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A major achievement in research supported by the Kluane Lake Research Station was the recovery, in 2001 – 02, of a suite of cores from the icefields of the central St. Elias Mountains, Yukon, by teams of researchers from Canada, the United States, and Japan. This project led to the development of parallel, long (103 – 104 year) ice-core records of climate and atmospheric change over an altitudinal range of more than 2 km, from the Eclipse Icefield (3017 m) to the ice-covered plateau of Mt. Logan (5340 m). These efforts built on earlier work recovering single ice cores in this region. Comparison of these records has allowed for variations in climate and atmospheric composition to be linked with changes in the vertical structure and dynamics of the North Pacific atmosphere, providing a unique perspective on these changes over the Holocene. Owing to their privileged location, cores from the St. Elias Icefields also contain a remarkably detailed record of aerosols from various sources around or across the North Pacific. In this paper we review major scientific findings from the study of St. Elias Mountain ice cores, focusing on five main themes: (1) The record of stable water isotopes (δ18O, δD), which has unique characteristics that differ from those of Greenland, other Arctic ice cores, and even among sites in the St. Elias; (2) the snow accumulation history; (3) the record of pollen, biomass burning aerosol, and desert dust deposition; (4) the record of long-range air pollutant deposition (sulphate and lead); and (5) the record of paleo-volcanism. Our discussion draws on studies published since 2000, but based on older ice cores from the St. Elias Mountains obtained in 1980 and 1996.

Abstract Reasonable assessment of the environmental benefits of integrating forest products into global value chains (GVCs) is important to promote sustainable development. Based on the forest product sector data for 41 countries from 2002 to 2014, this paper explores the impact of GVC participation on carbon embodied in exports using the 2008 financial crisis, a quasi-natural experiment of negative global value chain shocks. We found that deepening backward participation in forest product value chains led to more substantial increases in carbon emissions than did forward participation. Countries with large decreases in GVC participation reduced more carbon embodied in forest product exports after the financial crisis (relative to countries with small decreases) through a larger reduction in the scale of forest product exports, and a decrease in the growth rate of capital-intensive products as a result of the relative decline in capital investment. They increased the embodied carbon of exports through a decrease in the growth rate of skilled personnel. Strengthening the technology effect of GVCs with the guidance of skilled forestry personnel is a key way to decrease exported embodied carbon.

Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) are key components of information and communications technologies (ICT) systems, ensuring reliability by maintaining the continuity and quality of the systems’ power supply. The energy consumption of UPS should be an important consideration due to its high impact on the lifecycle costs, but in most applications of UPS, energy efficiency is not the most important issue, since the operational reliability of the ICT systems and the related security of data processing and storage are the major concerns. However, the conversion efficiency of UPS systems has been improving in recent years and high energy savings can be achieved with the adoption of new technologies without a reduction of the reliability levels. The Ecodesign Preparatory Study for UPS (Lot 27) aimed to identify and recommend ways to improve, at their design phase, the environmental performance of UPS in the European Union throughout their lifetime. This paper presents the work developed during the Preparatory Study for UPS focused on the technical analysis of the best available and not yet available technologies, as well as the potential energy savings that can be achieved. Several technologies were considered at component and product level. The main design options were then modelled, and the potential energy savings achievable with policy options focused on minimum efficiency performance standards and energy labelling were assessed, showing a potential for energy savings in European Union in 2025 of 11.4 TWh (65 % energy saving relative to predicted energy requirement of EU ICT system UPS based on current practice).

In recent years there has been increasing attention to the transition toward a bioeconomy. From comparable transitions toward sustainability, we know that transitions require integral, inclusive approaches toward developing a long-term strategy, focusing not only on technological innovation, but also on involving the public. This is not easy. Public engagement encompasses diverse forms of public and civil society participation, and it is crucial to understand the specificities of these interactions and their effects on potential transition pathways. We present a conceptual-analytical paper where the focus lies on understanding sense-making practices in the construction of publics in the bioeconomy. Using a case-study approach, this article describes five partialities of the constructed public in the bioeconomy and analyzes the orchestration, productive dimensions and effects of these constructions. Our analysis offers a new perspective on, and appreciation of, the partiality of different forms of public participation, and varying degrees in which possibilities of system change in the bioeconomy transition are inclusive or exclusive toward differentially constructed publics. This offers an alternative, constructive way of exploring actor dynamics and politics in system change. We aim to contribute to a more nuanced and integral interpretation of public engagement in sustainability transitions, which is relevant to actors from academia, policy, industry and other spheres relevant to the bioeconomy transition.

IntroductionNigeria faces enormous challenges to meet the growing demands for maternal healthcare. This has necessitated the need for digital technologies such as mobile health, to supplement existing maternal healthcare services. However, mobile health programs are tempered with gender blind spots that continue to push women and girls to the margins of society. Failure to address underlying gender inequalities and unintended consequences of mobile health programs limits its benefits and ultimately its sustainability. The importance of understanding existing gender dynamics in mobile health interventions for maternal health cannot be overstated.ObjectiveThis study explores the gender dimensions of Text4Life, a mobile health intervention for maternal healthcare in Edo State, Nigeria by capturing the unique perspectives of women who are the primary beneficiaries, their spouses who are all men, and community leaders who oversaw the implementation and delivery of the intervention.MethodThis qualitative study used criterion-based purposive sampling to recruit a total of 66 participants: 39 women, 25 men, and two ward development committee chairpersons. Data collection involved 8 age and sex desegregated focus group discussions with women and men and in-depth interviews with ward development committee chairpersons in English or Pidgin English. Translated and transcribed data were exported to NVivo 1.6 and data analysis followed a conventional approach to thematic analysis.ResultsWomen had some of the necessary resources to participate in the Text4Life program, but they were generally insufficient thereby derailing their participation. The program enhanced women's status and decision-making capacity but with men positioned as heads of households and major decision-makers in maternal healthcare, there remained the possibility of deprioritizing maternal healthcare. Finally, while Text4Life prioritized women's safety in various contexts, it entrenched systems of power that allow men's control over women's reproductive lives.ConclusionAs communities across sub-Saharan Africa continue to leverage the use of mHealth for maternal health, this study provides insights into the gender implications of women's use of mHealth technologies. While mHealth programs are helpful to women in many ways, they are not enough on their own to undo entrenched systems of power through which men control women's access to resources and their reproductive and social lives.

Objective: To verify the association between exercise and free time sport types and binge drinking in a large sample of adults. Methods: Data of 718,147 adults from the “Surveillance of Risk and Protection Factors for Chronic Diseases by Telephone Survey” were used. We described the demographic and behavioral variables, and negative binomial regression analyzed the association between exercise and free time sport types and binge drinking adjusted by demographics variables, body mass index status, and television time. Results: Outdoor walking/running was the most common exercise reported (20.0%, 95% confidence interval [CI], 19.8%–20.2%), followed by team sports (8.1%; 95% CI, 8.0%–8.2%) and strengthening (8.0%; 95% CI, 7.9%–8.1%). The prevalence of binge drinking for each exercise and free time sport type ranged from 6.9% (water aerobics) to 31.9% (team sports). Participants engaging in strengthening (prevalence ratio = 1.12; 95% CI, 1.04–1.21, P = .002) and team sports (prevalence ratio = 1.11; 95% CI, 1.07–1.17, P < .001) were more likely to binge drink more frequently in the past 30 days than inactive participants. Conclusions: It appears that the participants’ profile plays an important role in the underlying social context of this association. Participants with more frequent strengthening and less frequent team sports practice, who were primarily younger and single, were more likely to binge drink frequently.

Warming seas, marine heatwaves, and habitat degradation are increasingly widespread phenomena affecting marine biodiversity, yet our understanding of their broader impacts is largely derived from collective insights from independent localized studies. Insufficient systematic broadscale monitoring limits our understanding of the true extent of these impacts and our capacity to track these at scales relevant to national policies and international agreements. Using an extensive time series of co-located reef fish community structure and habitat data spanning 12 years and the entire Australian continent, we found that reef fish community responses to changing temperatures and habitats are dynamic and widespread but regionally patchy. Shifts in composition and abundance of the fish community often occurred within 2 years of environmental or habitat change, although the relative importance of these two mechanisms of climate impact tended to differ between tropical and temperate zones. The clearest of these changes on temperate and subtropical reefs were temperature related, with responses measured by the reef fish thermal index indicating reshuffling according to the thermal affinities of species present. On low latitude coral reefs, the community generalization index indicated shifting dominance of habitat generalist fishes through time, concurrent with changing coral cover. Our results emphasize the importance of maintaining local ecological detail when scaling up datasets to inform national policies and global biodiversity targets. Scaled-up ecological monitoring is needed to discriminate among increasingly diverse drivers of large-scale biodiversity change and better connect presently disjointed systems of biodiversity observation, indicator research, and governance.

Assurer des systèmes alimentaires résilients et des régimes alimentaires sains et durables pour tous nécessite une utilisation beaucoup plus élevée de l'eau. Cependant, les ressources en eau sont limitées, géographiquement dispersées, volatiles en raison du changement climatique et nécessaires à d'autres fonctions vitales, y compris les écosystèmes et les services qu'elles fournissent. Une bonne gouvernance pour des ressources en eau résilientes est un précurseur nécessaire pour décider des solutions, trouver des financements et fournir des infrastructures. Six attributs qui, ensemble, fournissent une base pour une bonne gouvernance afin de réduire les risques futurs liés à l'eau pour les systèmes alimentaires sont proposés. Ces attributs s'harmonisent dans leur double objectif d'intégrer l'apprentissage adaptatif et les nouvelles connaissances, et d'adopter les types de systèmes de gouvernance requis pour les systèmes alimentaires résilients à l'eau. Les attributs sont également fondés sur la nécessité de mieux reconnaître le rôle que jouent les écosystèmes naturels et sains dans les systèmes alimentaires. Les attributs sont énumérés ci-dessous et sont fondés sur des preuves scientifiques et la diversité de l'expérience collective et de l'expertise des parties prenantes travaillant à travers l'interface science-politique : adopter une pensée systémique interconnectée qui englobe la complexité de la façon dont nous produisons, distribuons et ajoutons de la valeur à la nourriture, y compris l'exploitation de l'expérience et de l'expertise des parties prenantes ; adopter une gouvernance inclusive à plusieurs niveaux et soutenir la participation inclusive ; permettre l'innovation continue, les nouvelles connaissances et l'apprentissage, et la diffusion de l'information ; intégrer la diversité et la redondance pour la résilience aux chocs ; assurer la préparation du système aux chocs ; et planifier à long terme. Cela nécessitera que les systèmes alimentaires et d'approvisionnement en eau travaillent ensemble de manière proactive pour créer un espace socialement et environnementalement juste qui tienne compte des besoins en eau et en nourriture des personnes, des écosystèmes qui sous-tendent nos systèmes alimentaires et des préoccupations plus larges en matière d'énergie et d'équité. Garantizar sistemas alimentarios resilientes y dietas saludables sostenibles para todos requiere un uso mucho mayor del agua, sin embargo, los recursos hídricos son finitos, geográficamente dispersos, volátiles bajo el cambio climático y necesarios para otras funciones vitales, incluidos los ecosistemas y los servicios que proporcionan. La buena gobernanza de los recursos hídricos resilientes es un precursor necesario para decidir sobre soluciones, obtener financiación y ofrecer infraestructura. Se proponen seis atributos que en conjunto proporcionan una base para la buena gobernanza a fin de reducir los riesgos futuros del agua para los sistemas alimentarios. Estos atributos encajan en su doble enfoque en la incorporación del aprendizaje adaptativo y los nuevos conocimientos, y la adopción de los tipos de sistemas de gobernanza necesarios para los sistemas alimentarios resilientes al agua. Los atributos también se basan en la necesidad de reconocer mejor el papel que desempeñan los ecosistemas naturales y saludables en los sistemas alimentarios. Los atributos se enumeran a continuación y se basan en la evidencia científica y la diversa experiencia colectiva y los conocimientos de las partes interesadas que trabajan a través de la interfaz ciencia-política: Adoptar un pensamiento de sistemas interconectados que abarque la complejidad de cómo producimos, distribuimos y agregamos valor a los alimentos, incluido el aprovechamiento de la experiencia y los conocimientos de las partes interesadas; adoptar una gobernanza inclusiva multinivel y apoyar la participación inclusiva; permitir la innovación continua, los nuevos conocimientos y el aprendizaje, y la difusión de información; incorporar diversidad y redundancia para la resiliencia a las crisis; garantizar la preparación del sistema para las crisis; y planificar a largo plazo. Esto requerirá que los sistemas de alimentos y agua trabajen juntos de manera proactiva hacia un espacio social y ambientalmente justo que considere las necesidades de agua y alimentos de las personas, los ecosistemas que sustentan nuestros sistemas alimentarios y las preocupaciones más amplias de energía y equidad. Ensuring resilient food systems and sustainable healthy diets for all requires much higher water use, however, water resources are finite, geographically dispersed, volatile under climate change, and required for other vital functions including ecosystems and the services they provide. Good governance for resilient water resources is a necessary precursor to deciding on solutions, sourcing finance, and delivering infrastructure. Six attributes that together provide a foundation for good governance to reduce future water risks to food systems are proposed. These attributes dovetail in their dual focus on incorporating adaptive learning and new knowledge, and adopting the types of governance systems required for water resilient food systems. The attributes are also founded in the need to greater recognise the role natural, healthy ecosystems play in food systems. The attributes are listed below and are grounded in scientific evidence and the diverse collective experience and expertise of stakeholders working across the science-policy interface: Adopting interconnected systems thinking that embraces the complexity of how we produce, distribute, and add value to food including harnessing the experience and expertise of stakeholders s; adopting multi-level inclusive governance and supporting inclusive participation; enabling continual innovation, new knowledge and learning, and information dissemination; incorporating diversity and redundancy for resilience to shocks; ensuring system preparedness to shocks; and planning for the long term. This will require food and water systems to pro-actively work together toward a socially and environmentally just space that considers the water and food needs of people, the ecosystems that underpin our food systems, and broader energy and equity concerns. يتطلب ضمان أنظمة غذائية مرنة وأنظمة غذائية صحية مستدامة للجميع استخدامًا للمياه أعلى بكثير، ومع ذلك، فإن موارد المياه محدودة ومتناثرة جغرافيًا ومتقلبة في ظل تغير المناخ، ومطلوبة للوظائف الحيوية الأخرى بما في ذلك النظم الإيكولوجية والخدمات التي تقدمها. تعد الحوكمة الرشيدة لموارد المياه المرنة مقدمة ضرورية لاتخاذ قرار بشأن الحلول، وتوفير التمويل، وتوفير البنية التحتية. تم اقتراح ست سمات توفر معًا أساسًا للحوكمة الرشيدة للحد من مخاطر المياه المستقبلية على النظم الغذائية. تتوافق هذه السمات في تركيزها المزدوج على دمج التعلم التكيفي والمعرفة الجديدة، واعتماد أنواع أنظمة الحوكمة المطلوبة للنظم الغذائية المرنة للمياه. وتستند السمات أيضًا إلى الحاجة إلى زيادة الاعتراف بالدور الذي تلعبه النظم الإيكولوجية الطبيعية والصحية في النظم الغذائية. السمات مدرجة أدناه وترتكز على الأدلة العلمية والخبرة والتجربة الجماعية المتنوعة لأصحاب المصلحة العاملين عبر واجهة العلوم والسياسات: اعتماد تفكير النظم المترابطة التي تتبنى تعقيد كيفية إنتاج وتوزيع وإضافة قيمة إلى الغذاء بما في ذلك تسخير تجربة وخبرات أصحاب المصلحة ؛ اعتماد حوكمة شاملة متعددة المستويات ودعم المشاركة الشاملة ؛ تمكين الابتكار المستمر والمعرفة الجديدة والتعلم ونشر المعلومات ؛ دمج التنوع والتكرار من أجل المرونة في مواجهة الصدمات ؛ ضمان استعداد النظام للصدمات ؛ والتخطيط على المدى الطويل. سيتطلب ذلك أن تعمل أنظمة الغذاء والمياه معًا بشكل استباقي نحو مساحة عادلة اجتماعيًا وبيئيًا تأخذ في الاعتبار الاحتياجات المائية والغذائية للناس، والنظم الإيكولوجية التي تدعم أنظمتنا الغذائية، ومخاوف أوسع بشأن الطاقة والإنصاف.