Search Results (17)

This study focuses on determining the thermal comfort conditions of seasonal agricultural workers during the hot periods of the year when agricultural production is intense in the Aksu/Türkiye region, which is characterized by the Csa climate type according to the Köppen–Geiger climate classification. In this study, the thermal comfort conditions of seasonal agricultural workers working on open farmlands were evaluated in ten-day, monthly, and seasonal periods for 6 months between 5:00 and 21:00 h using the modified Physiological Equivalent Temperature (mPET) index in the Rayman Pro software according to their activity energy during work. The results of the study reveal that increased activity energy leads to a decrease in thermal comfort conditions of agricultural workers, mPET values of agricultural workers engaged in soil cultivation (Group II) are 2.1 to 2.9 °C higher than the mPET values of workers engaged in plant care and harvesting (Group I), and the agricultural workers in Group II are exposed to more heat stress. The thermal comfort conditions of agricultural workers in Group I deteriorate between 09:00 and 16:00 h with mPET values between 34.1 and 35.3 °C and those of agricultural workers in Group II deteriorate between 08:00 and 17:00 h with mPET values between 34.3 and 37.7 °C. In this context, the daily comfortable working time in the morning and afternoon was found to be 9 h for Group I and 7 h for Group II. Overall, determining the comfortable working hours of agricultural workers in regions with different climate types in future studies will be an important resource for decision-makers in developing strategies to protect the health and increase the productivity of agricultural workers. Full article

Global food security has been significantly affected by climate change; hence, there is a need to come up with lasting and adaptable agricultural practices. The objective of this study is to understand the relationships between climate-smart agriculture (CSA) and food loss management, as these are essential fields that influence sustainable agriculture. By conducting a detailed bibliometric and bibliographic analysis, we have mapped out the research landscape regarding the intersection of CSA and food loss; more importantly, we have concentrated on climate-smart strategies’ implementation for the reduction of losses all through the agricultural value chain. Our investigation combined results concerning types of crops that can survive extreme weather conditions like droughts caused by global warming or cold snaps from severe weather events. This work brought out core research directions, clusters, and the regional distribution of scholarly articles, giving an understanding of the present state of CSA and food loss study. Full article

Although the influence of climate on the fire regime is unanimously recognized, most publications and studies on this influence are on a global scale. Therefore, this study aims to demonstrate the role of climate in wildfire incidence at the country and regional scale using multivariate statistical analysis and machine learning methods (clustering and classification algorithms). Mainland Portugal was chosen as a case study due to its climate and because it is the European region most affected by wildfires. The results demonstrate the climate signature in the spatial and temporal distribution of the wildfire incidence. The conclusions of the study include (i) the existence of two pyro-regions, with different types of climate (Csb and Csa) composed of NUTS II regions: the northern region composed of the Norte and Centro regions and the southern region composed of Alentejo and Algarve; (ii) the intra-annual variability in the wildfire incidence, characterized by two peaks, one in the spring and the other in the summer, are a consequence of the country’s type of climate; and (iii) how the annual cycle of wildfire incidence varies over the years depends on the weather conditions throughout each year. These results are of fundamental importance for wildfire managers, especially in the context of climate change. Full article

The viewpoint and reaction of a country towards climate change are shaped by its political, cultural, and scientific backgrounds, in addition to the distinct characteristics of its evolving climate and the anticipated and actual consequences of the phenomenon in the times ahead. A region’s climate has a significant impact on how water is managed and used, mostly in the primary sector, and both the distribution of ecosystem types and the amount and spreading of species on Earth. As a result, the environment and agricultural practices are affected by climate, so evaluating both distribution and evolution is extremely pertinent. Towards this aim, the climate distribution and evolution in the São Francisco River basin (SFRB) is assessed in three periods (1970–2000, 1981–2022) in the past and 2041–2060 in the future from an ensemble of GCMs under two SSPs (Shared Socioeconomic Pathways), SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5. The Köppen-Geiger (KG) climate classification system is analyzed, and climate change impacts are inferred for this watershed located in central-eastern Brazil, covering an area equivalent to 8% of the country. Results predict the disappearance of the hot summer (Csa) and warm summer (Csb) Mediterranean climates, and a reduction/increase in the tropical savanna with dry winter (Aw)/dry summer (As). A striking increase in the semi-arid hot (BSh-steppe) climate is predicted with a higher percentage (10%) under SSP5-8.5. The source and the mouth of SFRB are projected to endure the major impacts of climate change that are followed by a predicted increase/decrease in temperature/precipitation. Future freshwater resource availability and quality for human use will all be impacted. Consequences on ecosystems, agricultural, and socioeconomic sectors within the SFRB might deepen the current contrasts between regions, urban and rural areas, and even between population groups, thus translating, to a greater extent, the inequality that still characterizes Brazilian society. Maps depicting land use and cover changes in SFRB from 1985 to 2022 highlight tendencies such as urbanization, agricultural expansion, deforestation, and changes in shrubland and water bodies. Urban areas fluctuated slightly, while cropland significantly increased from 33.57% to 45.45% and forest areas decreased from 3.88% to 3.50%. Socioeconomic data reveals disparities among municipalities: 74.46% with medium Human Development Index (HDI), 0.59% with very high HDI, and 9.11% with low HDI. Most municipalities have a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita below US$6000. Population distribution maps show a predominance of small to medium-sized urban and rural communities, reflecting the basin’s dispersed demographic and economic profile. To achieve sustainable adaptation and mitigation of climate change impacts in SFRB, it is imperative that integrated measures be conducted with the cooperation of stakeholders, the local population, and decision-makers. Full article

In the upcoming period, city squares’ urban redesign will be crucial in achieving sustainable development goals. This study presents a systematic review of OTC-related studies for the urban design of city squares using the PRISMA 2020 methodology. A review included a total of 173 papers from 2001 to 2023. The results identified five study types—clusters based on four pre-defined criteria: study approach, data collection methods, time duration, and primary objectives. The clusters indicate that more than half of all studies are related to the comparison of thermal comfort and heat mitigation measures. Most of the case studies were located in one of three climate zones: temperate oceanic (Cfb) (58 studies), hot summer Mediterranean (Csa) (40 studies), or humid subtropical (Cfa) (28 studies). The most common geometry of the analyzed urban square is medium-sized, is rectangular, and has dominant axel orientation south–north. Also, based on all five clusters, several research gaps were identified, appropriate for future research: the majority of studies related to the traditionally considered climate areas, no typology of urban square geometry configuration based on OTC assessment, and the lack of a local design model for assessing and improving the thermal comfort of city squares. Full article

Climate change presents significant challenges to agriculture in developing nations, affecting farmers’ livelihoods and food security. In Ethiopia, agriculture is crucial to the economy and the well-being of millions. This study focuses on analyzing the determinants that affect smallholder farmers’ adoption of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technologies in the North Wello administrative zone, northern Ethiopia. Through multivariate and ordered probit econometric models, data from 411 rural household heads were analyzed. Results reveal the synergy among climate-smart agricultural practices in rainfed farming systems, essential for crafting a comprehensive CSA package within an agroecological framework. The multivariate probit estimation results show that education, membership in local organizations, farm size, tropical livestock unit (TLU), irrigated land ownership, plot number, steep slope, farmland distance to home, and access to a local media source are positive determinants for the decision to use the type and several climate-smart agricultural practices. Lack of credit, large family size, distance from extension services, and proximity to the nearest market were all associated with lower adoption of all CSA technologies. The findings suggest that blanket recommendations for climate-smart agricultural technologies for smallholder farmers can be avoided. The complementarities that exist between CSA technologies may require further investigation into how such complementarities have benefits in terms of improving land productivity and food security and reducing climate-related risks for smallholder farmers in Ethiopia and other contexts. Moreover, by emphasizing an agroecological framework, the study promotes environmentally sustainable and socially equitable agricultural practices that are economically viable, contributing to broader environmental sustainability and development goals. Full article

The adaptive value of the Drosophila subobscura chromosomal inversion polymorphism with regard to environmental effects is well-known. However, the specific details of the inversion adaptations to the global warming scenario deserve to be analyzed. Toward this aim, polymorphism and karyotypes were studied in 574 individuals from Petnica (Serbia) in annual samples taken in June for the period 2019–2022. Comparing the results of Petnica (Cfa: humid subtropical climate) with those from Avala (Serbia: Cfb, temperate oceanic climate) and Font Groga (Barcelona, Spain; Csa: hot-summer Mediterranean climate), significant differences were observed for their chromosomal polymorphism. In Petnica, inversions from U and E chromosomes mainly reacted significantly with regard to temperature, humidity, and rainfall. Moreover, the inversion polymorphism from Petnica (2019–2022) was compared with that from 1995. In this period, a significant increase in mean and maximum temperature was observed. However, to properly explain the observed variations of inversions over time, it was necessary to carefully analyze annual seasonal changes and particular heat wave episodes. Interestingly, yearly fluctuations of U chromosome ‘warm’-adapted inversions corresponded with opposite changes in ‘non-thermal’ inversions. Perhaps these types of inversions were not correctly defined with regard to thermal adaptation, or these fluctuations were also due to adaptations to other physical and/or biological variables. Finally, a joint study of chromosomal inversion polymorphism from many Balkan populations of D. subobscura indicated that different climatic regions presented distinct composition, including thermal-adapted inversions. Full article

Short-term and plot-level trials mostly produce data on the advantages of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices on food security in a changing climate. Previous studies evaluated only one or a combination of a few CSA practices that improved soil nutrients, particularly in the landscapes of East Africa; hence, it is difficult to draw general conclusions. In this study, we evaluated the effect of CSA practices portfolio on soil macronutrient (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) and micronutrient (manganese and zinc) levels in climate-smart villages (CSVs) in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania over a six-year period across different land uses such as agroforestry, cropland, grassland, forest, and control (without CSA practices). A total of 432 soil samples were collected at depths of 0–15, 15–45, and 45–100 cm, and analyzed for macro- and micronutrients. CSA practices increased total nitrogen (TN), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) regardless of land use type or soil depth. TN, P, and K were mainly stored in surface soil (0–15 cm), accounting for 50.8–52.5%, 47.0–79.5%, and 34.2–65.5% respectively. Concentrations of Mn and Zn were 1.5–3.6 and 5.1–15.6 times greater under CSA than those under the control, respectively, at all soil depths. Results suggest that CSA practices implemented using the landscape approach contributed to improved soil fertility, which is critical in developing more sustainable and resilient production systems among smallholder farmers. Full article

The building envelope includes all materials (glazing, external walls, doors, etc.) that separate the conditioned space from the outside environment. Building envelope characteristics significantly influence the energy consumption of buildings. In this study, research was carried out to find optimum building envelope design parameters, such as insulation thickness, orientation, glazing type, and the window-to-wall ratio of a room, using actual climatic data of two cities with different characteristics according to the Köppen climatic classification. The insulation thickness and the window type that minimizes the net present worth of the building façade over 20 years of a lifetime gave the optimum values. In addition, the effect of the various parameters, such as the infiltration rate through the envelope, room set-point temperature, and the fuel type, on the net present cost was also analyzed. It was found that appropriate selection of windows, orientation, and insulation thickness would lead to a significant reduction in the annual energy consumption. Despite having the lowest initial investment cost, the room with single glazed windows had the highest energy requirement and the net present cost. The building façade with double glazed windows, oriented towards the south-west, yielded the minimum net present cost in both locations. Results showed that the optimum external wall thickness is 9 cm in Hakkari (Dsa—Continental Climate) and 6 cm in Istanbul (Csa—Mild Climate). Full article

In response to the current social–political landscape, consumers’ expectations are changing. There is an increased need for companies to communicate about social issues such as climate change. This study is among the first to examine the differentiated and mediated effects of three messaging strategies: corporate social responsibility (CSR), corporate social advocacy (CSA), and corporate political activism (CPA), in the context of corporations communicating about climate change, which currently lacks scholarly attention. An online-survey experiment (N = 1048) compared the messaging strategies’ effects on three consumer responses: perceived credibility, perceived reputation, and positive word-of-mouth intention. Results from a structural equation model indicate that the type of corporate climate change communication (CCCC) has a differential effect on consumer responses. The differences are magnified by the mediation of consumers’ attribution of corporate climate motives in the relationship between the climate change message and consumer responses. This study advances scholarship on CSR, CSA, and CPA, and provides theoretical and practical implications for how a corporation communicates about climate change using different communication and engagement strategies. Full article

The capacity of green roofs to intercept rainfall, and consequently store and slow runoff resulting in a reduction in flood risk, is one of their main advantages. In this review, previous research related to the influence of green roofs on the hydrological cycle is examined with a special focus on studies for Mediterranean climate conditions (Csa and Csb according to the Köppen–Geiger climate classification). This climate is characterized by short and intense rainfall occurrences which, along with the increased area of impervious surface on Mediterranean regions, intensify the risk of flooding, particularly in the cities. The analysis covers the variables rainfall retention (R, %), runoff delay (RD, min or h), peak delay (PD, min or h), peak attenuation (PA, %), and runoff coefficient (RC, −), in relation to physical features of the green roof such as layers, substrate depth, slope, and vegetation, as well as, weather conditions, such as monthly temperature and monthly precipitation. Following a statistical analysis, some patterns for the average rainfall retention (%) were found in the published literature for green roofs under Mediterranean climate conditions—namely, that the most significant variables are related to the substrate depth, the existence of certain layers (root barrier, drainage layer), the origin of the vegetation, the types of green roofs (extensive, semi-intensive, intensive), and the precipitation and temperature of the location. Moreover, a multivariate analysis was conducted using multiple linear regression to identify the set of green roof features and weather conditions that best explain the rainfall retention (%), taking into consideration not only the studies under Mediterranean conditions but all climates, and a similar pattern emerged. Recommendations for future research include addressing the effect of physical features and weather conditions on the other variables (RD, PD, PA, RC) since, although present in some studies, they still do not provide enough information to reach clear conclusions. Full article

An urban atmospheric modeling study was undertaken with the goal of informing the development of a heat-mitigation plan for the greater Sacramento Valley, California. Realistic levels of mitigation measures were characterized and ranked in terms of their effectiveness in producing urban cooling under current conditions and future climate and land use. An urban heat-island index was computed for current and future climates based on each location’s time-varying upwind temperature reference points and its hourly temperatures per coincident wind direction. For instance, the UHII for the period 16–31 July 2015, for all-hours averaged temperature equivalent (i.e., °C · h hr⁻¹), ranged from 1.5 to 4.7 °C across the urban areas in the region. The changes in local microclimates corresponding to future conditions were then quantified by applying a modified high-resolution urban meteorology model in dynamically downscaling a climate model along with future urbanization and land use change projections for each area. It was found that the effects of urbanization were of the same magnitude as that of the local climate change. Considering the urban areas in the region and the selected emissions scenarios, the all-hours temperature equivalent of the UHII (°C · h hr⁻¹) increased by between 0.24 and 0.80 °C, representing an increase of between 17% and 13% of their respective values in the current climate. Locally, instantaneous (e.g., hourly) temperatures could increase by up to ~3 °C because of climate effects and up to ~5 °C because of both climate and urbanization changes. The efficacies of urban heat mitigation measures were ranked both at the county level and at local project scales. It was found that urban cooling measures could help decrease or offset exceedances in the National Weather Service heat index (NWS HI) above several warning thresholds and reduce the number of heatwave or excessive heat event days. For example, measures that combine increased albedo and urban forests can reduce the exceedances above NWS HI Danger level by between 50% and 100% and the exceedances above Extreme Caution level by between 18% and 36%. UHII offsets from each mitigation measure were quantified for two situations: (1) a scenario where a community implements cooling measures and no other nearby communities take any action and (2) a scenario where both the community and its upwind neighbors implement cooling measures. In this second situation, the community benefits from cooler air transported from upwind areas in addition to the local cooling resulting from implementation of its own heat mitigation strategies. The modeling of future climates showed that except for a number of instances, the ranking of measures in each respective urban area remains unchanged into the future. Full article

Climate change is easily the most serious human and environmental crisis of the present generation. While awareness of the existence and consequences of climate change is becoming widespread, the specific effects on agriculture and the extent to which innovative climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices are being adopted remain unclear. This study was conducted in three local municipalities of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa to determine the patterns of smallholder choice of alternative climate-smart agricultural practices and the factors affecting such choices. It was particularly crucial to investigate why adaptation of CSA practices continues to be lower than expectation despite awareness of their benefits, thus highlighting the social and cultural limits to adaptation to climate change. A total of 210 households were enumerated on the basis of their involvement in crop and livestock farming. The data were analyzed by means of multinomial logistic model, which was applied separately to individual local municipality data sets and a combined provincial data set, and it was revealed that most farmers were not being sufficiently motivated to move from established practices to adopt new CSA practices. The most influential factors in the decision process as to what CSA practice to adopt were primary occupation, farming system type, household size, age and membership of farmer groups. It seemed that asset fixity constrained farmers to continue with existing practices rather than shift to new, more profitable practices, a situation that can be resolved by external intervention by government agencies and/or other entities. Awareness creation targeting remote rural areas as well as institutions to ease farmers’ access to credit and information will contribute to higher adoption rates, which are likely to lead to enhanced food security and standard of living for rural dwellers as their agricultural production and productivity improve. Full article

Dust and atmospheric particles have been described in southwestern Iran primarily in terms of load, concentration and transport. The passive deposition, however, has been discussed inadequately. Therefore, the relationships between different climate zones in southwestern Iran and dust deposition rates were quantified between 2014 and 2017 using both space- (second modern-era retrospective analysis for research and applications, version 2 reanalysis model) and ground-based (eolian ground deposition rate) tools. In addition, the surface meteorological records, including the wind patterns favoring the occurrence of dust events, were examined. A hot desert climate (BWh), hot semi-arid climate (BSh), and temperate hot and dry summer climate (Csa) were identified as the three dominant climate regions in the study area, exhibiting the highest average dust deposition rates. In this study, correlations between the most relevant climate patterns and deposition rate weather parameters were found to describe a region’s deposition rate when a dust event occurred. Based on these results, the BSh and Csa regions were found to be associated with the seasonal cycle of dust events in March, April, and May, revealing that in the long run meteorological conditions were responsible for the varying dust deposition rates. Relatively, precipitation and temperature were the two major factors influencing dust deposition rates, not wind speed. Moreover, the peak seasonal deposition rates in the spring and summer were 8.40 t km⁻² month⁻¹, 6.06 t km⁻² month⁻¹, and 3.30 t km⁻² month⁻¹ for the BWh, BSh, and Csa climate regions, respectively. However, each of these climate types was directly related to the specific quantity of the dust deposition rates. Overall, the highest dust deposition rates were detected over the years studied were 100.80 t km⁻² year⁻¹, 79.27 t km⁻² year⁻¹, and 39.60 t km⁻² year⁻¹ for BWh, BSh, and Csa, respectively. Full article

Climate-Smart Villages (CSVs) were established by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) in the East African countries of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to test and promote a portfolio of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices that have climate change mitigation potential. This study evaluated the soil carbon sequestration potential of these CSVs compared to the control land use that did not have CSA practices. At the one-meter depth, soil carbon stocks increased by 20–70%, 70–86%, and 51–110% in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda CSVs, respectively, compared to control. Consequently, CSVs contributed to the reduction of emissions by 87–420 Mg CO₂ eq ha⁻¹. In the topsoil (0–15 cm), CSVs sequestered almost twice more soil carbon than the control and subsequently emissions were reduced by 42–158 Mg CO₂ eq ha⁻¹ under CSVs. The annual increase in carbon sequestration under CSVs ranged between 1.6 and 6.2 Mg C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ and substantially varied between the CSA land use types. The forests sequestered the highest soil carbon (5–6 Mg C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹), followed by grasslands and croplands. The forest topsoil also had lower bulk density compared to the control. The findings suggest that CSA practices implemented through the CSVs approach contribute to climate change mitigation through soil carbon sequestration. Full article