Socioenvironmental Drivers of Farmers’ Perceptions of Climate Change Risk in Agroforestry Parklands of West Atacora in Benin (West Africa)

Throughout the world, climate change is threatening the human population. In West Africa, smallholder farmers in indigenous agricultural societies typically hold considerable knowledge. Therefore, this study was conducted in West Atacora of Benin Republic to assess the drivers of farmers’ perceptions of climate change risk. We used a random sampling technique to select 360 households’ heads who were interviewed regarding different climate change risks perception. Binomial logistic regression was used to assess the drivers of farmers’ perceptions of climate change risks. The results showed that the farmers in drier areas had a higher perception of the global risk of climate change than those in humid areas. The same trend was observed for the seven different individual’s climate change risk investigated. The study identified also membership of farm organizations as main sociodemographic characteristic that explains farmers’ perception of climate change risk perception. These findings are helpful tools to sensitize the local people on climate change risk and cope with the risk in agricultural lands.

Regulatory mode selection and legal governance of China's response to climate change risk

The regulation of climate change risk is an important measure for China to achieve the goal of"carbon neutrality and carbon peak".Although China has built a legal regulation system for environmental risk at the macro level,and normative and functionalism have constructed different paths for regulating climate change risk,it is necessary to analysis the two paths at the micro level,in order to examine its adaptability to climate change risk.The normative mode of climate change risk regulation emphasizes the clarity of the legal regulation system,controls the regulatory subject formally,and pays attention to the role of judicial review;The functionalist mode of climate change risk regulation emphasizes the authorization of regulatory subjects,and identifies and manages climate change risks in the way of administrative self-control.In order to regulate climate change risk,in addition to the traditional way of solving the problem of"normalization"and"functionalism",there is also a third regulatory mode,that is,to overcome the inherent shortcomings and defects of both functionalism and normalization,and to integrate the two necessary:not only pay attention to the legal normative requirements of the normative mode,but also mobilize the initiative of administrative regulation under functionalism,and strengthen the judicial prevention function,and then improve the effe ctiveness of China’s participation in global climate change governance.

Governing Climate Change Risks： Implications for Mitigation and Adaptation

This article analyzed climate change risks from the perspective of con- temporary environmental risks and how they have been internalized by policy. In order to do so, the main characteristics of this type of risk were analyzed based on the contributions from social theory authors on contemporary environmental risks. Next, the implications of these characteristics for the production of policy responses to climate change risks were discussed. The two main types of policy responses to climate change in the literature were presented： mitigation and adaptation. Finally, their interaction, differences and possibilities for synergy were analyzed. Under- standing climate change as a contemporary environmental risk, the way it was presented in this article, implies a radical change in the development bases of society, since greenhouse gases emissions from human activities contribute to the aggravation of global warming. Climate change challenges the traditional ways of governing in many ways, since climate change policy should involve the ques- tioning of the current processes of development. Profound changes in ways of thinking and established political action are needed.

Research on Changes in Risk of Chilling Damage to Maize in Heilongjiang Province since 1980

Based on data of daily average temperature observed during maize growing period as well as data of different growing periods of maize at 24 meteorological stations in Heilongjiang Province from 1980 to 2010, changes in risk of chilling damage to maize since 1980 were analyzed. Initially, the risk of the hazard factor was calculated by adopting the criterion of ＂Comprehensive Decision System of Chilling Damage to Maize in Heilongjiang Province＂. Then, choosing the planting area of maize at 75 stations as the exposure degree index, risk zones of exposure degree were concluded. Afterwards, risk zones of maize sensitivity to chilling damage were outlined based on maize yield per unit area. At last, a comprehensive evaluation model of chilling damage to maize in Heilongjiang Province was established, and Heilongjiang Province was divided into 5 grades of risk zones according to the model. The results showed that compared with the period before 1995, the risk of chilling damage to maize was severer in the west area of Songnen Plain, and previous sub-low or medium risk of chilling damage to maize in the west of Sanjiang Plain changed into subhigh or hi qh risk since the middle 1980s.

A Conceptual Governance Framework for Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction Integration

Climate change adaptation(CCA) and disaster risk reduction(DRR) have similar targets and goals in relation to climate change and related risks. The integration of CCA in core DRR operations is crucial to provide simultaneous benefits for social systems coping with challenges posed by climate extremes and climate change.Although state actors are generally responsible for governing a public issue such as CCA and DRR integration,the reform of top-down governing modes in neoliberal societies has enlarged the range of potential actors to include non state actors from economic and social communities. These new intervening actors require in-depth investigation. To achieve this goal, the article investigates the set of actors and their bridging arrangements that create and shape governance in CCA and DRR integration. The article conducts a comprehensive literature review in order to retrieve main actors and arrangements. The article summarizes actors and arrangements into a conceptual governance framework that can be used as a backdrop for future research on the topic. However, this framework has an explorative form, which must be refined according to site-and context-specific variables, norms, or networks.Accordingly, this article promotes an initial application of the framework to different contexts. Scholars may adopt the framework as a roadmap with which to corroborate the existence of a theoretical and empirical body of knowledge on governance of CCA and DRR integration.

SHARE-ENV:A Data Set to Advance Our Knowledge of the Environment−Wellbeing Relationship

Climate change interacts with other environmental stressors and vulnerability factors.Some places and,owing to socioeconomic conditions,some people,are far more at risk.The data behind current assessments of the environment−wellbeing nexus is coarse and regionally aggregated,when considering multiple regions/groups;or,when granular,comes from ad hoc samples with few variables.To assess the impacts of climate change,we require data that are granular and comprehensive,both in the variables and population studied.We build a publicly accessible data set,the SHARE-ENV data set,which fulfills these criteria.We expand on EU representative,individual-level,longitudinal data(the SHARE survey),with environmental exposure information about temperature,radiation,precipitation,pollution,and flood events.We illustrate through four simplified multilevel linear regressions,cross-sectional and longitudinal,how full-fledged studies can use SHARE-ENV to contribute to the literature.Such studies would help assess climate impacts and estimate the effectiveness and fairness of several climate adaptation policies.Other surveys can be expanded with environmental information to unlock different research avenues.

Research progresses and prospects of multi-sphere compound extremes from the Earth System perspective

Compound extremes,whose socioeconomic and ecological impacts are severer than that caused by each event occurring in isolation,have evolved into a hot topic in Earth Science in the past decade.In the context of climate change,many compound extremes have exhibited increasing frequency and intensity,and shown novel fashions of combinations,posing more pressing demands and tougher challenges to scientific research and disaster prevention and response.This article,via a perspective of multi-sphere interactions within the Earth System,systematically reviews the status quo,new scientific understanding,and deficiencies regarding the definition,mechanism,change,attribution,and projection of compound extremes.This study also sorts out existing challenges and outlines a potential roadmap in advancing the study on compound extremes with respect to data requirement,mechanistic diagnosis,numerical modeling,attribution and projection,risk assessment,and adaptive response.Further directions of compound extremes studies and key research topics that warrant multi-disciplinary and multisectoral coordinated efforts are also proposed.Given that climate change has reshaped the type of extremes,a transformation from the traditional single-event perspective to a compound-event perspective is needed for scientific research,disaster prevention and mitigation,and climate change adaptation,calling for bottom-up innovation in research objects,ideas,and methods.This article will add value to promoting the research on compound extremes and interdisciplinary cooperations.

不同全球变暖目标下中国气候变化风险区域格局

Climate change will bring huge risks to human society and the economy.Regional climate change risk assessment is an important basic analysis for addressing climate change,which can be expressed as a regional system of comprehensive climate change risk.This study establishes regional systems of climate change risks under the proposed global warming targets.Results of this work are spatial patterns of climate change risks in China,indicated by the degree of climate change and the status of the risk receptors.Therefore,the risks show significant spatial differences.The high-risk regions are mainly distributed in East,South,and central China,while the medium-high risk regions are found in North and southwestern China.Under the 2℃warming target,more than 1/4 of China’s area would be at high and medium-high risk,which is more severe than under the 1.5℃warming target,and would extend to the western and northern regions.This work provides regional risk characteristics of climate change under different global warming targets as a foundation for dealing with climate change.