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

The Canadian Cordillera in the province of British Columbia witnesses numerous rock falls every year. Studies on the recorded rock fall data in this area show that rock fall hazard follows weather conditions, especially precipitation and freeze-thaw cycles. This relationship indicates that a weather-based approach can be implemented to estimate possible changes in the rock fall hazard due to climate change. In this paper, we used a statistical approach to quantify the relationship between monthly weather averages and rock fall frequencies for a section of a transportation corridor along the Fraser River in British Columbia, Canada. In this regard, von Mises distributions are used to find the best-fitted models to the monthly precipitation and freeze-thaw cycles, and proper relative weights are applied to the models in order to calibrate them to the rock fall monthly frequency. The calibrated model is used with input data from climatic predictions for 2041–2070 and 2071–2100 to see how rock fall distribution will be affected due to climate change in the future decades. Results show that between 9 and 19%, more rock fall is anticipated in future winters. Rock falls are expected to decrease in other months, especially in October, November, March, and April. This paper presents a method to predict changes in rock fall hazard seasonality due to climate change and illustrates the method with a case study along a section of the Canadian Cordillera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a hydrological assessment of the 113,981 km2 Meta River basin in Colombia using 13 global climate models to predict water yield for 2050 under two CMIP6 scenarios, SSP 4.5 and SSP 8.5. Despite mixed performance across subbasins, the model was notably effective in the upper Meta River subbasin. This study predicts an overall increase in the basin's annual water yield due to increased precipitation, especially in flatter regions. Under the SSP 4.5, the Meta River basin's water flow is expected to rise from 5141.6 m3/s to 6397.5 m3/s, and to 6101.5 m3/s under the SSP 8.5 scenario, marking 24% and 19% increases in water yield, respectively. Conversely, the upper Meta River subbasin may experience a slight decrease in water yield, while the upper Casanare River subbasin is predicted to see significant increases. The South Cravo River subbasin, however, is expected to face a considerable decline in water yield, indicating potential water scarcity. This study represents a pioneering large-scale application of the InVEST–AWY model in Colombia using CMIP6 global climate models with an integrated approach to produce predictions of future water yields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While urbanization has great potential to facilitate poverty reduction, climate shocks represent a looming threat to such upward mobility. This paper empirically analyzes the effects of climatic risks on the function of urban agglomerations to support poor households' escape from poverty. Combining household surveys with climatic datasets, our analyses of Chile, Colombia, and Indonesia find that households in large metropolitan areas are more likely to escape from poverty, indicating better access to economic opportunities in those areas. However, climate shocks such as extreme rainfalls and high flood risks significantly reduce upward mobility, thus offsetting such benefits of urban agglomerations. The findings underscore the need to enhance resilience among the urban poor to allow them to fully utilize the benefits of urban agglomerations.

Copyright of Revista de la CEPAL is the property of United Nations Publications and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Tropical Grasslands / Forrajes Tropicales is the property of International Centre for Tropical Agriculture - CIAT and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Facultad Nacional de Agronomía Medellín is the property of Universidad Nacional de Colombia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the last decades several Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs) have been implemented to interrupt the intergenerational transmission of poverty. More recently, they have also been used as a policy response to provide support to households hit by the COVID crisis. CCTs are being deployed as a development tool to reduce local communities' vulnerability, increasing their resilience and capacity to adapt. In this context, this paper investigates if CCTs can reduce vulnerability to climate change by increasing the adaptative capacity of local communities. Indeed, while some literature has found that CCTs can reduce specific dimensions of vulnerability to socio-economic shocks, we argue that more research is necessary to understand their impact on vulnerability to climate change. Empirically, we use a panel of household survey data collected in Colombia in 2002 and 2006. We employ a difference-in-differences approach to analyse the impact of the CCT programme Familia en Acción (FA) CCTs on rural households. We consider seven components of vulnerability linked to climate change aggregated in an index: wealth, health, access to information, access to basic facilities, financial vulnerability, resilience to natural disasters, and nutrition. Our results differ from previous research and indicate that CCTs provided by the FA program do not decrease vulnerability to climate change. This finding suggests that CCTs are not a universal solution to reducing vulnerability to climate change and may be ineffective in specific contexts. The literature often assumes that CCTs can have a mitigating effect on vulnerability to climate change. Our research shows that in the context of Colombia, this assumption is incorrect. The idea that providing monthly payments to households can reduce vulnerability to climate change should be considered with caution, given limited empirical evidence. Policy makers and scholars should consider the multidimensional nature of vulnerability and design targeted interventions and avoid considering CCTs as a panacea to all aspects of vulnerability to climate change. Our models show that the FA programme failed to have a significant impact in reducing vulnerability to climate change using several different specifications. We show that CCTs do not have an impact on numerous essential components such as wealth, health, access to infrastructure, information and knowledge, financial coping mechanisms, food consumption, and exposure to natural disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

Under anthropogenic pressures and climate change, most ecosystems are showing signs of reduced resilience. Unfortunately, some are more at risk of collapse and, without interventions, they may lose biodiversity, ecological integrity and ecosystem services. Here, we describe two tools that were developed under the auspices of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Red List of Ecosystems and the Nature-based Solutions Global Standard, and their capacity to first identify the ecosystems at risk of collapse in a nation and then develop solutions based on nature to improve their resilience. Nature-based solutions include, for example ecosystem-based adaptation, where solutions are developed to meet the needs of the local people while protecting nature to ensure greater resilience of the social–ecological system, not only the natural ecosystem. We discuss through a case study in the Andean high mountains and páramo social–ecological system how these approaches have been used in Colombia. We then discuss lessons learned and challenges that may reduce the capacity of a community to initiate such interventions, such as national policies and funding restrictions. We also discuss through another early case in Ecuador the importance to adapt these types of interventions to the geographical and cultural context of the social–ecological systems. This article is part of the theme issue 'Bringing nature into decision-making'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhanced anthropogenic climatic variability challenges small farmers. In the Sumapaz páramo (Colombia), higher irregularity in precipitation and temperature reduces the quality of pasture and cattle health. Data from surveys, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups were analyzed to understand livestock farmers' responses to the impacts of climatic variability. To estimate the communities' resilience in the páramo, we used the capitals framework, the Baseline Resilience Indicator for Communities (BRIC), and cluster analysis. The responses of most households aim to reduce the impacts of climatic variability on the production system, chiefly intensifying practices such as the rotation of paddocks, livelihood diversification, purchase of grass, and buying and selling livestock. Interestingly, farmers did not recognize the value of the types of capital for responding to climatic variability. Results showed that the use of available physical, social, and economic capitals render the farming system resilient. Our probit model estimated that economic and human capitals are the largest and most significant contributors to communities' capacity to respond to climatic variability. However, pre-existing non-climatic vulnerabilities are also important. For example, poverty hinders farmers from using their income in response to climatic variability. The place-based measurements used in this research are easily understood and applicable by local policy makers to address increasing climate variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Formación Universitaria is the property of Centro de Informacion Tecnologica (CIT) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Given that the health-related impacts of climate change in Latin America disproportionately affect the most marginalized sections of the population, there is a need to enhance countries' adaptive capacity through improved health systems. Though public health institutions have delineated guidelines to enhance health care systems' preparedness for climate change, embedding a human rights perspective in their translation into laws and policies further adds important value. Crucially, a rights-based approach strengthens health responses to climate change by calling attention to how climate law and policy fail to account for persistent and interlocking socioeconomic inequalities. This is an area that has not been fully present in the provision of health services in Latin America, which rely almost exclusively on a conventional epidemiological perspective and do not consider the historical and sociocultural nature of health challenges. Hence, this paper draws on two case studies--Brazil and Colombia--to identify the extent to which their national climate change laws and adaptation plans incorporate a human rightsbased approach in their tasks to enhance their adaptive capacity through the expansion of affordable and quality health care. With respect to the countries' laws, the absence of explicit references to the right to health exemplifies the fragmentation between the international human rights framework and international climate change law. Further, both countries' adaptation plans hold considerable room for improving their engagement with the human rights framework, particularly by establishing mechanisms to promote transparency, monitoring, and the participation of marginalized groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of People & Nature is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study is focused on Colombia which is classified as one of the "megadiverse" countries in the world, but it has developed a dependence on fossil fuels and its CO2 emissions are not regulated. We developed this study to understand if the actions taken by the government, the regulatory pressure put on industries classified as sensitive to climate change and the internal factors of the companies impact on the disclosures that companies make about carbon emissions management. The main objective of this study is to identify the determinants of the quality of Carbon Management Strategy (CMS) disclosures in the sustainability reports of Colombian companies during the period 2016–2018. We designed a CMS disclosure index using a theoretical framework and content analysis of the companies' sustainability report. A robust OLS regression model is used based on balanced panel data of 60 listed Colombian companies for the period 2016–2018. Our findings suggest that the pressure exerted by the business context (the Colombian government with the implementation of the carbon tax, and the local government with specific climate change actions) and the inherent characteristics of the company (larger companies and companies belonging to industries sensitive to climate change) improve the quality of CMS disclosure in Colombian companies. Our results are useful for national and regional governments to understand how their actions can align the behavior of the private sector. Likewise, the CMS index is a useful indicator for companies to understand if they are doing business incorporating climate change mitigation actions to develop in a sustainable way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of LADEE is the property of CORPORACION UNIVERSIDAD DE LA COSTA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Colombia is highly vulnerable to climate change which may be intensified due to the climatic effects of regional deforestation. Here, we quantify the impact of historical (1900–2011) land cover changes (LCC) and of global warming during ENSO events (CC) on precipitation, temperature and surface energy balance components by running the Weather Research and Forecasting model WRF v3.9 at 10 km resolution. We find that historical anthropogenic CC causes a mean temperature increase of 0.77 ± 0.02 °C in Colombia, which is more pronounced in high altitudes. Precipitation is enhanced by 0.98 ± 0.30 mm/day (+ 9%), particularly over forested areas and reduced at the Pacific coast. LCC imply a reduction of precipitation particularly above the Andes (− 0.48 ± 0.10 mm/day) and Caribbean Coast (− 0.67 ± 0.12 mm/day), where LCC effects dampen CC effects by 24% and 72%, respectively. La Niña tends to intensify LCC and CC effects in the Andes but dampens them at the Coast, roughly by a factor of two compared to El Niño impacts in both regions. At the subregional level, LCC and CC can have impacts of similar magnitude on precipitation highlighting the need to precisely account for both drivers in hydroclimatic assessments. Contrary to almost all observations and similar simulations with climate models, WRF simulates a cooling bias after historical deforestation in Colombia, even with alternative WRF land surface models. We identify two main sources of biases in the default WRF parametrization to explain this inaccuracy: (1) surface shortwave radiation reflected after deforestation is overestimated; (2) associated evapotranspiration loss is underestimated. Improved model representation and validation of tropical vegetation properties are necessary to provide more robust and confident projections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change might affect energy production and therefore the energy security of a country or region. This situation may impact renewable energy sources such as hydro power, leading to consequences on energy transition strategies. This might be critical in sensitive regions to climate change, one of them being the Caribe and northern South America. Since there are numerous energy systems based on sensitive technologies worldwide, it is necessary to introduce techniques to analyze the effects of climate change on different possible energy transition paths. The goal of this study is to develop and assess a method to analyze one of the most critical effects faced by climate change for societies worldwide: the sensitivity of the energy systems to climate change. This is especially critical in developing countries, in locations where temperatures will strongly increase in the following years. To assess this effect, this study proposes a vulnerability index (VI) to evaluate the vulnerability of an on-grid electricity system to climate change at the national and regional scales. This index was assessed using a Monte-Carlo method for uncertainty. The case of Colombia, a country with a system based on hydropower (> 70%) is used to illustrate the method. VI is based on variables related to climate change, the energy matrix, and vulnerability. Results show that the regions with the larger vulnerability correspond to the more energy-demanding ones. The VI for these regions is greater than 50% of the maximum possible vulnerability; meanwhile, the vulnerability of the whole country was estimated as 43%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific studies confirm the existence of a crisis caused by climate change, in which global causes produce local effects. Despite climate agreements, greenhouse gas emissions continue to fall short of targets to limit global warming. There is still a need for comparable data for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13—Climate Action. The motivation of the research is to provide data for decision-making and to propose solutions to address the climate crisis. The article aims to propose a Fuzzy Logic algorithm to evaluate the SDG13 indicators and to deepen the discussion on climate change. The research is applied explanatory with a combined approach (quantitative-qualitative) through modeling, simulation, and case studies. As a result, the OWA operator ranks 10 Ibero-American countries to SDG13, indicating Colombia, Peru, and Cuba in the first positions. The main contributions are the reduction of identified knowledge gaps and proposals for action for policy and decision-makers. A limitation of this study would be the number of participating countries. The authors indicate future lines of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Derecho del Estado is the property of Universidad Externado de Colombia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

It is generally accepted that the effects of climate change are a significant threat to human ecosystems, culture and health, and to global economic development as a whole. In response to these environmental changes and the attendant human vulnerability, it is imperative that social workers can more consciously lead the planning and social advocacy efforts needed to meet this challenge. The poorest and most vulnerable communities generally suffer the worst effects of climate change, and it is, therefore, essential to understand the different experiences of socio-environmental organisations and movements in response to environmental justice issues. This article presents the results of a comparative exploratory research study on Chile and Colombia, focusing on the practices and knowledge of socio-environmental organisations and movements in the Maule Region, Chile and the Department of Antioquia, Colombia. The research uses qualitative methodology and considers the views of nine social actors and leaders, four in Chile and five in Colombia. The conclusions indicate that these socio-environmental organisations see their purpose as defending water and territory, they fulfil a local advocacy role and they raise awareness and provide education on issues through participation and collective action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first inhabitants of the site of the Colonial town of Villa de Leyva were Native Americans and not the Spanish Conquerors of the Eastern Andes of Boyacá. New data now suggest a resident population of Muisca already there perhaps for centuries before the city's founding. Research suggests potential archaeological evidence of domestic groups practicing intensive agriculture including raised field cultivation. Additionally, hydraulic features, sanctuary architecture, and unique ritual artifacts associate with a nearby mountain temple aligned with the astronomical-meteorological observatory at El Infiernito connected by a possible processional pilgrimage route. These findings underscore the complex relationship of socioeconomic factors, cosmic ontogeny, and natural environment for understanding the degree of political centralization in evolution of Muisca chiefdoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has affected the geographical distributions of most species worldwide; in particular, insects of economic importance inhabiting tropical regions have been impacted. Current and future predictions of change in geographic distribution are frequently included in species distribution models (SDMs). The potential spatial distributions of the fruit fly Anastrepha striata Schiner, the main species of agricultural importance in guava crops, under current and possible future scenarios in Colombia were modeled, and the establishment risk was assessed for each guava-producing municipality in the country. SDMs were developed using 221 geographical records in conjunction with nine scenopoetic variables. The model for current climate conditions indicated an extensive suitable area for the establishment of A. striata in the Andean region, smaller areas in the Caribbean and Pacific, and almost no areas in the Orinoquia and Amazonian regions. A brief discussion regarding the area's suitability for the fly is offered. According to the results, altitude is one of the main factors that direct the distribution of A. striata in the tropics. The Colombian guava-producing municipalities were classified according to the degree of vulnerability to fly establishment as follows: 42 were high risk, 16 were intermediate risk, and 17 were low risk. The implementation of future integrated management plans must include optimal spatial data and must consider environmental aspects, such as those suggested by the models presented here. Control decisions should aim to mitigate the positive relationship between global warming and the increase in the dispersal area of the fruit fly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical mountains display limited variation in monthly temperatures, but high spatial climatic variability. It is assumed this stability promotes ecological and physiological adaptations to local temperatures, which may preclude dispersal up or downslope. Determining how environmental, taxonomic and morphological factors affect thermal limits is fundamental to understand biotic responses to global warming.We selected 54 species of dragonflies and damselflies (Order Odonata) distributed from 300 to 2,550 m along one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet, the Tatamá elevational gradient in the Andean‐Choco region transition. We estimated for 846 individuals three thermal tolerance parameters: CTmax, the highest temperature preceding the loss of motor control, Tvol, the temperature at which individuals avoid heat, and CTmin, the minimum temperature required for wing movement.For each thermal tolerance parameter, we evaluated associations between physiological and behavioural responses, species elevational distribution and specialization to forests or open areas. We also evaluated the effect of autecological characteristics such as body mass, sex and taxonomy on temperature regulation.Temperatures prevalent at different elevations and habitats are associated with odonate upper thermal limits. However, tolerance to low temperatures is not associated with habitat use or elevation. Forest species display lower thermal tolerances. Small species are more tolerant to high temperatures than larger species. Dragonflies are more tolerant to high temperatures than damselflies with similar body mass. Females are more tolerant to high temperatures than males.Our results highlight the importance of considering differences in morphology, life history and behaviour when comparing thermal tolerances of organisms along elevational gradients. Only by incorporating such factors, it would be possible to generate accurate predictions on the impact of climate change on tropical organisms. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has significantly affected rural lives around the world. Adaptation, as a political response to this situation, interacts with longer trajectories of agrarian capitalism and peasant's expectations for the future. Through the concept of imagined transitions, this article explores how peasants of northern Colombia manufacture and project their own transition to an agrarian capitalist future in the aftermath of climate-related floods and in the midst of adaptation interventions. Peasants use adaptation to imagine a future in which they are no longer peasants but have instead become rural entrepreneurs who play a proactive role in the development of capitalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Catalana de Dret Ambiental is the property of Universitat Rovira I Virgili and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Agrícolas is the property of Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agricolas y Pecuarias and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) provides numerous benefits for the rural poor. Heat tolerant varieties require rapid adoption of new seeds to replace traditional varieties. However, a number of institutional and household factors, predominantly lack of extension and information, has led to low uptake despite decades of intervention. We focus on growers in Colombia and apply a bespoke questionnaire to 566 households to understand their awareness, experiences and concern towards climatic change. We classify these into four groups of 'interpretive communities'. Whilst there is a small portion of the sample who claim to be unaffected and unconcerned towards climate change, the remainder identify varying degrees of experience with climatic events. However, this does not directly translate into similar levels of concern towards the future impact of climate change. A multinomial logistic regression finds that concern is driven by a number of factors, but is highest in those farmers who specialize their production. Altitude and distance to markets also appear to have some effect in shaping perceptions of our classes. We conclude that consideration of these interpretative communities offers more information to frame messages and focusing of effort on those cohorts would lead to more likelihood of change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change includes the change of the long-term average values and the change of the tails of probability density functions, where the extreme events are located. However, obtaining average values are more straightforward than the high temporal resolution information necessary to catch the extreme events on those tails. Such information is difficult to get in areas lacking sufficient rain stations. Thanks to the development of Satellite Precipitation Estimates with a daily resolution, this problem has been overcome, so Extreme Precipitation Indices (EPI) can be calculated for the entire Colombian territory. However, Colombia is strongly affected by the ENSO (El Niño—Southern Oscillation) phenomenon. Therefore, it is pertinent to ask if the EPI's long-term change due to climate change is more critical than the anomalies due to climate variability induced by the warm and cold phases of ENSO (El Niño and La Niña, respectively). In this work, we built EPI annual time series at each grid-point of the selected Satellite Precipitation Estimate (CHIRPSv2) over Colombia to answer the previous question. Then, the Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test was used to compare the samples drawn in each case (i.e., change tests due to both long-term and climatic variability). After performing the analyses, we realized that the importance of the change depends on the region analyzed and the considered EPI. However, some general conclusions became evident: during El Niño years (La Niña), EPI's anomaly follows the general trend of reduction -drier conditions- (increase; -wetter conditions-) observed in Colombian annual precipitation amount, but only on the Pacific, the Caribbean, and the Andean region. In the Eastern plains of Colombia (Orinoquía and Amazonian region), EPI show a certain insensitivity to change due to climatic variability. On the other hand, EPI's long-term changes in the Pacific, the Caribbean, and the Andean region are spatially scattered. Still, long-term changes in the eastern plains have a moderate spatial consistency with statistical significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Facultad Nacional de Agronomía Medellín is the property of Universidad Nacional de Colombia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Colombia has a total of 27.2 million heads of cattle, ranking fourth among the Latin American countries. Identifying sustainable strategies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) will help the Colombian government meet their goal of a 51% reduction in national emissions by 2030. Estimation of yield gaps for identifying the potential to improve cattle farms productivity and efficiency in Colombia help on reducing the GHGE intensities from the cattle sector. This paper aims to calculate the gap between attainable and actual milk and meat yields for specialized dairy, dual-purpose, cow-calf, and fattening production systems in 3 agro-ecological zones (AEZ) in Colombia; to identify the main aspects that restrict the meat and milk yields in these production systems; and analyze how closing yield gaps affect the carbon footprint (CF) of meat and milk production. The most suitable AEZs for cattle activities were identified by considering environmental, climatic, edaphic, and land characteristics. From a dataset of 1505 surveyed farms, a yield gap benchmarking analysis for estimating the potential to increase meat and milk yields in each of the identified AEZ was applied. The most productive farms were included in the "best farms" while the rest of the farms belonged to the "farms operating below potential". A "cradle to farm-gate" Life Cycle Assessment was used to calculate the CF. Three scenarios were proposed for closing the yield gaps by 50, 75, and 100%, between the two groups of farms. Three AEZs likely to support cattle activities in Colombia were identified. Average milk production from the farms operating below potential was 45–50% of potential production, and meat was 34–51%, indicating that a potential to achieve increases in milk and meat productivity exists. CFs of 1 kg milk or meat were lower in the groups of best-performing farms than in the groups of farms operating below potential. Yield gaps for milk and meat production can be closed by improving cattle management practices and better technologies. As a general trend, closing the yield gaps decreases the CFs. Our findings contribute to understand the farms' current productive performance and provides key insights into the possible technological and managerial changes for improving the productivity of cattle systems in Colombia. In addition, the study showed how milk and meat CFs can be lowered with the adoption of proper cattle management practices, and better technologies. [Display omitted] • Cattle are responsible for 21% of Colombian GHG emissions, identifying sustainable strategies for its mitigation is crucial. • Yield gap analysis is useful for exploring opportunities to increase yields by identifying factors constraining production. • This study calculated the yield gaps for Colombian cattle systems, their carbon footprints, and proposed mitigation options. • Substantial cattle yield gaps were found, hence there is a considerable scope to improve milk and meat yields in Colombia. • Closing the yield gaps by increasing cattle productivity is an important mitigation strategy of climate change in Colombia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Road infrastructure is engineered to perform through constant exposure to climatological stressors. Due to climate change in particular, expected rises in the average ambient and extreme temperatures, pavement performance might deviate from what was originally predicted at the design stage. This poses serious risks to the long-term performance of this infrastructure because the capacity of a transportation network to provide an acceptable level of service over the period that it was intended for is also seriously affected. However, identifying where potential risks are greatest and where more involved planning and prioritizing is needed is hampered by the lack of vulnerability assessment methods that appropriately integrate failure pathways and engineering decisions. In this study, a new vulnerability index is proposed—extent of pavement grade reliability loss (EPGRL), which has the capacity to capture both flexible pavement performance and transportation serviceability. The index is based on two assumptions. First, flexible pavement performance is directly related to the inherent rheological properties of the asphalt binder, which can be estimated from the performance binder grade requirements for a locale. Second, the level of service of a road network can be represented by its connectivity, expressed here by a network centrality measure, the betweenness score. Two developing countries, Colombia and India, were selected to analyze the capabilities of the EPGRL. The results obtained indicate the EPGRL captures the available performance capability of pavement infrastructure together with the importance of transportation network elements. Hence, it can be used as a tool to evaluate and quantify the vulnerability of transportation infrastructure to future climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We sketch the initial history of collecting deep cores in terrestrial and marine sedimentary basins and ice cores to study environmental and climate change. Subsequently, we focus on the development of long records from the Northern Andes. The 586 m long pollen record from ancient Lake Bogotá reflects the last 2.25 ×106 years with ∼ 1.2 kyr resolution, whereas the sediment core reflects almost the complete Quaternary. The 58 m long composite core from Lake Fúquene covers the last 284 ka with ∼ 60 years resolution. We address the various challenges and limitations of working with deep continental cores. For the tropics, the presence of these deep cores has made the Northern Andes a key area in developing and testing hypotheses in the fields of ecology, paleobiogeography, and climate change. We summarize the results in the figures, and for details on the paleoenvironmental reconstructions, we refer to the corresponding literature. We provide an overview of the literature on long continental records from all continents (see the Supplement). Based on our 50 years of experience in continental core drilling, developing a research capacity to analyze the large amounts of samples, and keeping a team together to publish the results, we listed suggestions in support of deep continental records aimed at studying environmental and climate change over long intervals of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Gestión y Ambiente is the property of Universidad Nacional de Colombia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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Climate change impacts threaten farmers' livelihoods and global food security. Adaptation to climate change can protect both farmers and our food supply. Structurational divergence theory (SD theory) provides a holistic framework to understand the unique contexts of groups impacted by climate change and to reveal constraints and opportunities for adaptation efforts. We apply SD theory to climate change adaptation, focusing on a population of Colombian coffee farmers in Risaralda who are impacted by climate change. Our findings reveal a SD cycle blocking successful adaptation. Climate change impacts exacerbate farmers' pre-existing financial strain and threaten their livelihoods, yet they lack the information and political and structural support needed to take action. This impedes development and creates a downward spiral of immobilization; the farmers will continue to be unprepared for climate change and practice inconsistent adaptation efforts until structures shift to provide them with the information and resources needed for successful adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars and policymakers working on non-state climate action have tended to focus on functional considerations, largely neglecting questions of ideology. This article brings them into the spotlight by investigating how ideology affects climate action initiatives. Based on a new database of 389 projects associated with reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, the article examines how ideology affects project design and partnering. A quantitative analysis and four case studies of projects in Colombia and Peru show how environmental ideology shapes the preferences of project developers for project designs and partners. Two mechanisms that underlie this are also derived. The findings show how a focus on ideology can help open the black box of climate action initiatives and explain their substantive variation. They also offer insights into the ideological implications of the transnationalization of climate governance. Non-state climate action at once entrenches the neoliberal ideological status quo of climate politics and offers critical ideologies a foothold. This poses risks for the future effectiveness and legitimacy of non-state climate action and should be considered in the design of the emerging institutional architecture that supports it. This article also sets a platform for and outlines the contours of a future research agenda on ideology in climate action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite recognizing that climate change and its impacts are not gender-neutral, only few studies address the arising complexities. While in some climate-relevant sectors, such as the transport sector, there already is some initial research on the relationship between climate and gender, research on the climate–gender nexus in the coal sector is still underdeveloped, and the few existing studies focus on dichotomous relations (gender–coal and coal–climate). This article discusses the currently neglected climate, coal, and gender triad and develops a conceptualization along the following aspects: (i) common lines of arguments, (ii) shortcomings in predominant arguments, and (iii) the state-of-the-art regarding the climate–gender–coal triad. To illustrate this outline, it uses the empirical case of the Colombian coal sector. Based on original data obtained via semi-structured interviews, it analyzes how imminent national-level climate policies for the coal sector, i.e., an energy transition, can be made gender-responsive and thus contribute to a just transition. The empirical example shows that women are already important change agents at the local level and in informal decision-making spaces. Although more research is needed to obtain further insights and evidence, this article contributes to the findings of more recent research which allow for the assumption that addressing climate and gender simultaneously may be mutually beneficial for both policy objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adequate water resources management includes understanding patterns and spatiotemporal variability of precipitation, as this variable is determinant for ecosystems' stability, food security, and most human activities. Based on satellite estimations validated through ground measurements from 59 meteorological stations, the objective of this study is to evaluate the long-term spatiotemporal variability and trends of the average monthly precipitation in the Magdalena Department, Colombia, for the 1981-2018 period. This heterogeneous region comprises many different ecoregions in its 23,188 km² area. The analysis of spatial variability allowed for the determination of four different subregions based on the differences in the average values of precipitation and the degree of rainfall variability. The trend analysis indicates that the current rainfall patterns contradict previous estimates of a progressive decrease in annual averages due to climate change in the study region, as most of the department does not exhibit statistically significant trends, except for the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta area, where this study found reductions between 10 mm yr-1 and 30 mm yr-1. The findings of this study also suggest the existence of some links between precipitation patterns with regional phenomena of climate variability and solar activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]