scholarly journals On the Future of Fission and Solar Energy

2021 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-6
Author(s):  
Vladimir Knapp
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Nuclear Fission ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
False Alarms ◽  
Operational Experience ◽  
Safety Standards ◽  
Long Term Stability ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Uk

Our attitudes towards the risks of climate change must be reconsidered. We must recognise that the consequences will be huge and inevitable if we do not act now. Better to accept a few false alarms rather than be unprepared for a climate catastrophe. An outstanding example is the calculation by groups from Germany and the UK in 2009 (1) of the allowable emissions of CO2 before a 2°C increase in global temperature is exceeded. This leaves very little time, only 4 to 8 years, for mitigation measures. Nuclear fission now presents a formidable fleet of some 450 reactors benefitting from over 50 years of operational experience. Throughout decades of development, they reached outstanding safety standards, exceeding those of most renewable sources. However, the threat of climate change is calling this perspective into question as nuclear technology requires long-term stability of institutions. The future of nuclear fission will be determined after the expiration of the next decade with the development of hydro, solar and wind energy as replacements. For Croatia, in view of future climate insecurity, we cannot recommend the construction of a nuclear power plant built to operate from 2043 to 2083 (2) as a replacement for the outgoing NE Krško plant. Instead, we should intensify the development of our renewable resources.

Projecting conflict risk following the Shared Socioeconomic pathways: what role for water stress and climate?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie de Bruin ◽  
Jannis Hoch ◽  
Nina von Uexkull ◽  
Halvard Buhaug ◽  
Nico Wanders
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Machine Learning Techniques ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Socioeconomic Impacts ◽  
Learning Techniques ◽  
The Future ◽  
Conflict Risk

<p>The socioeconomic impacts of changes in climate-related and hydrology-related factors are increasingly acknowledged to affect the on-set of violent conflict. Full consensus upon the general mechanisms linking these factors with conflict is, however, still limited. The absence of full understanding of the non-linearities between all components and the lack of sufficient data make it therefore hard to address violent conflict risk on the long-term. </p><p>Although it is neither desirable nor feasible to make exact predictions, projections are a viable means to provide insights into potential future conflict risks and uncertainties thereof. Hence, making different projections is a legitimate way to deal with and understand these uncertainties, since the construction of diverse scenarios delivers insights into possible realizations of the future.  </p><p>Through machine learning techniques, we (re)assess the major drivers of conflict for the current situation in Africa, which are then applied to project the regions-at-risk following different scenarios. The model shows to accurately reproduce observed historic patterns leading to a high ROC score of 0.91. We show that socio-economic factors are most dominant when projecting conflicts over the African continent. The projections show that there is an overall reduction in conflict risk as a result of increased economic welfare that offsets the adverse impacts of climate change and hydrologic variables. It must be noted, however, that these projections are based on current relations. In case the relations of drivers and conflict change in the future, the resulting regions-at-risk may change too.   By identifying the most prominent drivers, conflict risk mitigation measures can be tuned more accurately to reduce the direct and indirect consequences of climate change on the population in Africa. As new and improved data becomes available, the model can be updated for more robust projections of conflict risk in Africa under climate change.</p>

scholarly journals The potential value of seasonal forecasts in a changing climate in southern Africa

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 1525-1538 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. C. Winsemius ◽  
E. Dutra ◽  
F. A. Engelbrecht ◽  
E. Archer Van Garderen ◽  
F. Wetterhall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Heat Stress ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Stress Conditions ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Seasonal Forecasts ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
Dry Spells ◽  
The Future

Abstract. Subsistence farming in southern Africa is vulnerable to extreme weather conditions. The yield of rain-fed agriculture depends largely on rainfall-related factors such as total seasonal rainfall, anomalous onsets and lengths of the rainy season and the frequency of occurrence of dry spells. Livestock, in turn, may be seriously impacted by climatic stress with, for example, exceptionally hot days, affecting condition, reproduction, vulnerability to pests and pathogens and, ultimately, morbidity and mortality. Climate change may affect the frequency and severity of extreme weather conditions, impacting on the success of subsistence farming. A potentially interesting adaptation measure comprises the timely forecasting and warning of such extreme events, combined with mitigation measures that allow farmers to prepare for the event occurring. This paper investigates how the frequency of extreme events may change in the future due to climate change over southern Africa and, in more detail, the Limpopo Basin using a set of climate change projections from several regional climate model downscalings based on an extreme climate scenario. Furthermore, the paper assesses the predictability of these indicators by seasonal meteorological forecasts of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) seasonal forecasting system. The focus is on the frequency of dry spells as well as the frequency of heat stress conditions expressed in the temperature heat index. In areas where their frequency of occurrence increases in the future and predictability is found, seasonal forecasts will gain importance in the future, as they can more often lead to informed decision-making to implement mitigation measures. The multi-model climate projections suggest that the frequency of dry spells is not likely to increase substantially, whereas there is a clear and coherent signal among the models of an increase in the frequency of heat stress conditions by the end of the century. The skill analysis of the seasonal forecast system demonstrates that there is a potential to adapt to this change by utilizing the weather forecasts, given that both indicators can be skilfully predicted for the December–February season, at least 2 months ahead of the wet season. This is particularly the case for predicting above-normal and below-normal conditions. The frequency of heat stress conditions shows better predictability than the frequency of dry spells. Although results are promising for end users on the ground, forecasts alone are insufficient to ensure appropriate response. Sufficient support for appropriate measures must be in place, and forecasts must be communicated in a context-specific, accessible and understandable format.

scholarly journals Caring for the future: Climate change and intergenerational responsibility in China and the UK

Geoforum ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 105 ◽  
pp. 158-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina Diprose ◽  
Chen Liu ◽  
Gill Valentine ◽  
Robert M. Vanderbeck ◽  
Katie McQuaid
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Uk

scholarly journals Climate change and the future occurrence of moorland wildfires in the Peak District of the UK

2010 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 105-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Albertson ◽  
J Aylen ◽  
G Cavan ◽  
J McMorrow
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Peak District

Climate Change and Agriculture

2016 ◽  
pp. 393-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunil Lalasaheb Londhe
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Great Depth ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Agriculture Sector ◽  
The Future ◽  
Food Security And Nutrition ◽  
Earth’S Climate

Increasing evidence shows that shifts in Earth's climate have already occurred and indicates that changes will continue in the coming years. This chapter is an attempt to distil what is known about the likely effects of climate change on food security and nutrition in coming decades. Apart from few exceptions, the likely impacts of climate change on agricultural sector in the future are not understood in any great depth. There are many uncertainties as to how changes in temperature, rainfall and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations will interact in relation to agricultural productivity. The consequences of climate change on various important aspects of agriculture such as crop production, livestock, availability of water, pest and diseases etc. are discussed and summarized. Each of this aspect of agriculture sector will have certain impact which may be positive or negative. The chapter also discusses on the possible mitigation measures and adaptations for agriculture production in the future climate change scenarios.

Hazards of Nuclear Fission Power and the Choice of Alternatives

1974 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
John T. Edsall
Keyword(s):  
Energy Production ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Biological Effects ◽  
Nuclear Fission ◽  
The United States ◽  
Radioactive Wastes ◽  
National Academy Of Sciences ◽  
The Future ◽  
Fission Power

Nuclear fission reactors are widely regarded as the chief energy source of the future. This article holds that the hazards of such reactors, in comparison with other prospective energy sources, are unacceptably high. The biological effects of ionizing radiations, as analyzed in the recent BEIR Report (1972) of a committee of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, are briefly reviewed; the effects include genetic mutations, induction of cancer, and developmental abnormalities. Hazards are encountered at many stages in the process of nuclear power production: in the mining and processing of uranium, in the design and operation of the reactors, and in the handling, shipping, and storage, of the huge quantities of radioactive wastes produced by the reactors. Grave questions have been raised concerning the safety of the emergency core-cooling systems of present reactors; and the planned breeder reactors, which will contain great quantities of plutonium-239, are likely to be even more hazardous. Storage of radioactive wastes, away from all risks of environmental contamination, in order to be acceptable must be secure for about half-a-million years. No place on Earth has yet been found for which such safety can be guaranteed. Hazards of theft, sabotage, and war, are formidable threats to the future of nuclear fission power.Use of fission power is not compulsory; present supplies of coal are adequate for two or three centuries, though its mining and use will require drastic steps to protect the environment, thereby raising costs. Alternative, and far less dangerously polluting, sources of large-scale energy production exist or can be developed: notably solar energy and probably nuclear fusion, where intensive research gives high promise of adequate systems for large-scale energy production within 20–30 years. Geothermal energy, though more limited in amount, is also promising. Great savings can also be made by reducing the extravagant use of energy, especially in such countries as the United States; and various conservation measures are indicated.

Climate change effects on UK shelf sea’s connectivity and hydrographic properties

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Gabriela Mayorga Adame ◽  
James Harle ◽  
Jason Holt ◽  
Artioli Yuri ◽  
Sarah Wakelin
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Change Models ◽  
The North ◽  
The Future ◽  
Shelf Seas ◽  
Shelf Sea ◽  
The Uk

<p>Climate change is expected to cause important changes in ocean physics, which will in turn have important effects on the marine ecosystems. The ReCICLE project (<strong>Resolving Climate Impacts on shelf and CoastaL seas Ecosystems</strong>) aims to identify and quantify the envelope of response to climate change of lower trophic level shelf-sea ecosystems and their functional interactions, in order to assess the vulnerability of ecosystem goods and services in the UK shelf seas. The central tool for this work is an ensemble of coupled hydrodynamic-biogeochemical ecosystem models NEMO-ERSEM Atlantic Margin Model configuration at 7 km horizontal resolution (AMM7), forced by different CIMP5 global climate change models to generate downscaled scenarios for future decades.</p><p>Changes in connectivity patterns are expected to affect coastal populations of marine organisms in shelf seas. Holt et al 2018 (GRL https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL078878) showed the potential for radical reorganization of the North Sea circulation in earlier simulations. To assess this particular issue particle tracking experiments are carried out during two 10 year time slices, in the recent past (2000-2010) and in the future (2040-2050) in ensemble members of the ReCICLE AMM7 regional downscaling showing contrasting circulation patterns. Surface particles were uniformly seeded in the UK shelf seas every month and tracked for 30 days. The resulting particle trajectories are analysed with cluster analysis technics aiming to determine if persistent oceanographic boundaries re-arrange in the future climate scenarios. The ecological effects of circulation and water masses changes in the future ocean are discussed from a Lagrangian perspective.</p><p> </p>

scholarly journals The future of marine biodiversity and marine ecosystem functioning in UK coastal and territorial waters (including UK Overseas Territories) – with an emphasis on marine macrophyte communities

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 521-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frithjof C. Küpper ◽  
Nicholas A. Kamenos
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Habitat Destruction ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Important Species ◽  
The Future ◽  
Overseas Territories ◽  
The Uk

Abstract Marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning – including seaweed communities – in the territorial waters of the UK and its Overseas Territories are facing unprecedented pressures. Key stressors are changes in ecosystem functioning due to biodiversity loss caused by ocean warming (species replacement and migration, e.g. affecting kelp forests), sea level rise (e.g. loss of habitats including salt marshes), plastic pollution (e.g. entanglement and ingestion), alien species with increasing numbers of alien seaweeds (e.g. outcompeting native species and parasite transmission), overexploitation (e.g. loss of energy supply further up the food web), habitat destruction (e.g. loss of nursery areas for commercially important species) and ocean acidification (e.g. skeletal weakening of ecosystem engineers including coralline algal beds). These stressors are currently affecting biodiversity, and their impact can be projected for the future. All stressors may act alone or in synergy. Marine biodiversity provides crucial goods and services. Climate change and biodiversity loss pose new challenges for legislation. In particular, there are implications of climate change for the designation and management of Marine Protected Areas and natural carbon storage by marine systems to help control the global climate system. The UK currently has legal obligations to protect biodiversity under international and European law.

scholarly journals Reframing nuclear power in the UK energy debate: nuclear power, climate change mitigation and radioactive waste

2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Bickerstaff ◽  
I. Lorenzoni ◽  
N.F. Pidgeon ◽  
W. Poortinga ◽  
P. Simmons
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Change Mitigation

Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture and Food Security

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-46
Author(s):  
Sunil Londhe
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Great Depth ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
The Future

Many studies have demonstrated the sensitivities of crop yield to a changing climate, a major challenge for the agricultural research community is to relate these findings to the wider societal concern with food security. Apart from few exceptions, the likely impacts of climate change on agricultural sector in the future are not understood in any great depth. There are many concerns as to how changes in temperature, rainfall and atmospheric Carbon Dioxide concentrations will interact in relation to agricultural productivity. The present article is an attempt to distil about the likely effects of climate change on food security and nutrition in coming decades. The consequences of climate change on various important aspects of agriculture are discussed and summarized. The article also discusses the analysis on the possible mitigation measures and adaptations for agriculture production in the future climate change scenarios.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document