Month: August 2024
Health co-benefits of post-COVID-19 low-carbon recovery in Chinese cities
Abstract
Post-pandemic green recovery is pivotal in achieving global sustainable development goals by simultaneously revitalizing economies and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution and improving public welfare. However, subnational and city-level understanding of green recovery, its efficacy and its alignment with public health is poorly understood. Here we focus on post-COVID-19 low-carbon recovery—economic growth combined with reduced carbon emissions—and explore health co-benefits in Chinese cities. A novel near-real-time daily carbon emission dataset of 48 cities in China is developed, coupled with detailed health and economic municipal statistics and models. We find that, on average, six low-carbon-recovery cities, mainly megacities, saved 1.2 times as many lives per 100,000 population compared with the 42 other cities, and their annual monetary avoided premature deaths per 100,000 population was 1.5 times more than the 42 other cities. The accumulated monetary health co-benefits for low-carbon-recovery cities were US$ 4.2 billion (95% confidence interval, 2.1–6.3) during the post-COVID-19 period. We show that government spending on electric vehicles increases the likelihood of achieving low-carbon recovery in Chinese cities. Our results underscore the significant health co-benefits of low-carbon recovery, pointing to synergies between advancing local welfare and global environmental objectives.
An analysis of spatiotemporal changes and local governance toward the management of geographically isolated wetlands (Paulista Peripheral Depression, Brazil)
Abstract
The large diversity of ecosystem services provided by natural wetlands has been underestimated by decision-making authorities in Brazil, posing a threat to sustainable development. The intensive land use practices and increased water usage in the country are the main forces driving the degradation and depletion of small wetlands. The aim of this study was to assess the spatiotemporal changes in geographically isolated wetlands (GIWs) in the Paulista Peripheral Depression in São Paulo State, considering the intensification of land use and land cover (LULC) and the role of local governance in protecting water resources in these environments. Remote sensing imagery and climate data were utilized to analyze the spatial‒temporal changes in GIWs. The effectiveness of local governance policies in addressing wetland protection concerns was also evaluated. The findings indicate that the intensification of LULC has negative impacts on GIWs, leading to their depletion or degradation. Additionally, GIWs are outside the scope of regulatory protection at the federal, state, and local levels. This lack of protection contributes to the vulnerability of wetland resources, poses risks to local ecological benefits, and exacerbates social-environmental issues such as water scarcity.
Barriers and opportunities for implementing prescribed fire: lessons from managers in the mid-Atlantic region, United States
Abstract
Background
Prescribed burning is a beneficial fire management practice used by practitioners worldwide to meet multiple land management objectives, including reduction of wildfire hazard, promotion of biodiversity, and management of vegetation for wildlife and human interests. Meeting these objectives can be difficult due to the need for institutional coordination, resource and policy constraints, and community support. We examined these dynamics in the United States’ mid-Atlantic region because prescribed fire use is increasing in the region to meet a broadening set of land management objectives. Managers are at the frontlines of these challenges and hold significant experience and knowledge for enhancing wildland fire management policy and strategy. Towards better leveraging this insight, we conducted focus groups with fire managers in land management agencies in the region to identify managers’ perceived barriers and opportunities for implementing prescribed fire.
Results
We found manager perceptions to be hierarchical, with barriers and opportunities expressed across landscape, community, and individual levels. Limited institutional coordination across landscapes was seen by managers as an opportunity for expanding prescribed fire implementation, whereas coping with shared fear or stress about burning among individual managers or individual community members was seen as a significant barrier. Yet, despite different prescribed burning histories and policies at the state level, barriers and opportunities were similar among managers in the mid-Atlantic region.
Conclusions
Managers in the mid-Atlantic region confront barriers to prescribed fire use but are also uniquely positioned to recognize opportunities to enhance its implementation. This work sheds light on these barriers and opportunities, revealing that managers desire greater opportunities for landscape-level fire planning and coordination across agencies as well as greater opportunities for community engagement and interpersonal trust-building within complex social-management networks. Manager perspectives from the mid-Atlantic provide lessons for other regions across the globe grappling with new or broadened land-management strategies that include beneficial fire use.
A qualitative study exploring how vocational rehabilitation for people with multiple sclerosis can be integrated within existing healthcare services in the United Kingdom
Abstract
Background
To explore how a vocational rehabilitation (VR) intervention can be integrated within existing healthcare services for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the United Kingdom (UK) National Health Service (NHS).
Methods
Data from 37 semi-structured interviews with 22 people with MS, eight employers, and seven healthcare professionals were analysed using a framework method informed by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and an intervention logic model.
Results
Four themes were identified relating to the structure of current NHS services, how to improve access to and awareness of VR services, the collaboration between internal and external networks, and the benefits of integrating VR within the NHS services. Participants identified several implementation barriers such as poor links with external organisations, staffing issues, and lack of funding. To overcome these barriers, participants suggested enablers such as technology (e.g., apps or online assessments) and collaboration with third-sector organisations to reduce the pressure on the NHS.
Conclusion
Significant organisational changes are required to ensure a successful implementation of a VR intervention within current NHS services. Despite this, the NHS was seen as a trustworthy organisation to offer support that can optimise the health and professional lives of people with MS.
Evaluation of ocean wave power utilizing COWCLIP 2.0 datasets: a CMIP5 model assessment
Abstract
Global Climate Models (GCMs) are very essential and crucial for projecting future climate scenarios under different greenhouse gas emissions, incorporating uncertainties in the global warming projections. The present study evaluates the seasonal performance of 32 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) models obtained from the Coordinated Ocean Wave Climate Project phase 2 (COWCLIP 2.0) in simulating the global and regional wave power (WP) from 1979 to 2004 using historical data, and comparing them against the ERA5 reanalysis. Three skill metrics, such as Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Interannual Variability Skill (IVS), and M-Score were used to assess the model performance across three clusters (CSIRO, JRC, and IHC). In addition, Intra-seasonal and probability distribution is also employed to determine the cluster’s performance, including individual models. The IHC cluster, employing statistical techniques, exhibited the lowest RMSE and highest M-Score values with the least variation among models over the global as well as regional ocean basins such as the North Atlantic (NA), North Pacific (NP), Indian Ocean (IO), and Pacific Ocean (PO. Results from intra-seasonal variability and probability distribution indicate that the IHC cluster demonstrates the most stable performance in simulating intra-seasonal variability of WP as compared to other clusters.
GloRESatE: A dataset for global rainfall erosivity derived from multi-source data
Abstract
Numerous hydrological applications, such as soil erosion estimation, water resource management, and rain driven damage assessment, demand accurate and reliable rainfall erosivity data. However, the scarcity of gauge rainfall records and the inherent uncertainty in satellite and reanalysis-based rainfall datasets limit rainfall erosivity assessment globally. Here, we present a new global rainfall erosivity dataset (0.1° × 0.1° spatial resolution) integrating satellite (CMORPH and IMERG) and reanalysis (ERA5-Land) derived rainfall erosivity estimates with gauge rainfall erosivity observations collected from approximately 6,200 locations across the globe. We used a machine learning-based Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) model to assimilate multi-source rainfall erosivity estimates alongside geoclimatic covariates to prepare a unified high-resolution mean annual rainfall erosivity product. It has been shown that the proposed rainfall erosivity product performs well during cross-validation with gauge records and inter-comparison with the existing global rainfall erosivity datasets. Furthermore, this dataset offers a new global rainfall erosivity perspective, addressing the limitations of existing datasets and facilitating large-scale hydrological modelling and soil erosion assessments.
A 27-country test of communicating the scientific consensus on climate change
Abstract
Communicating the scientific consensus that human-caused climate change is real increases climate change beliefs, worry and support for public action in the United States. In this preregistered experiment, we tested two scientific consensus messages, a classic message on the reality of human-caused climate change and an updated message additionally emphasizing scientific agreement that climate change is a crisis. Across online convenience samples from 27 countries (n = 10,527), the classic message substantially reduces misperceptions (d = 0.47, 95% CI (0.41, 0.52)) and slightly increases climate change beliefs (from d = 0.06, 95% CI (0.01, 0.11) to d = 0.10, 95% CI (0.04, 0.15)) and worry (d = 0.05, 95% CI (−0.01, 0.10)) but not support for public action directly. The updated message is equally effective but provides no added value. Both messages are more effective for audiences with lower message familiarity and higher misperceptions, including those with lower trust in climate scientists and right-leaning ideologies. Overall, scientific consensus messaging is an effective, non-polarizing tool for changing misperceptions, beliefs and worry across different audiences.
Stakeholder Theory, Public Engagement, and Epistemic Injustice: The Case of Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Scotland’s African, Caribbean, and Black Communities
Abstract
The adoption of a stakeholder approach to public engagement within the public sector has been extensive. However, there remain critical gaps in the understanding of stakeholder participation arising from hidden disparities that contribute to unequal access to communication channels, information, and hence ultimately knowledge and decision making. The term “epistemic injustice” has been used to describe such inequality of access and consequently, the outcome that ensues. Epistemic injustice is much overlooked in stakeholder theory. This article shows how epistemic injustice can act as a barrier to effective stakeholder engagement and hence to successful public policy formulation and implementation. We use the case of vaccine hesitancy among Scotland’s African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) communities to illustrate this problem of unequal participation. The study drew on primary data involving 85 participants and secondary data sources from extant literature and explored salient factors shaping barriers to vaccine uptake during the recent pandemic. The findings demonstrate how the failure to grasp epistemic injustice undermines the effectiveness of the stakeholder approach, even with the most well-intentioned efforts. We argue that epistemic injustice is a critical barrier to effective stakeholder approaches.