Secondary organic aerosol contributes to the atmospheric particle burden with implications for air quality and climate. Biogenic volatile organic compounds such as terpenoids emitted from plants are ...important secondary organic aerosol precursors with isoprene dominating the emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds globally. However, the particle mass from isoprene oxidation is generally modest compared to that of other terpenoids. Here we show that isoprene, carbon monoxide and methane can each suppress the instantaneous mass and the overall mass yield derived from monoterpenes in mixtures of atmospheric vapours. We find that isoprene 'scavenges' hydroxyl radicals, preventing their reaction with monoterpenes, and the resulting isoprene peroxy radicals scavenge highly oxygenated monoterpene products. These effects reduce the yield of low-volatility products that would otherwise form secondary organic aerosol. Global model calculations indicate that oxidant and product scavenging can operate effectively in the real atmosphere. Thus highly reactive compounds (such as isoprene) that produce a modest amount of aerosol are not necessarily net producers of secondary organic particle mass and their oxidation in mixtures of atmospheric vapours can suppress both particle number and mass of secondary organic aerosol. We suggest that formation mechanisms of secondary organic aerosol in the atmosphere need to be considered more realistically, accounting for mechanistic interactions between the products of oxidizing precursor molecules (as is recognized to be necessary when modelling ozone production).
While there is broad agreement in theory that farmers' expertise should be integrated into discussions of land management and climate change adaptation in the food system, it is unknown how much ...research practice has integrated these recommendations. To gauge the state of the field, we reviewed and coded a sample set of papers (n = 105) concerning farmers' perceptions of climate change. Crosstabulation analysis reveals that: 1) researching farmer “perception” of climate change seems to be more frequent in the Global South, as opposed to the North, where other terms are used; 2) farmers are rarely described within their social-ecological contexts, and often simply have their observations segmented and assessed for verification against historical data or quantitative measurements; and 3) the broader dynamics of research practice may perpetuate extractive and colonial patterns of exchange between the Global North and South. We find that farmers from the Global South are rarely described, but often evaluated in their perceptions. We conclude that, with some exceptions, the field does not substantively embrace farmers’ perceptions as a contribution to adaptation discourse. We posit that the lack of in-depth qualitative methods in our sample may be correlated with the perception of farmers as passive and vulnerable, rather than viably adapting.
•We reviewed and coded a sample set of papers (n=105) concerning farmers’perceptions of climate change.•We found: that researching farmer “perception” of climate change seems to be more frequent in the Global South, than in the North;.•That farmers are often simply have their observations assessed against historical data or quantitative measurements.•The dynamics of research practice perpetuate extractive, colonial patterns between the Global North and South.•We conclude that the field does not substantively embrace farmers’ perceptions as a contribution to adaptation discourse.
Highly oxygenated organic molecules (HOM) are formed in the atmosphere via autoxidation involving peroxy radicals arising from volatile organic compounds (VOC). HOM condense on pre-existing particles ...and can be involved in new particle formation. HOM thus contribute to the formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA), a significant and ubiquitous component of atmospheric aerosol known to affect the Earth’s radiation balance. HOM were discovered only very recently, but the interest in these compounds has grown rapidly. In this Review, we define HOM and describe the currently available techniques for their identification/quantification, followed by a summary of the current knowledge on their formation mechanisms and physicochemical properties. A main aim is to provide a common frame for the currently quite fragmented literature on HOM studies. Finally, we highlight the existing gaps in our understanding and suggest directions for future HOM research.
In Being and Place among the Tlingit, anthropologist Thomas F. Thornton examines the concept of place in the language, social structure, economy, and ritual of southeast Alaska's Tlingit Indians. ...Place signifies not only a specific geographical location but also reveals the ways in which individuals and social groups define themselves.
The notion of place consists of three dimensions - space, time, and experience - which are culturally and environmentally structured. Thornton examines each in detail to show how individual and collective Tlingit notions of place, being, and identity are formed. As he observes, despite cultural and environmental changes over time, particularly in the post-contact era since the late eighteenth century, Tlingits continue to bind themselves and their culture to places and landscapes in distinctive ways. He offers insight into how Tlingits in particular, and humans in general, conceptualize their relationship to the lands they inhabit, arguing for a study of place that considers all aspects of human interaction with landscape.
In Tlingit, it is difficult even to introduce oneself without referencing places in Lingit Aani (Tlingit Country). Geographic references are embedded in personal names, clan names, house names, and, most obviously, in k-waan names, which define regions of dwelling. To say one is Sheet'ka K-waan defines one as a member of the Tlingit community that inhabits Sheet'ka (Sitka).
Being and Place among the Tlingit makes a substantive contribution to the literature on the Tlingit, the Northwest Coast cultural area, Native American and indigenous studies, and to the growing social scientific and humanistic literature on space, place, and landscape.
•Urban slums are ideal places to analyse climate adaptation.•Slums offer examples of social-ecological stress anticipated in established societies.•Local knowledge and experience supports long term ...adaptation processes.•Slumdwellers' permanence and collective actions lead to transformative adaptation.•Youth groups provide critical infrastructure and services.
The growth of peri-urban areas is increasingly recognised as a dominant planning and urban design challenge for the 21st century. In burgeoning poor urban settlements growing on city margins, autonomous adaptation strategies are often the only measures to respond to increasing climatic and compounding stressors. Yet, in both research and practice there remains lack of understanding regarding the dynamics of adaptation and risk reduction at the level of the community. In this paper, we argue urban slums are ideal places to consider adaptation because they offer examples of more extreme social-ecological stress than one finds in more established communities – the kind we can anticipate more broadly in the face of climate change. A framework for identifying local adaptation processes is presented and applied to analyse the case of Mathare Valley Slums in Nairobi, Kenya – a densely populated suburb, where residents are regularly exposed to flooding from heavy rainfall. Findings reveal that slums, often viewed as illegitimate, makeshift, and temporary settlements, are places experienced by many residents as permanent communities characterised by rapid environmental change. Processes of adaptation in Mathare have become institutionalised through time, as a new generation of people imagine themselves staying and (re)organise to achieve a higher level of functioning through various strategies to reduce risk. Innovative and revitalising adaptation occurs as residents shift from employing more generic and expected coping strategies, such as evacuating homes or economic diversification, to creating “gated” communities and savings schemes to maintain and improve the settlement, despite uncertain tenure. Both formal and informal institutions, such as youth groups, play an important role in governing such heterogeneous localities, incrementally upgrading the slum and providing critical public services. Long-term residents' increasing recognition of the permanence of the slum community and its stressful conditions appears to lead to more collective action toward adaptation pathways. However, this is in marked contrast to the dominant non-local perspective of Mathare's status as both impermanent and illegal, which prevails among government officials. As such, strategies are generally not incorporated into planned interventions. While progressive policies designed to reduce risk exist, they remain nascent in their establishment and fail to benefit slumdwellers. The case illustrates the need to incorporate the wealth of knowledge, techniques, and experience extant at the community level in the development of adaptation planning.
Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) has traditionally treated consumption and production as separate domains of economic activities with different solutions for sustainability. In the ...emerging sharing economy, consumption activities are more and more integrated into the production process of shared goods and services, which provides novel arenas for sustainability in cities. Increasingly, these sharing business models are aiming to solve long-standing urban sustainability problems, such as insufficient daily transport, and its problems of polluttion. In this article, we integrate theories of the sharing economy, value co-creation and SCP to argue that the emergent forms of value co-creation between consumers and sharing businesses provide new opportunities for SCP. We use two emergent and representative sharing mobility businesses in China – a bike-sharing scheme called Mobike and an electric-vehicle-sharing scheme called EVCARD – as case studies to analyze the sustainability potentials of value co-creation. The social, behavioral, economic, and infrastructural obstacles encountered in realising such potentials are also identified. Based on these empirical results, we propose a framework to conceptualize the emerging patterns of value co-creation between governments, sharing business firms, and consumers in the sharing economy. We highlight the importance of understanding value co-creation for development of SCP theory and practice to guide the evolving sharing economy.
Urban transformation is vital to global sustainable development as humans increasingly come to dwell in cities. Within cities, the mobility sector promises the highest potential of carbon emission ...reduction. The disruptive business innovation brought about by the advent of app-based smart-sharing systems is emancipating collaborative consumption of mobility at larger and deeper scales, ranging from car-pooling, expanded electric vehicle (EV) use to bike-sharing. Synchronizing the existing yet under-realized low-carbon transport modes in cities, such as public transport, with emerging and diversifying app-based sharing mobility business models, offers huge potential to transform urban mobility toward sustainability. Yet, the rapid business expansion and innovation of the sharing mobility companies have profoundly challenged existing socio-economic relationships, knowledge systems and physical infrastructures in cities. This study explores the synergy between the social-ecological innovation in the sharing economy and the sustainable development of urban systems, using empirical data from three business cases in the emerging sharing mobility sector – in modes of ride-sharing, EV-sharing and bike-sharing - of Shanghai, China. It indicates that there is a strong co-evolution mechanism between the transformation towards more sustainable city at the macro-level and the business ecosystem innovation towards greener and smarter transport at the meso-level. We argue that the two level transformations, triggered by the disruptive innovation of the sharing economy and led by urban transformation towards sustainability, mutually influence each other and re-enforce sustainable values and practices in the fast changing urban context and business innovations in Shanghai.
The disruptive rise of the sharing economy has inspired multiple social innovations embodying significant potential towards achieving urban sustainability in crucial areas like low-carbon mobility. ...Increasingly, consumers in such sharing systems participate in activities of value co-creation together with firms and peers, such as through enforcing rules that help maintain trust and reciprocity. Why do people choose to invest their time and energy in co-creating values that may benefit wider social and environmental sustainability in the sharing economy? This study addresses this question through an analysis of an emerging shared mobility community, the innovative socio-economic relationships it has spawned, and the cultural and cognitive forces that underpin these new forms of economic organization and value creation in relation to sustainability. Through a mixed method case study of a newly emerged free-floating bike sharing system in China, called Mobike, the paper explores the main enabling factors which is transforming people from passive product/service receivers to active value co-creators in the sharing economy, such as self-efficacy, cognition of duty, anticipated awards and learning processes. The paper argues that business, social and government organizations may leverage these enabling factors to achieve a more sustainable sharing business and society. Finally, based on quantitative and qualitative data analysis, the article proposes a value co-creation framework between users and firms that involves a clear social learning process on the one hand, and has strong links with social innovations towards sustainability, on the other.
Local and traditional ecological knowledge (LTK) is increasingly recognized as an important component of scientific research, conservation, and resource management. Especially where there are gaps in ...the scientific literature, LTK can be a critical source of basic environmental data; this situation is particularly apparent in the case of marine ecosystems, about which comparatively less is known than terrestrial ones. We surveyed the global literature relating to the LTK of marine environments and analyzed what knowledge has been collected and with what aims and results. A large proportion of LTK which has been documented by researchers consists of species-specific information that is important for traditional resource use. However, knowledge relating to marine ecology, environmental change, and contemporary resource management practices is increasingly emphasized in the literature. Today, marine LTK is being used to provide historical and contemporary baseline information, suggest stewardship techniques, improve conservation planning and practice, and to resolve management disputes. Still, comparatively few studies are geared toward the practicalities of developing a truly collaborative, adaptive, and resilient management infrastructure that is embracive of modern science and LTK and practices in marine environments. Based on the literature, we thus suggest how such an infrastructure might be advanced through collaborative projects and "bridging" institutions that highlight the importance of trust-building and the involvement of communities in all stages of research, and the importance of shared interest in project objectives, settings (seascapes), and outcomes.
To succeed in meeting carbon emissions reduction targets to limit projected climate change impacts, it is imperative that improved synergies be developed between mitigation and adaptation strategies. ...This is especially important in development policy among remote indigenous communities, where demands for development have often not been accompanied by commensurate efforts to respond to future climate change impacts. Here we explore how mitigation and adaptation pathways can be combined to transform rural indigenous communities toward sustainability. Case studies from communities in Alaska and Nepal are introduced to illustrate current and potential synergies and trade-offs and how these might be harnessed to maximize beneficial outcomes. The adaptation pathways approach and a framework for transformational adaptation are proposed to unpack these issues and develop understanding of how positive transformational change can be supported.
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