Developing Wheat for Improved Yield and Adaptation Under a Changing Climate： Optimization of a Few Key Genes

Wheat grown under rain-fed conditions is often affected by drought worldwide. Future projections from a climate simulation model predict that the combined effects of increasing temperature and changing rainfall patterns will aggravate this drought scenario and may significantly reduce wheat yields unless appropriate varieties are adopted. Wheat is adapted to a wide range of environments due to the diversity in its phenology genes. Wheat phenology offers the opportunity to fight against drought by modifying crop developmental phases according to water availability in target environments. This review summa- rizes recent advances in wheat phenology research, including vernalization （Vrn）, photoperiod （Ppd）, and also dwarfing （Rht） genes. The alleles, haplotypes, and copy number variation identified for Vrn and Ppd genes respond differently in different climatic conditions, and thus could alter not only the development phases but also the yield. Compared with the model plant Arabidopsis, more phenology genes have not yet been identified in wheat; quantifying their effects in target environments would benefit the breeding of wheat for improved drought tolerance. Hence, there is scope to maximize yields in water-limited envi-ronments by deploying appropriate phenology gene combinations along with Rht genes and other important physiological traits that are associated with drought resistance.

Progress in Research on Homogenization of Climate Data

The observation data from ground surface meteorological stations is an important basis on which climate change research is carried out, while the homogenization of the data is necessary for improving the quality and homogeneity of the time series. This paper reviews recent advances in the techniques of identifying and adjusting inhomogeneity in climate series. We briefly introduce the results of applying two commonly accepted and well-developed methods (RHtest and MASH) to surface climate observations such as temperature and wind speed in China. We then summarize current progress and problems in this field, and propose ideas for future studies in China. Along with collecting more detailed metadata, more research on homogenization technology should be done in the future. On the basis of comparing and evaluating advantages and disadvantages of different homogenization methods, the homogenized climate data series of the last hundred years should be rebuilt.

Carbon Dioxide Capture Using Gas Hydrate Technology

According to IPCC （Intergovemmental Panel on Climate Change） Fourth Report, carbon dioxide emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels have been identified as the major contributor to global warming and climate change. One of the new approaches for capturing carbon dioxide and subsequently lowering the emissions is based on gas hydrate crystallization. Gas hydrates have a large capacity for the storage of gases which also resemble an attractive method for gas filtration. The basis of the separation is the selective partition of the target component between the hydrate phase and the gaseous phase. It is expected that carbon dioxide is preferentially encaged into the hydrate crystal phase compared to the other components. In the present paper, after a comparison of gas hydrates with existing capture technologies, a novel apparatus for gas hydrate production is illustrated and results of a first set of experimental applications of the reactor for CO2 hydrate formation and separation are presented. In particular, the effects of two different promoters were investigated. Results show that the reactor allows a good level of temperature control, resulting in rapid hydrate formation and mild operating conditions. Results are a basis for setting up a procedure for CO2 separation and capture.

Quantitative Assessment of Impacts of Climate and Economic-technical Factors on Grain Yield in Jilin Province from 1980 to 2008

Climate change is one of the most important challenges threatening agricultural grain yield and food security. Determining the factors influencing grain yield in Jilin Province and the weights of their contribution are a very important task, because Jilin Province is an important agriculture base in China. In this study, the accumulation factor sequence evaluating data method was used to analyze the climate and economic-technical factor contribution weights to grain yield and grain yield changes in each city of Jilin Province. Climate yield was also estimated to study the climate effect on the grain yield, and it was calculated in two ways： an improved algorithm and a traditional quadratic method. The results show that the climate and economicechnical factors have different contribution weights to grain yield in different cities in Jilin Province. The contribution weight of the climate factor to grain yield was 0.212-0.349, while that the economic-technical factor was 0.651-0.788. Furthermore, the changes of the climate factor contributing to grain yield changes accounted for 0.296-0.546, and the changes of the economic-technical factor accounted for 0.454-0.704. The weights of climate and economic-technical factor contributing to grain yield are very different between the eastern and western cities in Jilin Province, but their weights contributing to the grain yield change are similar in these cities. In general, the amount of fertilizer used per hectare （FUPH） is the main factor affecting grain yields and yield changes from 1980 to 2008. It is noted that when the FUPH growth rate stabilized after 1995, the effects of the climate factor on the grain yield become more obvious than before. The improved algorithm is effective for esti- mating climate yield in Jilin Province, and the climate yields were mostly between -500 kg/ha and 500 kg/ha, and showed a slightly rising trend in most cities.

STATISTICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF TROPICAL CYCLONES MAKING LANDFALLS AND PASSING THROUGH LAKES IN CHINA

By using the data of 1949 – 2001 (53 years) of Tropical Cyclone (TC) Yearbooks, statistical analyses are performed to study the climatic features of TCs making landfall and then passing through lakes (hereafter referred to as "L-TCs") in China. Results show that L-TCs can sustain a long time over land and the intensity is very strong during the course of landfall. Lakes can noticeably slow down the reduction of TC intensity, with the minimum pressure mostly maintained or decreased and the maximum velocity increased. The middle reach of the Yangtze River has the biggest TC dissipating rate as compared with the other areas where the TC is active.

Climate technology promotion in the Republic of Korea

The implementation of climate technologies and their commercialization ultimately depends on the success of their research and development(R&D) projects. In the Republic of Korea(ROK), twenty-seven climate technologies were selected to boost the greening of existing industries and to develop new green industries to promote a sustainable climate technology development strategy. Rechargeable battery technology, carbon capture and storage(CCS) technology, smart grids, and sewage treatment are all research areas expected to have tangible outcomes in the forthcoming years. As such, they were included in a comprehensive R&D plan for climate technology advancement, which places an emphasis on climate technology development and commercialization strategy. In this study, the R&D plan of the ROK is reviewed by examining its six core climate technology programs: solar cells, fuel cells, bioenergy, rechargeable battery technology, information technology(IT) applications for the power sector, and CCS technology in detail. The climate policy in the ROK aims to find new economic growth engines and to develop new business opportunities while actively participating in international efforts to combat climate change.

Evaluating Climate Change Effects on Natural Resources Using Remote Sensing Technologies： A Case of Kazimzumbwi Forest Reserve, Kisarawe in Tanzania

Poor countries are prone to climate change effects due to lack of mechanisms to mitigation. As such, they are most vulnerable to effects of climate changes which are floods, drought, deforestation, environmental degradation and so on. Many of affected communities particularly in rural areas and urban poor have resorted to migration to viable agricultural lands and urban areas increasing pressure on available social services. This situation has led to depletion of natural resources in the fringes of the cities in search for shelter, food, water, energy etc.. Dares Salaam city is highly prone to environmental degradation by being highly populated and closer to the Kazimzumbwi Forest National Reserve, which has been a resource of logging at the guise of sustainable livelihood of Dares Salaam city residents. This paper is reporting on a study undertaken in ENVI ＆ ARCGIS software environment to evaluate the extent of environmental degradation in the forest reserve for the period of 16 years i.e. 1995-201 l, firstly, for purpose of informing policy makers and administrators to determine the extent of the problem and secondly to provide evidence for development of effective mitigation measures. Results revealed a considerable environmental degradation within the forest reserve over the study period. This was attested by a decrease of forests by 42%, grass land, as well as increase of bare land and grass land by 26% and 42% respectively. This is a testimony that there was a significant environmental degradation and loss of natural resources during the study period which should be addressed by relevant authorities.

Discussion of Influences on Snow Water Equivalent at Utah Snow Courses

Snow data collection systems in the western United States were originally designed to forecast water supply and may be subject to several sources of bias. In addition to climate change and weather modification effects, site-specific effects may be introduced from vegetation changes, site physical changes, measurement technique, and sensor changes. This paper examines changes in Utah＇s snowpack conditions over the past decade compared with all previous measurement years, focusing on the 15 snow courses with the longest observational record within the state of Utah. Although patterns in snowpack data consistent with those that would be expected due to temperature h as greater declines at lower elevations and latitudes--were not identified, snow water equivalent decreased at sites with significant increases in vegetation coverage. Additionally, we provide a list of 22 snow courses in Utah that are best-suited for long-term climate analysis.

Technology issues and prevention strategies on sunlight greenhouse vegetable

Energy-saving solar greenhouse vegetables cultivating is to create and improve microclimate environment with greenhouse in those seasons impossible for open cultivation production and in order to achieve the purpose of harvest in advance or in delay. Since a greenhouse needs huge construction expenses and high production costs, only though the improvement of facility utilization can we obtain better economic benefits. Vegetable germination and seedling stage need a long time for ground, so they need smaller standing area. So we concentrated in a small area of cultivation can not only create a suitable environment easily, nurture strong age seedling, but also can avoid greenhouse waste. Make transplanting to greenhouse after Seedlings breeding can effectively reduce the fertility cycle and substantially increase greenhouse utilization.

Global Research Trends Related to CO_2 Emissions and Their Enlightenment to China

Given the growing awareness of the likely catastrophic impacts of climate change and close association of climate change with global emissions of greenhouse gases （of which carbon dioxide is more prominent） , considerable research efforts have been devoted to the analysis of carbon dioxide （CO2） emissions and its relationship to sustainable development. Now GHG reduction programs have been coming into effect in many developed coun- tries that have more responsibility for historical CO2 emissions, and the studies have become mature. First, the GHG emissions accounting system is more all-inclusive and the methods are more rational with the effort of IPCC from 1995 and all other research- ers related. Second, the responsibility allocation is more rational and fair. Along with the clarity of ＂carbon transfer＂ and ＂carbon leakage＂, the perspective and methodology for allocating regional COz emissions responsibility is turning from production base to consumption base. Third, the decomposition method has become more mature and more complex. For example, the decomposition formulas are including KAYA expression and input-output expres- sion and the decomposition techniques are developed from index analysis to simple average divisia and then adaptive-weighting divisia. Fourth, projection models have become more integrated and long-term. The top-down model and bottom-up model are both inter-embedded and synergetic. Trends above give some advice for the research on CO2 in China, such as emissions factors database construction, deeper-going research on emissions responsibility and structure analysis, promotion of modeling technology and technology-environment database.

A comparative study on three EOF analysis techniques using decades of Arctic sea-ice concentration data

Change in Arctic sea ice extent is one of the indicators of global climate changes. Spatio-temporal change and change patterns can be identified using various methods to facilitate human understanding global climate changes. Three empirical orthogonal function(EOF) techniques are discussed and applied to decades of sea-ice concentration(SIC) dataset in Arctic area for identifying independent patterns. It was found that: 1) discrepancies exist in magnitude and scope for each EOF pattern, however, the first two leading EOFs of variability possess high similarities in structure and shape; 2) Even though there are somewhat differences in amplitude of each PC mode, the first two leading PC modes maintain consistent in overall trend and periodicity; 3) There are significant discrepancies and inconsistencies in the third and fourth leading EOF and PC modes. The accuracies of three techniques are further validated in representing the physical phenomena of SIC anomaly patterns.

Carbon Dioxide Control-Technology for the Future

The world is experiencing global climate change, and most scientists attribute it to the accumulation in the atmosphere of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons. Because of its enormous emission rate, carbon dioxide （CO2） is the main culprit. Almost all the anthropogenic CO2 emissions come from the burning of fossil fuels for electricity, heat, and transportation. Emissions of COg can be reduced by conservation, increased use of renewable energy sources, and increased efficiencies in both the production of electrical power and the transportation sector. Capture of CO2 can be accomplished with wet scrubbing, dry sorption, or biogenic fixation. After CO2 is captured, it must be transported either as a liquid or a supercritical fluid, which realistically can only be accomplished by pipeline or ship. Final disposal of CO2 will either be to underground reservoirs or to the ocean; at present, the underground option seems to be the only viable one. Various strategies and technologies involved with reduction of CO2 emissions and carbon capture and sequestration （CCS） are briefly reviewed in this paper.

Potential Effects of Global Change to Urban Vegetation： Vulnerability and Adaptations

An urban area is a space with high population density which develops new, major and complex structures in comparison to the areas surrounding it. In order to develop these structures and maintain population and its activity, the metabolism of urban areas needs a lot of external sources of energy and nutrients （water, food, materials...）, which produces heat waste, garbage, sewage and pollution which are some of the major problems for urban sites, and the related areas from it. This metabolism promotes major environmental changes in the urban areas, which promote stress on vegetation used in gardening. The main environmental factors that affect vegetation in urban areas are the same that have been defined in literature from long time ago, but now they are acting as the sum of complementary and synergic effects of these classical stresses at the same moment, in the same place, which happen due to the incredibly amount of energy that we place in the systems. This is called global change. Ecophysiological studies can provide objective information to be used as a tool to improve the vegetation management in urban areas from design to process, and consequently avoiding the potential vulnerabilities associated with global change. Present paper tries to show several examples about the plant response, measurement tools and vulnerabilities and adaptations to global change under urban conditions. It can be concluded that the large availability of vegetal material and the great technical development can be highlighted as strong points of gardening and urban landscaping while, as weak points, it could be mentioned the changing taste of consumers, which can force the introduction of new vegetal material with no time for adaptation, Urban gardening and landscaping can be considered to be exposed to global change, but in our opinion it is necessary to carry out more studies to determine the real degree of vulnerability of this activity to this complex kind of stress.

Rural Impact Assessment of Agriculture Water Systems in a Climate Change Context

This study is a rapid appraisal procedure （RAP） of two forms of agriculture water delivery systems comprising two canal irrigation schemes and 26 Zimbabwean bush pumps in the Midlands and Masvingo Provinces. A longitudinal multiple data collection technique employed involved various primary and secondary sources including site visits, literature review, observation, interviews with key personnel and group discussions. General findings of this study indicate： （1） the available coping mechanisms in smallholder farming in a climate change context and （2） the challenges faced in the actual delivery of water in terms of design, management, physical and institutional factors. The study provides pragmatic recommendations for overall improvement and performance in a local, technical and socio-economic context through evaluation of the current situation, practices and processes. An integrated approach to addressing climate change impacts should include water management, rehabilitation, complete overhaul and introduction of other relevant water systems and water saving farming techniques. Yet, ownership of these technologies by communities remains instrumental. Rural development and agricultural policies that ensure maximum and full capacity utilisation of water systems to improve rural livelihoods, mitigation and adaptation to climate change are recommended.

论“运气始于大寒”

运气年周期的起始时间,是中医五运六气研究的重要论题。目前学界主要存在立春说、正月朔日说、大寒说3种观点,其说皆源于运气七篇及王冰注文。文章从运气七篇整体思想构建视角出发,通过梳理阐释3种观点的理论根据,旁参同时代相关文献典籍,认为在《素问》及王冰注文思想语境中,立春日、正月朔日的确切意涵应为候气术的测候时间点。候气技术盛行于先秦两汉,与五运六气格局构建的核心观念存在差异:候气技术以实际测候为核心,五运六气格局构建以历数推演为核心。基于以上观点,对“大寒说”理论根据进行考察,认为“二分二至”时位在五运六气格局构建中具有重要意义,以大寒日作为初之气起始,应是依据子午(二至)-卯酉(二分)自然气化纵横轴划分六气时位的理论结果。

Influence path and effect of climate change on geopolitical pattern

Marked by the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009, climate change is shaping the new pattern for future geopolitics with unprecedented drive. Climate change has surpassed the category of pure environment problem and become a focal issue in international relations. Driven by climate change, new changes have taken place in the evolution of geopolitical pattern. (1) Geopolitical contention expands into new fields and regions. (2) Measures and tools of geopolitical contention become more diversified. (3) Main bodies of geopolitical gambling are divided into different groups. With the development of politicization, climate change has become the significant driving force that can influence the evolution of geopolitical pattern. Measures, sphere and contents of geopolitical contention changed dramatically, carbon emission permits, carbon tariff and new energy technology turned into the key points of geopolitical contention. Climate change acts on the evolution of geopolitical pattern through three main paths: "Feedback effect", "Trace back effect", and "Ripple effect", and they exert influence on geopolitical pattern with three impacts: "Depression effect", "Traceability effect", and "Diffusion effect". We draw several conclusions from the analysis: (1) Climate change gradually becomes one of the most active driving forces to impact on the evolution of geopolitical pattern in the present world and it diversifies the geopolitical targets. (2) Climate change generates new geopolitical tools. The developed countries use climate change as a "Lever" to pry strategic resources like energy and grain and the geopolitical means are in a more secretive way. (3) Low-carbon technology, with new energy technology as the core, becomes the key factor of geopolitical influence and power transition. Those who can take advantage of new energy technologies will occupy the leading position in future's climate change negotiations and geopolitical competition.

Shifts in water-level variation of Namco in the central Tibetan Plateau from ICESat and Cryo Sat-2 altimetry and station observations

The dynamics of high-altitude inland lakes in the Tibetan Plateau are sensitive indicators of climate change. Due to the remoteness and hard access, satellite altimetry becomes an effective approach to obtaining largescale and temporally continuous information of lake-level changes. The CryoSat-2 altimetry is expected to solve the current problem that earlier radar altimeters are only practical for monitoring large water bodies, while ICESat laser altimetry is available only for the period 2003-2009. In this study, the comparison of CryoSat-2 altimetry for Namco with in situ water-level data suggests a high cor- relation coefficient of 0.71 （P 〈 0.01）, with the mean error of -0.12 m and root-mean-square error of 0.18 m. Further, the combination of ICESat and CryoSat-2 altimetry data and in situ lake-level observations reveals a rapid water- level rise of 0.24 4- 0.04 m/year during 2003-2008 and then a slightly decreasing trend of -0.09 4- 0.04 m/year during 2009-2013. This study suggests that the CryoSat-2 altimetry has the potential of sustaining the fine observa- tions on Tibetan lakes, following the ICESat mission. Besides, the examination of four key climatic variables （temperature, precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, and relative humidity） during 1990-2013 indicates that the wetting climate over Namco Basin stagnated or even reversed around 2006, which may be tightly related to the slowing lake growth.

Hydrological monitoring and seasonal forecasting:Progress and perspectives

Hydrological monitoring and seasonal forecasting is an active research field because of its potential applications in hydrological risk assessment, preparedness and mitigation. In recent decades, developments in ground and satellite measurements have made the hydrometeorological information readily available, and advances in information technology have facilitated the data analysis in a real-time manner. New progress in climate research and modeling has enabled the prediction of seasonal climate with reasonable accuracy and increased resolution. These emerging techniques and advances have enabled more timely acquisition of accurate hydrological fluxes and status, and earlier warning of extreme hydrological events such as droughts and floods. This paper gives current state-of-the-art understanding of the uncertainties in hydrological monitoring and forecasting, reviews the efforts and progress in operational hydrological monitoring system assisted by observations from various sources and experimental seasonal hydrological forecasting, and briefly introduces the current monitoring and forecasting practices in China. The grand challenges and perspectives for the near future are also discussed, including acquiring and extracting reliable information for monitoring and forecasting, predicting realistic hydrological fluxes and states in the river basin being significantly altered by human activity, and filling the gap between numerical models and the end user. We highlight the importance of understanding the needs of the operational water management and the priority to transfer research knowledge to decision-makers.

Predicting ecological regime shift under climate change： New modelling techniques and potential of molecular-based approaches

Ecological regime shift is the rapid transition from one stable community structure to another, often ecologically infe- rior, stable community. Such regime shifts are especially common in shallow marine communities, such as the transition of kelp forests to algal turfs that harbour far lower biodiversity. Stable regimes in communities are a result of balanced interactions be- tween species, and predicting new regimes therefore requires an evaluation of new species interactions, as well as the resilience of the ＇stable＇ position. While computational optimisation techniques can predict new potential regimes, predicting the most likely community state of the various options produced is currently educated guess work. In this study we integrate a stable regime op- timisation approach with a Bayesian network used to infer prior knowledge of the likely stress of climate change （or, in practice, any other disturbance） on each component species of a representative rocky shore community model. Combining the results, by calculating the product of the match between resilient computational predictions and the posterior probabilities of the Bayesian network, gives a refined set of model predictors, and demonstrates the use of the process in determining community changes, as might occur through processes such as climate change. To inform Bayesian priors, we conduct a review of molecular approaches applied to the analysis of the transcriptome of rocky shore organisms, and show how such an approach could be linked to meas- ureable stress variables in the field. Hence species-specific microarrays could be designed as biomarkers of in situ stress, and used to inform predictive modelling approaches such as those described here.