Future impact of climate extremes in the Mediterranean: Soil erosion projections when fire and extreme rainfall meet

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (18) ◽  
pp. 3040-3054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandra Morán‐Ordóñez ◽  
Andrea Duane ◽  
Assu Gil‐Tena ◽  
Miquel De Cáceres ◽  
Núria Aquilué ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Climate Extremes ◽  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Mediterranean Soil

scholarly journals A Spatial Improved-kNN-Based Flood Inundation Risk Framework for Urban Tourism under Two Rainfall Scenarios

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2859
Author(s):  
Shuang Liu ◽  
Rui Liu ◽  
Nengzhi Tan
Keyword(s):  
Nearest Neighbor ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Climate Extremes ◽  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Urban Tourism ◽  
Evaluation Framework ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Flood Inundation ◽  
K Nearest Neighbor

Urban tourism has been suffering socio-economic challenges from flood inundation risk (FIR) triggered by extraordinary rainfall under climate extremes. The evaluation of FIR is essential for mitigating economic losses, and even casualties. This study proposes an innovative spatial framework integrating improved k-nearest neighbor (kNN), remote sensing (RS), and geographic information system (GIS) to analyze FIR for tourism sites. Shanghai, China, was selected as a case study. Tempo-spatial factors, including climate, topography, drainage, vegetation, and soil, were selected to generate several flood-related gridded indicators as inputs into the evaluation framework. A likelihood of FIR was mapped to represent possible inundation for tourist sites under a moderate-heavy rainfall scenario and extreme rainfall scenario. The resultant map was verified by the maximum inundation extent merged by RS images and water bodies. The evaluation outcomes deliver the baseline and scientific information for urban planners and policymakers to take cost-effective measures for decreasing and evading the pressure of FIR on the sustainable development of urban tourism. The spatial improved-kNN-based framework provides an innovative, effective, and easy-to-use approach to evaluate the risk for the tourism industry under climate change.

scholarly journals Extreme Rainfall in the Mediterranean: What Can We Learn from Observations?

2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 906-922 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Rebora ◽  
L. Molini ◽  
E. Casella ◽  
A. Comellas ◽  
E. Fiori ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
Flash Floods ◽  
Rain Gauge ◽  
Extreme Rainfall Events ◽  
Rainfall Events ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer ◽  
Ground Effects

Abstract Flash floods induced by extreme rainfall events represent one of the most life-threatening phenomena in the Mediterranean. While their catastrophic ground effects are well documented by postevent surveys, the extreme rainfall events that generate them are still difficult to observe properly. Being able to collect observations of such events will help scientists to better understand and model these phenomena. The recent flash floods that hit the Liguria region (Italy) between the end of October and beginning of November 2011 give us the opportunity to use the measurements available from a large number of sensors, both ground based and spaceborne, to characterize these events. In this paper, the authors analyze the role of the key ingredients (e.g., unstable air masses, moist low-level jets, steep orography, and a slow-evolving synoptic pattern) for severe rainfall processes over complex orography. For the two Ligurian events, this role has been analyzed through the available observations (e.g., Meteosat Second Generation, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, the Italian Radar Network mosaic, and the Italian rain gauge network observations). The authors then address the possible role of sea–atmosphere interactions and propose a characterization of these events in terms of their predictability.

scholarly journals Impacts on agriculture

2013 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 24
Author(s):  
Leanne Webb
Keyword(s):  
Extreme Events ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Climate Extremes ◽  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
Agricultural Communities ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Weather And Climate ◽  
Challenging Environment ◽  
Mean Climate

p>Agricultural production in Victoria includes the dairy, lamb and mutton, grains and perennial and annual horticultural sectors, with Victorian farmers contributing a major proportion of the Australian production total in many of these sectors. All these industries are exposed in different ways to weather and climate extremes. With projected warming of approximately 0.8°C by 2030 and by 1.4–2.7°C by 2070 (emissions dependent), and most climate models indicating reduced rainfall for the Victorian region (median of model results projecting a reduction of 4% by 2030 and 6%–11% by 2070; emissions dependent), a range of sectorspecific impacts could result. Increases in extreme events, such as heatwaves (e.g. for Mildura, days >35°C could nearly double from 32 to 59 annually by 2070), bushfires and drought, as well as an increased chance of extreme rainfall are all anticipated. Increasing frequencies of extreme events have the potential to affect agricultural production more than changes to the mean climate. For example, the exceptional heatwave that occurred in south-eastern Australia during January and February 2009 resulted in unprecedented impacts, with significant heat-stress related crop losses reported at many sites. Flooding in 2011 was also very costly to Victorian farmers with many crops being lost in the floodwaters and reduced agricultural production costing an estimated Au$500–600 million. Responses to climate variability already practised by the farming sector will inform some adaptation options that will assist farmers to cope in an increasingly challenging environment. As well as taking advantage of their underlying resilience, initiatives aimed at increasing the adaptive capacity of farmers are being implemented at many levels in agricultural communities.

Role of groundcover management in controlling soil erosion under extreme rainfall in citrus orchards of southern China

2020 ◽  
Vol 582 ◽  
pp. 124290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Duan ◽  
Yao-Jun Liu ◽  
Jie Yang ◽  
Chong-Jun Tang ◽  
Zhi-Hua Shi
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Southern China ◽  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
Citrus Orchards

scholarly journals Comparison between the Large-Scale Environments of Moderate and Intense Precipitating Systems in the Mediterranean Region

2009 ◽  
Vol 137 (11) ◽  
pp. 3933-3959 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatriz M. Funatsu ◽  
Chantal Claud ◽  
Jean-Pierre Chaboureau
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
Convective Precipitation ◽  
Target Area ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
Microwave Sounding ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Upper Level

Abstract A characterization of the large-scale environment associated with precipitating systems in the Mediterranean region, based mainly on NOAA-16 Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) observations from 2001 to 2007, is presented. Channels 5, 7, and 8 of AMSU-A are used to identify upper-level features, while a simple and tractable method, based on combinations of channels 3–5 of AMSU-B and insensitive to land–sea contrast, was used to identify precipitation. Rain occurrence is widespread over the Mediterranean in wintertime while reduced or short lived in the eastern part of the basin in summer. The location of convective precipitation shifts from mostly over land from April to August, to mostly over the sea from September to December. A composite analysis depicting large-scale conditions, for cases of either rain alone or extensive areas of deep convection, is performed for selected locations where the occurrence of intense rainfall was found to be important. In both cases, an upper-level trough is seen to the west of the target area, but for extreme rainfall the trough is narrower and has larger amplitude in all seasons. In general, these troughs are also deeper for extreme rainfall. Based on the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts operational analyses, it was found that sea surface temperature anomalies composites for extreme rainfall are often about 1 K warmer, compared to nonconvective precipitation conditions, in the vicinity of the affected area, and the wind speed at 850 hPa is also stronger and usually coming from the sea.

scholarly journals Erosion Modelling In A Mediterranean Subcatchment Under Climate Change Scenarios Using Pan-European Soil Erosion Risk Assessment (PESERA)

2015 ◽  
Vol XL-7/W3 ◽  
pp. 359-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Cilek ◽  
S. Berberoglu ◽  
M. Kirkby ◽  
B. Irvine ◽  
C. Donmez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Erosion Risk ◽  
Soil Erosion Risk ◽  
The Mediterranean

The Mediterranean region is particularly prone to erosion. This is because it is subject to long dry periods followed by heavy bursts of erosive rainfall, falling on steep slopes with fragile soils, resulting in considerable amounts of erosion. In parts of the Mediterranean region, erosion has reached a stage of irreversibility and in some places erosion has practically ceased because there is no more soil left. With a very slow rate of soil formation, any soil loss of more than 1 t ha<sup>−1</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup> can be considered as irreversible within a time span of 50-100 years. The objectives of this study were i) to estimate the temporal and spatial distribution of soil erosion under climate change scenarios in study area ii) to assess the hydrological runoff processes. <br><br> In this study, climate data, land use, topographic and physiographic properties were assembled for Egribuk Subcatchment at Seyhan River Basin in Turkey and used in a process-based Geographical Information System (GIS) to determine the hydrological sediment potential and quantify reservoir sedimentation. The estimated amount of sediment transported downstream is potentially large based on hydrological runoff processes using the Pan-European Soil Erosion Risk Assessment (PESERA) model. The detailed model inputs included 128 variables derived mainly from, soil, climate, land use/cover, topography data sets. The outcomes of this research were spatial and temporal distribution of erosion amount in t ha<sup>−1</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup> or month<sup>−1</sup>.

Status, processes, and drivers of soil degradation in the Mediterranean region

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla S. S. Ferreira ◽  
Samaneh Seifollahi-Aghmiuni ◽  
Georgia Destouni ◽  
Marijana Solomun ◽  
Navid Ghajarnia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Soil Degradation ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Degradation Processes ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Very High

&lt;p&gt;Soil supports life on Earth and provides several goods and services of essence for human wellbeing. Over the last century, however, intensified human activities and unsustainable management practices, along with ongoing climate change, have been degrading soils&amp;#8217; natural capital, pushing it towards possible critical limits for its ability to provide essential ecosystem services. Soil degradation is characterized by negative changes in soil health status that may lead to partial or total loss of productivity and overall capacity to support human societies, e.g., against increasing climate risks. Such degradation leads to environmental, social and economic losses, which may in turn trigger land abandonment and desertification. In particular, the Mediterranean region has been identified as one of the most vulnerable and severely affected European regions by soil degradation, where the actual extent and context of the problem is not yet well understood. This study provides an overview of current knowledge about the status of soil degradation and its main drivers and processes in the European Mediterranean region, based on comprehensive literature review. In the Mediterranean region, 34% of the land area is subject to &amp;#8216;very high sensitivity&amp;#8217; or &amp;#8216;high sensitivity&amp;#8217; to desertification, and risk of desertification applies to over more than 65% of the territory of some countries, such as Spain and Cyprus (IPCC, 2019). The major degradation processes are: (i) soil erosion, due to very high erosion rates (&gt;2 t/ha); (ii) loss of soil organic matter, due to high mineralization rates while the region is already characterized by low or very low soil organic matter (&lt;2%); and (iii) soil and water salinisation, due to groundwater abstraction and sea water intrusion. However, additional physical, chemical and biological degradation processes, such as soil sealing and compaction, contamination, and loss of biodiversity, are also of great concern. Some of the degradation processes, such as soil erosion, have been extensively investigated and their spatial extent is relatively well described. Other processes, however, such as soil biodiversity, are poorly investigated and have limited data availability. In general, a lack of systematic inventories of soil degradation status limits the overall knowledge base and impairs understanding of the spatial and temporal dimensions of the problem. In terms of drivers, Mediterranean soil degradation has mainly been driven by increasing population, particularly in coastal areas, and its concentration in urban areas (and consequent abandonment of rural areas), as well as by land-use changes and intensification of socio-economic activities (e.g. agriculture and tourism). Additionally, climate change, with increasing extent and severity of extreme events (droughts, floods, wildfires), may also be a key degradation driver in this region. Improved information on soil degradation status (including spatio-temporal extent and severity) and enhanced knowledge of degradation drivers, processes and socio-economic, ecological, and biodiversity impacts are needed to better support regional soil management, policy, and decision making. Science and evidence based improvements of soil resource governance and management can enhance soil resilience to regional and global changes, and support the region to achieve related Sustainable Development Goals and the Land Degradation Neutrality targets.&lt;/p&gt;

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