• Energy Research
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AbstractPeople cooperate every day in ways that range from largescale contributions that mitigate climate change to simple actions such as leaving another individual with choice – known as social mindfulness. It is not yet clear whether and how these complex and more simple forms of cooperation relate. Prior work has found that countries with individuals who made more socially mindful choices were linked to a higher country environmental performance – a proxy for complex cooperation. Here we replicated this initial finding in 41 samples around the world, demonstrating the robustness of the association between social mindfulness and environmental performance, and substantially built on it to show this relationship extended to a wide range of complex cooperative indices, tied closely to many current societal issues. We found that greater social mindfulness expressed by an individual was related to living in countries with more social capital, more community participation and reduced prejudice towards immigrants. Our findings speak to the symbiotic relationship between simple and more complex forms of cooperation in societies.

AbstractThis study updates knowledge on climate evolution in Madagascar from 1950 to 2018. Changes were analyzed using annual and seasonal climate indices at regional and station level. The original daily series of minimum and maximum temperature and precipitation obtained from 28 meteorological stations were quality controlled and homogenized. Thirty‐seven (37) climate indices were obtained from the daily series. The results show that changes in temperature had a higher degree of spatial coherence than changes in precipitation. Trends for temperature indices were mostly significant at 0.05 level and compatible with warming. Changes in minimum temperatures were greater than those for the maximum, leading to a significant decrease in the diurnal temperature range (DTR). Warm nights increased more than warm days, (0.70 days⋅decade–1) and cold nights decreased more than cold days, (0.21 days⋅decade–1). In addition, we found more stations with significant trends for very cold nights (92.60%) than for very warm days (51.80%) but they progressed differently (decrease and increase, respectively). Station‐by‐station precipitation index trends were mostly non‐significant at 0.05 level, and most regional precipitation index showed decreasing trends. A shift in precipitation magnitude was observed around 2000–2018, a period of intensified drying (where 70.40% of stations recorded non‐significant decreasing trends). An analysis of drought characteristics (i.e., intensity, magnitude and duration) highlighted the situation, especially in the south‐east at an annual timescale.

AbstractThe chemical pollution crisis severely threatens human and environmental health globally. To tackle this challenge the establishment of an overarching international science–policy body has recently been suggested. We strongly support this initiative based on the awareness that humanity has already likely left the safe operating space within planetary boundaries for novel entities including chemical pollution. Immediate action is essential and needs to be informed by sound scientific knowledge and data compiled and critically evaluated by an overarching science–policy interface body. Major challenges for such a body are (i) to foster global knowledge production on exposure, impacts and governance going beyond data-rich regions (e.g., Europe and North America), (ii) to cover the entirety of hazardous chemicals, mixtures and wastes, (iii) to follow a one-health perspective considering the risks posed by chemicals and waste on ecosystem and human health, and (iv) to strive for solution-oriented assessments based on systems thinking. Based on multiple evidence on urgent action on a global scale, we call scientists and practitioners to mobilize their scientific networks and to intensify science–policy interaction with national governments to support the negotiations on the establishment of an intergovernmental body based on scientific knowledge explaining the anticipated benefit for human and environmental health.

According to predicted changes in climate, waterlogging events may occur more frequently in the future during autumn and winter at high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. If excess soil water coincides with the process of cold acclimation for plants, winter survival may potentially be affected. The effects of waterlogging during cold acclimation on stomatal aperture, relative water content, photochemical activity of photosystem II, freezing tolerance and plant regrowth after freezing were compared for two prehardened overwintering forage grasses, Lolium perenne and Festuca pratensis. The experiment was performed to test the hypothesis that changes in photochemical activity initiated by waterlogging-triggered modifications in the stomatal aperture contribute to changes in freezing tolerance. Principal component analysis showed that waterlogging activated different adaptive strategies in the two species studied. The increased freezing tolerance of F. pratensis was associated with increased photochemical activity connected with stomatal opening, whereas freezing tolerance of L. perenne was associated with a decrease in stomatal aperture. In conclusion, waterlogging-triggered stomatal behavior contributed to the efficiency of the cold acclimation process in L. perenne and F. pratensis.