Tropical rainforests are subject to extensive degradation by commercial selective logging. Despite pervasive changes to forest structure, selectively logged forests represent vital refugia for global biodiversity. The ability of these forests to buffer temperature-sensitive species from climate warming will be an important determinant of their future conservation value, although this topic remains largely unexplored. Thermal buffering potential is broadly determined by: (i) the difference between the "macroclimate" (climate at a local scale, m to ha) and the "microclimate" (climate at a fine-scale, mm to m, that is distinct from the macroclimate); (ii) thermal stability of microclimates (e.g. variation in daily temperatures); and (iii) the availability of microclimates to organisms. We compared these metrics in undisturbed primary forest and intensively logged forest on Borneo, using thermal images to capture cool microclimates on the surface of the forest floor, and information from dataloggers placed inside deadwood, tree holes and leaf litter. Although major differences in forest structure remained 9-12 years after repeated selective logging, we found that logging activity had very little effect on thermal buffering, in terms of macroclimate and microclimate temperatures, and the overall availability of microclimates. For 1°C warming in the macroclimate, temperature inside deadwood, tree holes and leaf litter warmed slightly more in primary forest than in logged forest, but the effect amounted to <0.1°C difference between forest types. We therefore conclude that selectively logged forests are similar to primary forests in their potential for thermal buffering, and subsequent ability to retain temperature-sensitive species under climate change. Selectively logged forests can play a crucial role in the long-term maintenance of global biodiversity.
A bipolar disjunction is an extreme, yet common, biogeographic pattern in non-vascular plants, yet its underlying mechanisms (vicariance or long-distance dispersal), origin and timing remain poorly understood. Here, combining a large-scale population dataset and multiple dating analyses, we examine the biogeography of four bipolar Polytrichales mosses, common to the Holarctic (temperate and polar Northern Hemisphere regions) and the Antarctic region (Antarctic, sub-Antarctic, southern South America) and other Southern Hemisphere (SH) regions. Our data reveal contrasting patterns, for three species were of Holarctic origin, with subsequent dispersal to the SH, while one, currently a particularly common species in the Holarctic (Polytrichum juniperinum), diversified in the Antarctic region and from here colonized both the Holarctic and other SH regions. Our findings suggest long-distance dispersal as the driver of bipolar disjunctions. We find such inter-hemispheric dispersals are rare, occurring on multi-million-year timescales. High-altitude tropical populations did not act as trans-equatorial 'stepping-stones', but rather were derived from later dispersal events. All arrivals to the Antarctic region occurred well before the Last Glacial Maximum and previous glaciations, suggesting that, despite the harsh climate during these past glacial maxima, plants have had a much longer presence in this southern region than previously thought.
Flies attracted to human remains during death investigations were surveyed in north Peninsular Malaysia. Six families, eight genera, and 16 species were identified from human remains, with the greatest fly diversity occurring on remains recovered indoors. The total relative frequency of species was led by Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius, 1794) (46%), followed by Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart, 1842) (22%), Sarcophaga (Liopygia) ruficornis (Fabricius, 1974) (5%), Sarcophaga spp. (4%), Synthesiomyia nudiseta Wulp, 1883 (6%), Megaselia spp. (3%), Megaselia scalaris (Loew, 1866), (2%), Megaselia spiracularis Schmitz, 1938 (2%), and Chrysomya villeneuvi Patton, 1922 (2%). Hemipyrellia tagaliana (Bigot, 1877), Desmometopa sp., Megaselia curtineura (Brues, 1909), Hemipyrellia ligurriens Wiedemann 1830, Ophyra sp., Sarcophaga princeps Wiedemann 1830, Piophila casei (Linnaeus, 1758), and unidentified pupae each represented 1%, respectively.
Zooplankton are major consumers of phytoplankton primary production in marine ecosystems. As such, they represent a critical link for energy and matter transfer between phytoplankton and bacterioplankton to higher trophic levels and play an important role in global biogeochemical cycles. In this Review, we discuss key responses of zooplankton to ocean warming, including shifts in phenology, range, and body size, and assess the implications to the biological carbon pump and interactions with higher trophic levels. Our synthesis highlights key knowledge gaps and geographic gaps in monitoring coverage that need to be urgently addressed. We also discuss an integrated sampling approach that combines traditional and novel techniques to improve zooplankton observation for the benefit of monitoring zooplankton populations and modelling future scenarios under global changes.
The study estimates the long-run dynamics of a cleaner environment in promoting the gross domestic product of E7 and G7 countries. The recent study intends to estimate the climate change mitigation factor for a cleaner environment with the GDP of E7 countries and G7 countries from 2010 to 2018. For long-run estimation, second-generation panel data techniques including augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF), Phillip-Peron technique and fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) techniques are applied to draw the long-run inference. The results of the study are robust with VECM technique. The outcomes of the study revealed that climate change mitigation indicators significantly affect the GDP of G7 countries than that of E7 countries. The GDP of both E7 and G7 countries is found depleting due to less clean environment. However, green financing techniques helps to clean the environment and reinforce the confidence of policymakers on the elevation of green economic growth in G7 and E7 countries. Furthermore, study results shown that a 1% rise in green financing index improves the environmental quality by 0.375% in G7 countries, while it purifies 0.3920% environment in E7 countries. There is a need to reduce environmental pollution, shift energy generation sources towards alternative, innovative and green sources.The study also provides different policy implications for the stakeholders guiding to actively promote financial hedging for green financing. So that climate change and envoirnmental pollution reduction could be achieved effectively. The novelty of the study lies in study framework.
Energy efficiency (EE) is an evolving research aspect for researchers, businesses, and policymakers for its undeniable role in meeting increasing energy demand, reducing CO2 emissions, and tackling climate change. This paper provides a review of the current state of EE research by mapping the research landscape in business and economics to understand the socioeconomic dimensions within these research areas. To identify key information, we examine the trends and characteristics of 2935 relevant scientific publications over a 30-year period from 1990 to 2019 in the Social Science Citation Index of the Web of Science database using bibliometric analysis with a R language package called 'bibliometrix'. Our analysis shows an increasing trend in publications from 2006 onwards; the period remarkably coincides with the implementation phase of the Kyoto protocol in 2005. Accordingly, we observe that EE research has a strong association with issues like CO2 emissions, climate change, sustainability, and the growing importance of these issues in recent years. Thus, our findings provide crucial understandings by incorporating a wide array of scientific outputs in response to calls for greater theoretical clarification of EE research. These findings provide insights into the current state of the art of, and identify crucial areas for future, research. Hence, our research assists in formulating environmentally sustainable policies to tackle the adverse effects of CO2 emissions and related climate change through providing critical grasps on the scholarly development related to EE.
Green finance is inextricably linked to investment risk, particularly in emerging and developing economies (EMDE). This study uses the difference in differences (DID) method to evaluate the mean causal effects of a treatment on an outcome of the determinants of scaling up green financing and climate change mitigation in the N-11 countries from 2005 to 2019. After analyzing with a dummy for the treated countries, it was confirmed that the outcome covariates: rescon (renewable energy sources consumption), population, FDI, CO2, inflation, technical corporation grants, domestic credit to the private sector, and research and development are very significant in promoting green financing and climate change mitigation in the study countries. The probit regression results give a different outcome, as rescon, FID, CO2, Human Development Index (HDI), and investment in the energy sector by the private sector that will likely have an impact on the green financing and climate change mitigation of the study countries. Furthermore, after matching the analysis through the nearest neighbor matching, kernel matching, and radius matching, it produced mixed results for both the treated and the untreated countries. Either group experienced an improvement in green financing and climate change mitigation or a decrease. Overall, the DID showed no significant difference among the countries.
This study aims to gain more understanding on highland farmers' adaptation towards the impacts of climate change in Malaysia. Via a multi-stage cluster sampling, this quantitative study has surveyed a total of 400 highland farmers as respondents. The results indicated that the highest climate change-resilient farmers were from Kundasang, specifically among the females, Dusun ethnic group, and those who work side jobs to cover household expenses. Furthermore, recorded factors such as age and years of experience yielded significant negative relationship with adaptation whereas income yielded significant positive relationship with adaptation. The paper concludes with recommendations related to occupational diversification, consistent information disseminations, access to financial assistance, and the need to empower extension officers and local leaders in the hope that a comprehensive approach can help implement any community climate change-adaptation plan.
The existing literature have demonstrated a considerable amount of existing studies that merely interest on scientific perspectives by examining the physical environmental changes rather than conducting social-based studies that allow for the comparison of adaptation ability between mainland and island small-scale fishermen. Therefore, the current research attempts to fill this gap by investigating the adaptation level of mainland and island small-scale fishermen towards climate changes for the purpose of further identifying any significant differences regarding their adaptation aspects. The primary aim of the current research is to conduct a comparative study with the purpose of assessing the environmental change adaptation ability between the mainland and the islander small-scale fishermen. In the context of the current research, a quantitative approach was employed by selecting a total of 600 samples through several levels of cluster sampling. The instrument for the study was developed based on the 16 adaptation variables that were suggested within the adaptation framework proposed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. The data were analysed using SPSS, whereby to achieve the study's main objective, inferential analysis which refers to the independent t test was performed to examine any possible significant difference that might exist. In regard to this matter, various significant differences between the islander and the mainland fishermen managed to be detected in 10 adaptation aspects out of the 16 adaptation variables which include the capacity to adapt to change (monetary and emotional adaptability); the level of interest in adapting to change; the ability to plan, learn, and reorganize; and attachment to occupation. Accordingly, a number of recommendations were discussed at the end of this study which is hoped to assist the involved and relevant parties in arranging better adjustment approaches for small-scale fishermen in Malaysia.
This paper examines the effect of climate change and financial development on agricultural production in ASEAN-4, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand from 1990 to 2016. Further, we explore the role of renewable energy, institutional quality, and human capital on agricultural production. Since the shocks in one country affect another country, we use second-generation modeling techniques to find out the relationship among the variables. The Westerlund (2007) cointegration tests confirm long-run relationship among the variables. The results from cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) model reveal that climate change negatively affects agricultural production; on the other hand, renewable energy, human capital, and institutional quality affect positively agricultural production. Moreover, renewable energy utilization, human capital, and intuitional quality moderates the effect of carbon emission on agricultural production. In addition, a U-shaped relationship exists between financial development and agricultural production, suggesting that financial development improves agricultural production only after reaching a certain threshold. Hence, this study suggests that ASEAN-4 countries must adopt flexible financial and agricultural policies so that farmers would be benefitted and agricultural production can be increased.
Global warming has amplified the frequency of temperature extremes, especially in hot dry countries, which could have serious consequences for the natural and built environments. Egypt is one of the hot desert climate regions that are more susceptible to climate change and associated hazards. This study attempted to project the changes in temperature extremes for three Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs), namely, SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, and SSP5-8.5 and two future periods (early future: 2020-2059 and late future: 2060-2099) by using daily maximum (Tmax) and minimum temperature (Tmin) of general circulation model (GCMs) of Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6). The findings showed that most temperature extreme indices would increase especially by the end of the century. In the late future, the change in the mean Tmin (4.3 °C) was projected to be higher than the mean Tmax (3.7 °C). Annual maximum Tmax, temperature above 95th percentile of Tmax, and the number of hot days above 40 °C and 45 °C were projected to increase in the range 3.0‒5.4 °C, 1.5‒4.8 °C, 20‒95 days, and 10‒52 days, respectively. In contrast, the annual minimum of Tmin, temperature below the 5th percentile, and the annual percentage of cold nights were projected to change in the range of 2.95‒5.0 °C, 1.4‒3.6 °C, and - 0.1‒0.1%, respectively. In all the cases, the lowest changes would be for SSP1-2.6 in the early period and the greatest changes for SSP5-8.5 in the late period. The study indicates that the country is likely to experience a rise in hot extremes and a decline in cold extremes. Therefore, Egypt should take long-term adaptation plans to build social resiliency to rising hot extremes.
Health, safety, and environment (HSE) are critical aspects of any industry, particularly in high-risk environments, such as the oil and gas industry. Continuous accident reports indicate the requirement for the effective implementation of safety rules, regulations, and practices. This systematic literature review examines the relationship between safety communication and safety commitment in high-risk workplaces, specifically focusing on the oil and gas industry. The review comprises 1,439 articles from 2004 to 2023, retrieved from the Scopus and Web of Science databases following the PRISMA comprehensive guidelines. This study considers safety communication, communication climate, and communication satisfaction to evaluate their influence on safety commitment under occupational health and safety. This study identifies safety commitment issues and their underlying factors, discussing measures for preventing and reducing accidents and incidents and highlighting preventive measures for future research. It also signifies the variables influencing accident and incident rates. The research underscores the importance of communication dimensions and the need for workers to possess adequate skills, knowledge, and attitudes regarding occupational safety and health procedures. Moreover, the study contributes to the industrial and academic domains by improving organizational safety commitment, promoting a safety culture, and developing effective communication strategies. Furthermore, practitioners may benefit from this comprehensive overview in developing, evaluating, and enhancing occupational safety.
The successive flood-heat extreme (SFHE) event, which threatens the securities of human health, economy, and building environment, has attracted extensive research attention recently. However, the potential changes in SFHE characteristics and the global population exposure to SFHE under anthropogenic warming remain unclear. Here, we present a global-scale evaluation of the projected changes and uncertainties in SFHE characteristics (frequency, intensity, duration, land exposure) and population exposure under the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 2.6 and 6.0 scenarios, based on the multi-model ensembles (five global water models forced by four global climate models) within the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project 2b framework. The results reveal that, relative to the 1970-1999 baseline period, the SFHE frequency is projected to increase nearly globally by the end of this century, especially in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (>20 events/30-year) and the tropical regions (e.g., northern South America, central Africa, and southeastern Asia, >15 events/30-year). The projected higher SFHE frequency is generally accompanied by a larger model uncertainty. By the end of this century, the SFHE land exposure is expected to increase by 12 % (20 %) under RCP2.6 (RCP6.0), and the intervals between flood and heatwave in SFHE tend to decrease by up to 3 days under both RCPs, implying the more intermittent SFHE occurrence under future warming. The SFHE events will lead to the higher population exposure in the Indian Peninsula and central Africa (<10 million person-days) and eastern Asia (<5 million person-days) due to the higher population density and the longer SFHE duration. Partial correlation analysis indicates that the contribution of flood to the SFHE frequency is greater than that of heatwave for most global regions, but the SFHE frequency is dominated by the heatwave in northern North America and northern Asia.
Coastal ecosystems play an important part in mitigating the effects of climate change. Coastal ecosystems are becoming more susceptible to climate change impacts due to human activities and maritime accidents. The global shipping industry, especially in Southeast Asia, has witnessed numerous accidents, particularly involving passenger ferries, resulting in injuries and fatalities in recent years. In order to mitigate the impact of climate change on coastal ecosystems, this study aimed to evaluate the relationship between employees' perceptions of safety criteria and their own safety behaviour on Langkawi Island, Malaysia. A straightforward random sampling technique was employed to collect data from 112 ferry employees aboard Malaysian-registered passenger boats by administering questionnaires. The findings shed light on the strong connection between providing safety instructions for passengers and safety behaviour among ferry workers. Safety instructions should contain climate-related information to successfully address the effects of climate change. The instructions might include guidance on responding to extreme weather events and understanding the potential consequences of sea-level rise on coastal communities. The ferry company staff should also expand their safe behaviour concept to include training and preparation for climate-related incidents. The need to recognise the interconnectedness between climate change, ferry safety and the protection of coastal ecosystems is emphasised in this study. The findings can be utilised by policymakers, regulatory agencies and ferry operators to design holistic policies that improve safety behaviour, minimise maritime mishaps and preserve the long-term sustainability of coastal ecosystems in the face of difficulties posed by climate change.
Global warming caused by increased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has a direct impact on human health. Gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy contributes significantly to GHG emissions due to energy consumption, reprocessing of endoscopes and accessories, production of equipment, safe disposal of biohazardous waste, and travel by patients. Moreover, GHGs are also generated in histopathology through tissue processing and the production of biopsy specimen bottles. The reduction in unnecessary surveillance endoscopies and biopsies is a practical approach to decrease GHG emissions without affecting disease outcomes. This narrative review explores the role of precision medicine in GI endoscopy, such as image-enhanced endoscopy and artificial intelligence, with a focus on decreasing unnecessary endoscopic procedures and biopsies in the surveillance and diagnosis of premalignant lesions in the esophagus, stomach, and colon. This review offers strategies to minimize unnecessary endoscopic procedures and biopsies, decrease GHG emissions, and maintain high-quality patient care, thereby contributing to sustainable healthcare practices.
The fate of humankind and all other life forms on earth is threatened by a foe, known as climate change. All parts of the world are affected directly or indirectly by this phenomenon. The rivers are drying up in some places and in other places, it is flooding. The global temperature is rising every year and the heat waves are taking many souls. The cloud of "extinction" is upon the majority of flora and fauna; even humans are prone to various fatal and life-shortening diseases from pollution. This is all caused by us. The so-called "development" by deforestation, releasing toxic chemicals into air and water, burning of fossil fuels in the name of industrialisation, and many others have made an irreversible cut in the heart of the environment. However, it is not too late; all of this could be healed back with the help of technology and our efforts together. As per the international climate reports, the average global temperature has increased by a little more than 1 °C since 1880s. The research is primarily focused on the use of machine learning and its algorithm to train a model that predicts the ice meltdown of a glacier, given the features using the Multivariate Linear Regression. The research strongly encourages the use of features by manipulating them to determine the feature with a major impact on the cause. The burning of coal and fossil fuels is the main source of pollution as per the study. The research focuses on the challenges to gather data that would be faced by the researchers and the requirement of the system for the development of the model. The study is aimed to spread awareness in society about the destruction we have caused and urges everyone to come forward and save the planet.
Carbon capture technologies are becoming increasingly crucial in addressing global climate change issues by lowering CO2 emissions from industrial and power generation activities. Post-combustion carbon capture, which uses membranes instead of adsorbents, has emerged as one of promising and environmentally friendly approaches among these technologies. The operation of membrane technology is based on the premise of selectively separating CO2 from flue gas emissions. This provides a number of different benefits, including improved energy efficiency and decreased costs of operation. Because of its adaptability to changing conditions and its low impact on the surrounding ecosystem, it is an appealing choice for a diverse array of uses. However, there are still issues to be resolved, such as those pertaining to establishing a high selectivity, membrane degradation, and the costs of the necessary materials. In this article, we evaluate and explore the prospective applications and roles of membrane technologies to control climate change by post-combustion carbon capturing. The primary proposition suggests that the utilization of membrane-based carbon capture has the potential to make a substantial impact in mitigating CO2 emissions originating from industrial and power production activities. This is due to its heightened ability to selectively absorb carbon, better efficiency in energy consumption, and its flexibility to various applications. The forthcoming challenges and potential associated with the application of membranes in post-carbon capture are also discussed.
The rapid rise in climate and ecological challenges have allowed policymakers to introduce stringent environmental policies. In addition, financial limitations may pose challenges for countries looking to green energy investments as energy transition is associated with geopolitical risks that could create uncertainty and dissuade green energy investments. The current study uses PTR and PSTR as econometric strategy to investigate how geopolitical risks and financial development indicators influence energy transition in selected industrial economies. Our findings indicate a non-linear DCPB-RE relationship with a threshold equal to 39.361 in PTR model and 35.605 and 122.35 in PSTR model. Additionally, when the threshold was estimated above, financial development indicators and geopolitical risk positively impacts renewable energy. This confirms that these economies operate within a geopolitical context, with the objective of investing more in clean energy. We report novel policy suggestion to encourage policymakers promoting energy transition and advance the sustainable financing development and ecological sustainability.