemble inversions, and city boundaries, the average total emissions were as follows: Toronto 230.52 Gg a−1, Montreal 111.54 Gg a−1, New York 144.38 Gg a−1, Los Angeles 207.03 Gg a−1, Houston 650.16 Gg a−1, and Mexico City 280.81 Gg a−1. The resulting gridded scale factors ranged from 0.22 to 6.2, implying methane prior emission underestimations in most of these cities. As such, this study underscores the key role of remote sensing in accurately assessing urban methane emissions, informing essential climate mitigation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the impact of various climate forcing agents, such as aerosols, on extreme precipitation is socially and scientifically vital. While anthropogenic absorbing aerosols influence Earth's energy balance and atmospheric convection, their role in extreme events remains unclear. This paper uses convective‐resolving radiative‐convective‐equilibrium simulations, with fixed solar radiation, to investigate the influence of absorbing aerosols on extreme precipitation comprehensively. Our findings reveal an underappreciated mechanism through which absorbing aerosols can, under certain conditions, strongly intensify extreme precipitation. Notably, we demonstrate that a mechanism previously reported for much warmer (hothouse) climates, where intense rainfall alternates with multi‐day dry spells, can operate under current realistic conditions due to absorbing aerosol influence. This mechanism operates when an aerosol perturbation shifts the lower tropospheric radiative heating rate to positive values, generating a strong inhibition layer. Our work highlights an additional potential effect of absorbing aerosols, with implications for climate change mitigation and disaster risk management. Plain Language Summary: Aerosols, particles suspended in the atmosphere, can interact with the incoming solar radiation by scattering or absorbing it. Aerosol species that absorb solar radiation generate local warming of the atmosphere. This local warming changes the vertical profile of temperature and by that affects cloud and precipitation development. In this paper we use idealized computer simulations to investigate the effect of absorbing aerosols on precipitation, and specifically on extreme precipitation events in the tropics. We demonstrate that under certain conditions, absorbing aerosols can strongly enhance extreme precipitation even despite reducing the mean. We show that this trend can be explained by a mechanism previously reported for much warmer climate conditions than currently found on Earth, involving heating by radiation of the lower part of the troposphere. These results have implications for climate change mitigation and disaster risk management. Key Points: The effect of absorbing aerosol on extreme precipitation is examined in idealized convective‐resolving radiative‐convective‐equilibrium simulationsAerosol perturbation that shifts the lower tropospheric radiative heating rate to positive values strongly enhances extreme precipitationThis trend is explained by a mechanism reported before for hothouse climate conditions involving a shift into an "episodic deluge" regime [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate-smart agriculture can be used to build soil carbon stocks, decrease agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and increase agronomic resilience to climate pressures. The US recently declared its commitment to include the agricultural sector as part of an overall climate-mitigation strategy, and with this comes the need for robust, scientifically valid tools for agricultural GHG flux measurements and modeling. If agriculture is to contribute significantly to climate mitigation, practice adoption should be incentivized on as much land area as possible and mitigation benefits should be accurately quantified. Process-based models are parameterized on data from a limited number of long-term agricultural experiments, which may not fully reflect outcomes on working farms. Space-for-time substitution, paired studies, and long-term monitoring of SOC stocks and GHG emissions on commercial farms using a variety of climate-smart management systems can validate findings from long-term agricultural experiments and provide data for process-based model improvements. Here, we describe a project that worked collaboratively with commercial producers in the Midwest to directly measure and model the soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks of their farms at the field scale. We describe this study, and several unexpected challenges encountered, to facilitate further on-farm data collection and the creation of a secure database of on-farm SOC stock measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Afforestation of non-forestland is a new measure by the European Union to enhance climate mitigation and biodiversity. Hybrid aspen (Populus tremula L. × P. tremuloides Michx.) is among the suitable tree species for afforestation to produce woody biomass. However, the best performing genotypic material for intensive biomass production and its physiological adaptation capacity is still unclear. We compared 22 hybrid aspen genotypes growth and leaf physiological characteristics (stomatal conductance, net photosynthesis, intrinsic water-use efficiency) according to their geographical north- or southward transfer (European P. tremula parent from 51° to 60° N and North American P. tremuloides parent from 45° to 54° N) to hemiboreal Estonia (58° N) in a completely randomized design progeny trial. We tested whether the growth ranking of genotypes of different geographical origin has changed from young (3-year-old) to mid-rotation age (13-year-old). The gas exchange parameters were measured in excised shoots in 2021 summer, which was characterised with warmer (+ 4 °C) and drier (17% precipitation from normal) June and July than the long-term average. Results: We found that the northward transfer of hybrid aspen genotypes resulted in a significant gain in growth (two-fold greater diameter at breast height) in comparison with the southward transfer. The early selection of genotypes was generally in good accordance with the middle-aged genotype ranking, while some of the northward transferred genotypes showed improved growth at the middle-age period in comparison with their ranking during the early phase. The genotypes of southward transfer demonstrated higher stomatal conductance, which resulted in higher net photosynthesis, and lower intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE) compared with northward transfer genotypes. However, higher photosynthesis did not translate into higher growth rate. The higher physiological activity of southern transferred genotypes was likely related to a better water supply of smaller and consequently more shaded trees under drought. Leaf nitrogen concentration did not have any significant relation with tree growth. Conclusions: We conclude that the final selection of hybrid aspen genotypes for commercial use should be done in 10–15 years after planting. Physiological traits acquired during periods of droughty conditions may not fully capture the growth potential. Nonetheless, we advocate for a broader integration of physiological measurements alongside traditional traits (such as height and diameter) in genotype field testing to facilitate the selection of climate-adapted planting material for resilient forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land surface temperature (LST) is a critical indicator variable in climate science. In this study, the variation of LST on the island of New Guinea during 2000 to 2019 was investigated using a cubic spline model and a multivariate regression model. The data were obtained from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer database. This study focused on 90 subregions with 105-pixels of latitude 90 kilometer apart. These subregions were categorized into 10 super-regions. The results showed that the mean change in LST for all 90 subregions was +0.086°C per decade with a confidence interval of (0.028, 0.144)oC. There were five super-regions with a significant mean LST change. LST increased significantly in the central-north, central-south of the island (super-regions B1, C1, and C2 with 0.117°C, 0.162°C, and 0.185°C, respectively) and the southern part of Papua New Guinea (super-region E2 with 0.217°C), whereas it decreased in the middle part of the Indonesian territories (A2 with −0.122°C). The results also showed that LST variation occurs at the subregional level. Climate change mitigation methods are critical for reducing temperature rise and limiting any negative effects on the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Equilibrium among water, food, energy, and climate actions is necessary for life to exist, quality, and sustainability. This article explored how to ensure sustainability, and equilibrium in the irrigation processes by proposing irrigation equilibrium indicators (IEIs) for sustainable irrigated agriculture (SIA). The primary purpose of IEIs is to achieve a state of sustainable climate and environmental balance. The pressures driving agriculture and irrigation professionals to enhance the irrigation scheme performance are tremendous in all agricultural communities. Monitoring, assessment, and improvement of agriculture practices and irrigation schemes for enhancing the Climate, water, food, and energy (CWFE) nexus is a must. As an auspicious climate action, IEIs were developed to enhance the irrigation scheme's efficiency, within the scope of SIA. Subsequently, water, agricultural, food, and energy productivity could be optimized. Then, the appropriate equilibrium indicators could identify the actual performance of the CWFE nexus as a whole and the performance of each component. The effective irrigation scheme is the backbone of SIA. IEIs could measure the degree of achieving the overall and specific objectives and designated irrigation processes. The ultimate measure of equilibrium is optimizing sustainable agricultural yields and productivity, ensuring environmental balance, strengthening life quality, and maximizing economic returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antarctic meltwater discharge has been largely emphasized for its potential role in climate change mitigation, not only by reducing global warming, but also by stabilizing the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Despite the tremendous impact of the AMOC on the climate system, its temporal evolution in response to the meltwater remains poorly understood. Here, we investigate the meltwater impacts on the AMOC based on the GFDL CM2.1 experiments and discover its fast weakening and slow strengthening to the Antarctic meltwater discharge. Cold ocean surface caused by meltwater spread throughout the globe and eventually strengthened the AMOC. However, in the early stages, the tropical temperature response could stimulate the Rossby wave teleconnection, modulating atmospheric circulation in the North Atlantic, and weakening convection and even the AMOC. This counterintuitive evolution implies a potential destabilizing effect of Antarctic meltwater, underscoring the importance of the atmospheric dynamics in the interaction between the two poles. Plain Language Summary: The climate system is made up of interactions between different subsystems, so that regional climate changes can have global effects. The freshwater discharge from Antarctica would increase in the future and result in regional cooling. Atmospheric and oceanic dynamics extend this local effect to the globe, reducing global surface temperature and strengthening the large‐scale ocean circulation in the Atlantic. These mitigating effects naturally put the spotlight on Antarctic meltwater. Our study however suggests that the mitigation effect depends on the time scale. Although the global mean temperature is always reduced, the ocean circulation in the Atlantic surprisingly slows down as an early response to Antarctic meltwater; fast atmospheric teleconnection enables it. This non‐monotonic evolution emphasizes the importance of the atmospheric teleconnection between the two poles, which should be carefully considered to understand the polar climate. Key Points: The response of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation to perennial meltwater‐induced cooling is investigated by GFDL CM2.1 experimentsBefore the cooling spreads out the Atlantic, tropical atmospheric teleconnection could weaken the Greenland ocean convectionThe fast and slow responses imply the importance of the atmospheric teleconnection to regulate polar climate [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest canopy structural complexity (CSC) plays a crucial role in shaping forest ecosystem productivity and stability, but the precise nature of their relationships remains controversial. Here, we mapped the global distribution of forest CSC and revealed the factors influencing its distribution using worldwide light detection and ranging data. We find that forest CSC predominantly demonstrates significant positive relationships with forest ecosystem productivity and stability globally, although substantial variations exist among forest ecoregions. The effects of forest CSC on productivity and stability are the balanced results of biodiversity and resource availability, providing valuable insights for comprehending forest ecosystem functions. Managed forests are found to have lower CSC but more potent enhancing effects of forest CSC on ecosystem productivity and stability than intact forests, highlighting the urgent need to integrate forest CSC into the development of forest management plans for effective climate change mitigation.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: In response to the challenges posed by a growing global population, the livestock industry must increase food production while ensuring environmental sustainability. This paper explores how feed producers can tackle these challenges using advanced formulation techniques. By leveraging AI decision support systems, producers can optimize feed composition to promote animal health and environmental stewardship. The study's findings offer valuable insights into improving animal feed production, supporting the livestock industry in achieving sustainability goals and contributing to global environmental conservation efforts. The unprecedented challenges presented by the increase in global population have placed substantial demands on the livestock industry for human nutrition, necessitating heightened animal productivity and leading to an increased demand for natural resources to produce animal feed. Feed producers are leading the charge, consistently refining formulations to adapt to the evolving needs of livestock, driven in part by the cost of over 50% associated with feed production. This paper critically analyses the pressing issues within feed formulation, addressing the requirement for environmentally sustainable practices amidst the challenges of climate change. The exploration extends to how advanced decision support tools can enhance formulation techniques and profitability and contribute to environmental sustainability. Through an in-depth review of current feed formulation technologies, encompassing their applications and limitations, this study aims to enhance the existing knowledge base. Additionally, we examined future trends, highlighting the essential role of connecting technologies to establish a resilient and sustainable system. The emphasis is on the potential of formulation techniques to positively impact the environment and enhance the overall quality and performance of the animals. This paper provides actionable insights to improve animal production by examining feed formulation models and decision support tools. The anticipated outcome is a more informed and sustainable decision-making process, addressing the multifaceted challenges confronted by the livestock industry and making contributions to global efforts in climate change mitigation and environmental stewardship in animal production agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political polarization of Americans' support for climate policies often impedes the adoption of new, urgently needed climate solutions. However, recent polls suggest that younger conservatives favor adopting pro-climate policies to a greater degree than older conservatives, resulting in less political polarization among younger Americans relative to older Americans. To better understand these patterns, we analyzed Americans' support for various climate policies from 1982–2020, across 16 waves of historical, nationally representative survey data from the American National Election Studies (total N = 29,467). Regression models consistently show that, since 2012, younger Americans have been less politically polarized than older Americans on support for climate policies. Before 2012 and on non-climate policy topics, we did not find consistent statistical evidence for political polarization varying with age. These findings can inform policy debates about climate change and offer hope to environmentalists and policymakers who seek to build broad consensus for climate action at the policy level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Carbon (C) sink and stock are among the most important ecosystem services provided by forests in climate change mitigation policies. In this context, old-growth forests constitute an essential reference point for the development of close-to-nature silviculture, including C management techniques. Despite their small extent in Europe, temperate old-growth forests are assumed to be among the most prominent in terms of biomass and C stored. However, monitoring and reporting of C stocks is still poorly understood. To better understand the C stock amount and distribution in temperate old-growth forests, we estimated the C stock of two old-growth stands in the Dinaric Alps applying different assessment methods, including direct and indirect approaches (e.g., field measurements and allometric equations vs. IPCC standard methods). This paper presents the quantification and the distribution of C across the five main forest C pools (i.e., aboveground, belowground, deadwood, litter and soil) in the study areas and the differences between the applied methods. Results: We report a very prominent C stock in both study areas (507 Mg C ha− 1), concentrated in a few large trees (36% of C in 5% of trees). Moreover, we found significant differences in C stock estimation between direct and indirect methods. Indeed, the latter tended to underestimate or overestimate depending on the pool considered. Conclusions: Comparison of our results with previous studies and data collected in European forests highlights the prominence of temperate forests, among which the Dinaric Alps old-growth forests are the largest. These findings provide an important benchmark for the development of future approaches to the management of the European temperate forests. However, further and deeper research on C stock and fluxes in old-growth stands is of prime importance to understand the potential and limits of the climate mitigation role of forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greenhouse gases monitoring is important to ensure climate goals are being achieved. This study unveils the potential of using atmospheric tall towers in direct flux measurements, bridging the gap between atmospheric and ecosystem monitoring networks. The ICOS Cities (PAUL) project aims to monitor CO2 emissions in urban areas, where concentrated emissions make them key targets for climate change mitigation. This study explores synergy between ICOS atmospheric and ecosystem networks by utilizing slow-response analysers (~2 sec) on tall atmospheric towers for ecosystem studies using the Eddy Covariance method. A standard setup with an ultrasonic anemometer and an infrared (IR) fast-response CO2 analyser was installed and compared with measurements from an existing cavity ring down spectroscopy (CRDS) analyser measuring CO2, CO, and CH4. Deployed on the 100 m Saclay tower near Paris, covering a 43.9 km² 80 % footprint with heavy traffic roads, a nearby heating plant, and a forest, the setup addressed technical challenges and height-induced complexities. Corrections for flux attenuation by high frequency losses were limited to <20 % on average for all stabilities, around 11 % for unstable conditions. Wavelet-based eddy covariance allowed 18–34 % more data exploitation than standard EC enabling the analysis of non-stationary fluxes, particularly from a point source such was the case of a heating plant. The estimated storage term produced by atmospheric profiling measurements reported an expected increase at night, destocking during the first half of the day. Storage term represented at times more than half of the surface flux. Elevated mean fluxes for CO2 (10 μmolm−2s−1) and CH4 (200 nmolm−2s−1) were observed from the heating plant wind direction during December and January. Conversely, the forest direction exhibited the strongest sink among all wind directions, with −4 μmolm−2s−1 during July and August. These results demonstrate the feasibility and versatility of utilizing atmospheric towers for urban emission monitoring, offering valuable insights for emission monitoring strategies worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cover crops have the potential to mitigate climate change by reducing negative impacts of agriculture on ecosystems. This study is first to quantify the net climate change mitigation impact of cover crops including land-use effects. A systematic literature and data review was conducted to identify major drivers for climate benefits and costs of cover crops in maize (Zea maize L.) production systems. The results indicate that cover crops lead to a net climate change mitigation impact (NCCMI) of 3.30 Mg CO2e ha-1 a-1. We created four scenarios with different impact weights of the drivers and all of them showing a positive NCCMI. Carbon land benefit, the carbon opportunity costs based on maize yield gains following cover crops, is the major contributor to the NCCMI (34.5% of all benefits). Carbon sequestration is the second largest contributor (33.8%). The climate costs of cover crops are mainly dominated by emissions from their seed production and foregone benefits due to land use for cover crops seeds. However, these two costs account for only 15.8% of the benefits. Extrapolating these results, planting cover crops before all maize acreage in the EU results in a climate change mitigation of 49.80 million Mg CO2e a-1, which is equivalent to 13.0% of the EU's agricultural emissions. This study highlights the importance of incorporating cover crops into sustainable cropping systems to minimize the agricultural impact to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issues of climate change in Senegal have the potential of undermining sustainable development efforts if positive steps are not taken to respond to its adverse consequences. This study documents existing and available literature on impacts of climate change on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in semi-arid zones of Senegal. It is evident that there are significant negative impacts of climate on SMEs in Senegal. Loss of goods, low productivity and sales as well as loss of income are mainly observed by the small and medium enterprises due to the impacts of increased temperature, soil erosion and salinization, decrease of rainfall, frequency of extreme events on both supply and production processes. Despite this fact, there are limited adaptation and mitigation strategies to climate change at company or enterprise level in order to deal effectively with the changing climate. Ensuring Senegal's enterprises to develop more effective climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, there is the need for the Senegalese government to support enterprises by providing the necessary resources such as credit, information, training for managers and employees on climate change adaptation strategies and technologies, and investing in climate resilient projects which will reduce significantly the adverse effects of climate change on business operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Commission has proposed a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to reduce carbon leakage and create a level playing field for its domestic products and imported goods. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of the proposal remains unclear, especially when it triggers threats of retaliation from trading partners of the European Union. We apply a Computable General Equilibrium model - Global Trade Analysis Project - to assess the economic and environmental impacts of different CBAM schemes. Here we show that the effectiveness of the CBAM to address carbon leakage risks is rather limited, and the CBAM raises concerns over global welfare costs, Correct to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) losses, and violation of equality principles. Trade retaliation leads to multiplied welfare losses, which would mostly be borne by poor countries. Our results question the carbon leakage reduction effect of a unilateral trade policy and suggest that climate change mitigation still needs to be performed within the framework of international cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rangelands face threats from climate and land-use change, including inappropriate climate change mitigation initiatives such as tree planting in grassy ecosystems. The marginalization and impoverishment of rangeland communities and their indigenous knowledge systems, and the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, are additional major challenges. To address these issues, we propose the wilder rangelands integrated framework, co-developed by South African and European scientists from diverse disciplines, as an opportunity to address the climate, livelihood, and biodiversity challenges in the world's rangelands. More specifically, we present a Theory of Change to guide the design, monitoring, and evaluation of wilder rangelands. Through this, we aim to promote rangeland restoration, where local communities collaborate with regional and international actors to co-create new rangeland use models that simultaneously mitigate the impacts of climate change, restore biodiversity, and improve both ecosystem functioning and livelihoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blue carbon ecosystems (BCEs) are vital for global climate change mitigation and offer diverse local ecosystem co-benefits. Despite existing literatures on integrating national and international BCE agendas at the local level, the development and implementation of localized BCE strategies often lag behind. To provide insights on this knowledge gap, we present a case study conducted in Eastern Samar, Philippines. Employing a multi-framework analysis- encompassing DPSIR (drivers, pressures, state, impact, responses), SOAR (strengths, opportunities, aspirations, results), and PESTLE (political, economic, social, technological, legal, environmental) frameworks, stakeholder perceptions collected from focus group discussions highlight issues and challenges in developing and implementing a BCE strategy. Findings reveal that the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan in 2013 in the study sites stimulated conservation efforts and raised awareness, but governance structures and policy enforcement influence the success and longevity of management and conservation efforts. Through the integration of multiple frameworks, this study outlined a potential localized BCE strategy, emphasizing both internal priorities such as stakeholder engagement and alternative livelihoods and external priorities related to policy and technological supports. While developed based on a specific case study in the Philippines, the proposed strategy is presented in a general manner, enabling its potential replication in other provinces in the Philippines or in countries with similar geographic settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seagrass meadows serve as vital blue carbon ecosystems, sequestering significant amounts of CO2 and playing a crucial role in climate change mitigation. Semujur Island, located in the Bangka Belitung Province, exemplifies numerous small Indonesian islands boasting extensive seagrass meadows lining their shores. This research seeks to (1) describe the community structure of seagrass on Semujur Island, (2) assess the carbon storage within the seagrass ecosystem, and (3) analyze the relationship between seagrass community structure and carbon reserves across three distinct sites. According to the results of this study, there are eight species of seagrass on Semujur Island, i.e., Cymodocea rotundata, Enhalus acoroides, Halodule uninervis, Halophila ovalis, Oceana serrulata, Syringodium isoetifolium, Thalassia hemprichii, and Thalassodendron ciliatum. Diversity indices varied among sites, ranging from 1.48 to 1.72. Species evenness indices varied between 0.83 and 0.92, while dominance indices varied between 0.20 and 0.28. The highest estimated carbon stock was obtained at the site dominated by the species H. uninervis (75.11 MgC/ha); followed by the site dominated by T. hemprichii (50.55 MgC/ha). The correlation between seagrass community structure, including density and coverage, and carbon stocks demonstrated a moderate positive correlation, with coefficients of 0.430 and 0.528, respectively (p<0.05). This research highlights the significance of integrating ecological dynamics into the management of seagrass ecosystems to enhance climate change mitigation efforts. Additionally, it offers valuable data as a reference for the restoration and conservation of seagrass ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reflects the experiences of communities who have adapted to climate change in three different geological locations in the country of Thailand: by the riverside, coast, and in the mountains. The communities presented the lessons learned and identified key adaptation factors. The study used in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, with results showing that the community’s learning and adaptation to climate change were at a high level. The results broaden understanding of climate change in these locations and provide information for resource management approaches. Among the seven factors, five factors illustrated that they were highly adapted, including: (1) applying knowledge about nature, ecosystems, and traditional wisdom; (2) management that allowed the use of adaptations; (3) a shared vision of success; (4) collaboration; and (5) having a variety of options and approaches. Two factors that illustated that the community was only moderately adapted included: (1) learning about violent events and disasters; and (2) following government guidelines. It was found that a lack of information about the ecosystems and environmental resources they required for large-scale infrastructure construction caused issues. This is a problem, and the government must consult with local communities when setting long-term plans and assessing needs, because communities have diverse livelihoods and depend on natural resources. Hence, future studies should include climate change awareness and understanding of what is required by adding community needs linked to climate change adaptation into state development plans as well as utilizing the wisdom and traditional knowledge involving ecology held by these communities into sustainability plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies suggest that hypolimnetic respiration may be responsible for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from deep reservoirs. Currently, quantitative evaluation of aerobic vs. anaerobic processes and priming (enhanced processing of organic matter due to the addition of labile carbon) in regulating GHG production and emissions across the reservoir‐downstream continuum remains largely unknown. High‐resolution, annual time‐series observations in a large, subtropical reservoir (Shuikou) experiencing seasonal hypoxia in southeast China indicate that aerobic hypolimnetic CO2 production dominated in most periods of the stratified spring/summer with higher rates at higher temperatures. In addition, anaerobic production of hypolimnetic CO2 occurred in the late stratified spring/summer period, which stimulated hypolimnetic production of CH4 and N2O. Incubation experiments showed that priming in spring enhanced both aerobic and anaerobic production of excess GHGs. A late spring flood event generated the highest daily efflux of CO2 through the flushing of GHG‐enriched hypolimnion waters. Turbine degassing contributed 59%, 93%, and 63% of annual CO2, CH4, and N2O effluxes, respectively. Moreover, annual downstream GHG emissions were similar to those in the transition/lacustrine zone of the Shuikou reservoir. Diurnal variation observations revealed net CO2 emissions even during algal bloom seasons. The reservoir‐downstream river continuum was a year‐round source of GHGs (218.5 ± 18.9 Gg CO2‐equivalent yr−1; CO2 contributed 91%). However, the loss of oxygen also leads to increased production and storage of recalcitrant dissolved organic carbon (RDOC). Thus, identifying mechanisms controlling both GHG emissions and RDOC production is crucial to constrain the carbon neutrality issue of hydroelectric reservoirs in the context of climate change mitigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantification and mapping of surficial seabed sediment organic carbon have wide-scale relevance for marine ecology, geology and environmental resource management, with carbon densities and accumulation rates being a major indicator of geological history, ecological function and ecosystem service provisioning, including the potential to contribute to nature-based climate change mitigation. While global analyses can appear to provide a definitive understanding of the spatial distribution of sediment carbon, regional maps may be constructed at finer resolutions and can utilise targeted data syntheses and refined spatial data products and therefore have the potential to improve these estimates. Here, we report a national systematic review of data on organic carbon content in seabed sediments across Canada and combine this with a synthesis and unification of the best available data on sediment composition, seafloor morphology, hydrology, chemistry and geographic settings within a machine learning mapping framework. Predictive quantitative maps of mud content, dry bulk density, organic carbon content and organic carbon density were produced along with cell-specific estimates of their uncertainty at 200 m resolution across 4 489 235 km 2 of the Canadian continental margin (92.6 % of the seafloor area above 2500 m) (10.5683/SP3/ICHVVA, Epstein et al., 2024). Fine-scale variation in carbon stocks was identified across the Canadian continental margin, particularly in the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean regions. Overall, we estimate the standing stock of organic carbon in the top 30 cm of surficial seabed sediments across the Canadian shelf and slope to be 10.9 Gt (7.0–16.0 Gt). Increased empirical sediment data collection and higher precision in spatial environmental data layers could significantly reduce uncertainty and increase accuracy in these products over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought events have become increasingly frequent and intensive due to the combined influence of climate change and anthropogenic activities. However, it remains unclear how meteorological drought characteristics (duration, severity, and intensity) respond to the changing environment and what are the dominant factors determining the drought evolution in different climate regions. Here, we divide mainland China into four sub-climatic regions, namely the Humid region (HR), Transition region (TR), Arid region (AR), and Tibetan Plateau (TP), based on the aridity index and geomorphology. Then systematically investigate the spatiotemporal patterns of drought characteristics in different climate regions over China (during 2000–2019) based on the SPEI and run theory. And the contribution of precipitation (Pre) and potential evapotranspiration (PET) to drought characteristics are quantitatively analyzed using a detrended numerical experiment method. We find that (1) a pattern of "dry gets drier, wet gets wetter" was found in China. (2) Meteorological drought characteristics exhibit apparent regional heterogeneity: droughts in AR are of long duration and high severity, while droughts in HR and TR show a pattern of high frequency. (3) An increase in the annual Pre (PET) resulted in increases (decreases) in average SPEI in China of 45.18% (31.62%). Therefore, Pre is the dominant factor determining the increase of SPEI over China. For the four sub-climatic regions, Pre is the dominant factor in the increase of SPEI in TR and HR, with the contribution of 41.64% and 60.16%. PET is the dominant factor in the decrease of SPEI in AR, with the contribution of 50.11%. The contributions of Pre (45.09%) and PET (44.09%) in TP are roughly equivalent. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers in shaping climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. By understanding the leading meteorological factors influencing drought, policymakers can implement effective measures to minimize the influence of disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global agriculture industry is facing never before faced issues in the form of soil degradation, water scarcity, rising greenhouse gas emissions, and climate change. Among the possible remedies, applying biochar to the soil has drawn interest as a viable strategy. Although a great deal of literature has been written about the benefits and drawbacks of applying biochar initially, there is still a significant amount of research on the effects of using biochar repeatedly. This study seeks to address this gap by examining the varied effects of both the initial application (at rates of 0 t.ha−1, 10 t.ha−1, and 20 t.ha−1) and the reapplication of biochar (at rates of 0, 10, and 20 t.ha−1), especially when combined with different levels of nitrogen fertilizer (0, 108, and 162 kg.ha−1). The investigation focuses on soil properties and CO2 emissions from Haplic Luvisol in the temperate climate zone (Slovakia). The results showed that biochar generally improved soil properties, such as soil pH (KCl) (p <0.05), shifting it from acidic towards moderately acidic, and generally led to a decrease in ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3-) content. The second level of fertilization, combined with different biochar treatments, yielded the most efficient results in physical properties such as soil temperature, bulk density (BD), and soil water content (SWC) compared to control treatments without biochar. Biochar application contributed to the reduction of both average daily CO2 emissions and cumulative CO2 emissions during the study period (April – October) in 2022 compared to the control without biochar application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study identified the practices of adaptation strategies to climate change in Jimma, Bedelle, Bonga, and Sokorru urban centers using a survey of 384 households, 55 key informant interviews, 4 focus group discussions, and field observations. A cross-sectional study design was employed from 2019 to 2021. The adaptive capacity of municipalities to reduce climate extreme events was rated as poor by the majority (51%), mostly reactive measures (76%). The climate hazards identified in four urban centers were riverine and flash floods, urban heat waves, landslides, and windstorms. The urban households practiced lifestyle modification, reduce paved surfaces, the use of air conditioner, planting trees, and multiple windows. The adaptation strategies practiced by municipalities include the relocation of prone areas, the support of basic amenities, the construction of protection walls, diversion ditches, the clearance of waterways and rivers, greenery, and park development. The adaptation actions were constrained by a lack of awareness, commitment, cooperation and coordination, adaptive capacity, and participation. Gray/physical infrastructures (costly but important) as adaptation actions were hampered by the low municipal capacity. We recommend that urban authorities should incorporate climate change adaptation strategies into urban planning and development proactively to ensure future resilient climate smart urban centers of southwest Ethiopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-carbon electricity and heat production is essential for keeping the decarbonization targets and climate mitigation goals. Thus, an accurate understanding of the potential environmental impacts constitutes a key aspect not only for the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions but also for other environmental categories. Life cycle assessment allows us to conduct an overall evaluation of a given process or system through its whole lifetime across various environmental indicators. This study focused on construction, operation and maintenance, and end-of-life phases, which were analyzed based on the ReCiPe 2016 method. Within this work, authors assessed the environmental performance of one of the renewable energy sources—Enhanced Geothermal Systems, which utilize supercritical carbon dioxide as a working fluid to produce electricity and heat. Heat for the process is extracted from hot, dry rocks, typically located at depths of approximately 4–5 km, and requires appropriate stimulation to enable fluid flow. Consequently, drilling and site preparation entail significant energy and material inputs. This stage, based on conducted calculations, exhibits the highest global warming potential, with values between 5.2 and 30.1 kgCO2eq/MWhel, corresponding to approximately 65%, 86%, and 94% in terms of overall impacts for ecosystems, human health, and resources categories, respectively. Moreover, the study authors compared the EGS impacts for the Polish and Norwegian conditions. Obtained results indicated that due to much higher electricity output from the Norwegian plant, which is sited offshore, the environmental influence remains the lowest, at a level of 11.9 kgCO2eq/MWhel. Polish cases range between 38.7 and 54.1 kgCO2eq/MWhel of global warming potential in terms of electricity production. Regarding power generation only, the impacts in the case of the Norwegian facility are two to five times lower than for the installation in the Polish conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Global climate change is one of the major challenges facing the world today, and forests play a crucial role as significant carbon sinks and providers of ecosystem services in mitigating climate change and protecting the environment. China, as one of the largest developing countries globally, owns 60% of its forest resources collectively. Evaluating the carbon sequestration cost of collective forests not only helps assess the contribution of China's forest resources to global climate change mitigation but also provides important evidence for formulating relevant policies and measures. Results: Over the past 30 years, the carbon sequestration cost of collective forests in China has shown an overall upward trend. Except for coastal provinces, southern collective forest areas, as well as some southwestern and northeastern regions, have the advantage of lower carbon sequestration costs. Furthermore, LSTM network predictions indicate that the carbon sequestration cost of collective forests in China will continue to rise. By 2030, the average carbon sequestration cost of collective forests is projected to reach 125 CNY per ton(= 16.06 Euros/t). Additionally, there is spatial correlation in the carbon sequestration cost of collective forests. Timber production, labor costs, and labor prices have negative spatial spillover effects on carbon sequestration costs, while land opportunity costs, forest accumulation, and rural resident consumption have positive spatial spillover effects. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate regional disparities in the spatial distribution of carbon sequestration costs of collective forests, with an undeniable upward trend in future cost growth. It is essential to focus on areas with lower carbon sequestration costs and formulate targeted carbon sink economic policies and management measures to maximize the carbon sequestration potential of collective forests and promote the sustainable development of forestry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Short-term experimental studies provided evidence that plant diversity increases ecosystem resilience and resistance to drought events, suggesting diversity to serve as a nature-based solution to address climate change. However, it remains unclear whether the effects of diversity are momentary or still hold over the long term in natural forests to ensure that the sustainability of carbon sinks. By analyzing 57 years of inventory data from dryland forests in Canada, we show that productivity of dryland forests decreased at an average rate of 1.3% per decade, in concert with the temporally increasing temperature and decreasing water availability. Increasing functional trait diversity from its minimum (monocultures) to maximum value increased productivity by 13%. Our results demonstrate the potential role of tree functional trait diversity in alleviating climate change impacts on dryland forests. While recognizing that nature-based climate mitigation (e.g., planting trees) can only be partial solutions, their long-term (decadal) efficacy can be improved by enhancing functional trait diversity across the forest community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring methane emissions is crucial in mitigating climate change as it has a relatively short atmospheric lifetime of about 12 years and a significant radiative forcing impact. To measure the impact of methane-controlling policies and techniques, a deep understanding of methane emissions is of great importance. Remote sensing offers scalable approaches for monitoring methane emissions at various scales, from point-source high-resolution monitoring to regional and global estimates. The TROPOMI satellite instrument provides daily XCH4 data globally, offering the opportunity to monitor methane at a moderate spatial resolution with an acceptable level of sensitivity. To infer emissions from TROPOMI data, we used the prior emission estimates from global and national inventories and the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model to simulate atmospheric methane along with actual observations of TROPOMI. In this study, methane emissions from Toronto, Montreal, New York, Los Angeles, Houston, and Mexico City have been estimated using the analytical solution of Bayesian inversion using the cloud-based Integrated Methane Inversion (IMI) framework. Using the result from ensemble inversions, and city boundaries, the average total emissions were as follows: Toronto 230.52 Gg a−1, Montreal 111.54 Gg a−1, New York 144.38 Gg a−1, Los Angeles 207.03 Gg a−1, Houston 650.16 Gg a−1, and Mexico City 280.81 Gg a−1. The resulting gridded scale factors ranged from 0.22 to 6.2, implying methane prior emission underestimations in most of these cities. As such, this study underscores the key role of remote sensing in accurately assessing urban methane emissions, informing essential climate mitigation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]