Search

In Germany, emissions from drained organic soils contributed approximately 53.7 Mio. t of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2-eq) to the total national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2021. In addition to restoration measures, shifting management practices, rewetting, or using peatlands for paludiculture is expected to significantly reduce GHG emissions. The effects of climate change on these mitigation measures remains to be tested. In a 2017 experimental field study on agriculturally used grassland on organic soil, we assessed the effects of rewetting and of predicted climate warming on intensive grassland and on extensively managed sedge grassland (transplanted Carex acutiformis monoliths). The testing conditions of the two grassland types included drained versus rewetted conditions (annual mean water table of − 0.13 m below soil surface), ambient versus warming conditions (annual mean air temperature increase of + 0.8 to 1.3 °C; use of open top chambers), and the combination of rewetting and warming. We measured net ecosystem exchange of CO2, methane and nitrous oxide using the closed dynamic and static chamber method. Here, we report the results on the initial year of GHG measurements after transplanting adult Carex soil monoliths, including the controlled increase in water level and temperature. We observed higher N2O emissions than anticipated in all treatments. This was especially unexpected for the rewetted intensive grasslands and the Carex treatments, but largely attributable to the onset of rewetting coinciding with freeze–thaw cycles. However, this does not affect the overall outcomes on mitigation and adaptation trends. We found that warmer conditions increased total GHG emissions of the drained intensive grassland system from 48.4 to 66.9 t CO2-eq ha−1 year−1. The shift in grassland management towards Carex paludiculture resulted in the largest GHG reduction, producing a net cooling effect with an uptake of 11.1 t CO2-eq ha−1 year−1. Surprisingly, we found that this strong sink could be maintained under the simulated warming conditions ensuing an emission reduction potential of − 80 t CO2-eq ha−1 year−1. We emphasize that the results reflect a single initial measurement year and do not imply the permanence of the observed GHG sink function over time. Our findings affirm that rewetted peatlands with adapted plant species could sustain GHG mitigation and potentially promote ecosystem resilience, even under climate warming. In a warmer world, adaptation measures for organic soils should therefore include a change in management towards paludiculture. Multi-year studies are needed to support the findings of our one-year experiment. In general, the timing of rewetting should be considered carefully in mitigation measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To stay within a 'well below 2°C' climate change track, the Paris Agreement and goal 13 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for climate action – a global decrease in Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. Arguments in this study are derived from the hypothesis that a collective identity among the EU states would foster collective actions toward reducing global warming. Thus, the objective of this study is to explore how different EU countries (Poland, Italy, and Germany) employ three decarbonization pillars: waste recycling, eco-innovation, and policy innovation (WEP) as a yardstick to mitigate global warming and attain the EU's 'net-zero' emissions by 2050. The study also utilizes annual data collected from the Eurostat indicator from 2014 to 2020. The findings reveal that Germany has the most successful average recycling rate in Europe; 65.5% of the country's domestic waste is either recycled or reused. On the other hand, Poland is a low performer in eco-innovation. Additionally, an analysis of policy regulations reveals that both Germany and Italy can comply with the policy and regulations of the EU on carbon neutrality. At the same time, Poland, on the other hand, lacks the commitment to carbon neutrality due to its reliance on carbon-intensive coal. Therefore, this study recommends translating EU climatic laws in their simplest forms into local laws. More so, citizens' behaviour will be further influenced toward environmental sustainability by this collective mindset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Germany's health care footprint accounts for 5.2% of the national emissions footprint which results in 0.71 tons of CO2 emission per capita. Thus, the health sector has a responsibility to take climate action. Surgery is a resource-intensive health care activity, requiring expensive equipment, sterilization procedures, advanced operative technologies, and obligatory life support systems. We spotlight the situation in a department of ophthalmology with frequent anesthesia services and highly standardized procedures. This narrative review discusses high-impact actions which result in a major reduction of the CO2 footprint according to the global road map for health care decarbonization, considering both the ophthalmic and anesthesiologic point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Beef production is criticized for its contribution to global warming and its use of human-edible food as feed and hence needs to innovate. Relying on three case studies of beef production systems in Belgium, France, and Germany, we test, using the single-farm model FarmDyn, the interest of fast rotational grazing associated (redesign scenarios) or not (FRG scenarios) to crossbreeding strategies as innovation. The redesign scenarios are adapted to local conditions using early-maturing beef breeds on a French farm or Belgian Blue breeds in a German dairy system and a Belgian suckler cow system becoming, in this last type, a growing and fattening system. Fast rotational grazing induced a higher profit through cheaper feed but an increased workload in pasture management compared to the baseline situation. Beef production from crossbred dairy cows reduces the global warming potential of the systems because of the share of the environmental load with milk production. Crossbreeding with early-maturing breeds, in the French type, has little impact on global warming. The feed-food competition diminished by adapting the stocking rate to the grassland production potential and feeding of by-products. In the future, these simulations should be validated by field trials and a larger diversity of farms. In the context of a growing population, beef production is expected to reduce its consumption of human-edible food and its contribution to global warming. We hypothesize that implementing the innovations of fast rotational grazing and redesigning existing production systems using crossbreeding and sexing may reduce these impacts. In this research, the bio-economic model FarmDyn is used to assess the impact of such innovations on farm profit, workload, global warming potential, and feed-food competition. The innovations are tested in a Belgian system composed of a Belgian Blue breeder and a fattener farm, another system where calves raised in a French suckler cow farm are fattened in a farm in Italy, and third, a German dairy farm that fattens its male calves. The practice of fast rotational grazing with a herd of dairy-to-beef crossbred males is found to have the best potential for greenhouse gas reduction and a reduction of the use of human-edible food when by-products are available. Crossbreeding with early-maturing beef breeds shows a suitable potential to produce grass-based beef with little feed-food competition if the stocking rate considers the grassland yield potential. The results motivate field trials in order to validate the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proliferative kidney disease (PKD) caused by the myxozoan parasite Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae is an emerging salmonid disease implicated in recent declines in salmonid populations. Laboratory experiments have shown that the clinical symptoms of PKD exacerbate with increasing temperature. However, empirical evidence for a relationship between climate change and PKD driven declines in wild salmonid stocks is scarce.The current study uses both empirical data and ecological niche modelling to extrapolate future changes in temperature and precipitation on the spread of PKD in relation to changes in suitability of rivers for its primary bryozoan and secondary salmonid hosts.A 20‐year dataset on brown trout density using standardised method shows a decline of more than 50% in the population of the river Wutach, south‐western Germany at 536–755 m elevation. The decline coincides with higher prevalence of PKD. This decline was temperature related and driven by reduced local survival of parr to yearlings. Kidney hyperplasia was highest at low elevations and correlated negatively with trout density.Niche models based on state‐wide data show strong overlap in the areas suitable for T. bryosalmonae and its primary bryozoan hosts, and a strong link with temperature. Projections based on moderate to high emission‐case climate change scenarios predict a 50%–82% decrease in the area suitable for salmonids within this century, linked to PKD.The empirical data identify temperature‐mediated PKD as the underlying cause of the population decline. This relationship was corroborated by the niche modelling results. The highest losses are expected in projected salmonid suitable areas where salmonid habitats currently overlap with areas suitable for T. bryosalmonae.With ongoing climate change, both current and future populations are at severe risk to T. bryosalmonae and its associated disease PKD. Conservation efforts of salmonid stocks are dependent on climate mitigation and measures to help salmonids adapt to the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]