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In the agricultural sector, climate change (CC) affects multiple weather variables at different stages of crop cycles. CC may influence the mean level or affect the distribution of events (e.g., rainfall, temperature). This work evaluates the economic impact of CC-related changes in multiple climatic components, and the resulting uncertainty. For this purpose, a three-stage discrete stochastic programming model is used to represents farm sector of an irrigated area of Italy and to examine the influence of CC on rainfall and on maximum temperature. These variables affect the availability of water for agriculture and the water requirements of irrigated crops. The states of nature, and their change, are defined more broadly than in previous analyses; this allows examining the changes of more climatic variables and crops cultivation. The effect of CC is obtained by comparing the results of scenarios that represent the climatic conditions in the current situation and in the future. The results show that the agricultural sector would seek to lower costs by modifying patterns of land use, farming practices and increasing the use groundwater. The overall economic impact of these changes is small and due primarily to the reduced availability of water in the future. The temperature increase is, in fact, largely offset by the effects of the increase in CO2 levels, which boosts the yield of main crops of the irrigated zone. Therefore, availability and water management becomes a crucial factor to offset the increase of evapotranspiration and of water stress resulting from the increase of temperature. However, the costs of CC are very high for some types of farming, which suffer a large reduction in income.

Water resources index W quantifies the potential dependence of the world's lowland areas on water resources originating in mountain areas upstream. The data cover the timeframe from the 1960s (1961–1970) to the 2040s (2041–2050) in decadal steps. Data for projections from the 2010s onwards are available for three scenario pathways (SSP1-RCP4.5, SSP2-RCP6.0, SSP3-RCP6.0) and show median results from 5 CMIP5 GCMs (GFDL-ESM2M, HadGEM2-ES, IPSL-CM5A-LR, MIROC-ESM-CHEM, NorESM1‑M). The files are GeoTIFF formatted and in a regular raster of 5’×5’ (arc minutes in WGS 1984 coordinate system) The values of W can be classified using the following ranges: W ≤ -2 → Essential but vastly insufficient -2 < W < -1 → Essential but insufficient -1 ≤ W < 0 → Essential and sufficient W = 0 → No surplus from mountains 0 < W ≤ 1 → Supportive 1 < W < 2 → Minor W ≥ 2 → Negligible The values of W are rounded to four decimal places and limited to a range of -1110 to 9998. Values falling outside of that range are set to the nearest limit. he following flag values apply to W: -5555 indicates that there is no water balance surplus from the mountain area upstream, but a lowland water balance surplus; -6666 indicates that there is no water balance surplus from the mountain area upstream, and a lowland water balance deficit. Mountain areas and oceans are NODATA, large ice shields are omitted (Greenland: NODATA, Antarctica: not covered in extent). Mountain areas provide disproportionally high runoff in many parts of the world, and here we quantify for the first time their importance for water resources and food production from the viewpoint of the lowland areas downstream. The dataset maps the degree to which lowland areas potentially depend on runoff contributions from mountain areas (39% of land mass) between the 1960s and the 2040s.

A catchment and its relative coastal zone are both influenced by climate change, particularly by specific factors as precipitation, temperature and wind. In the Mediterranean predicted changes are expected to be superimposed over long-term alterations caused by both natural and anthropogenic pressures (IPCC, 2001). Therefore, climate modification will have an impact on the Po catchment and the Northern Adriatic Coastal system, affecting water resources, ecosystems, agriculture and food security, human settlements, financial services and human health. Climate pressure has the potential to exacerbate already existing problems (i.e. eutrophication, heavy metal pollution, subsidence). The connections between Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) and Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM), already studied and analysed in the EUROCAT project, have been re-analysed and the tools (models) used for the Po catchment study have been modified in relation to the climate change. In particular, this research activity aims to estimate the nutrient flux changes (using the MONERIS model) in the Po basin under possible climate change impacts. These preliminary studies have been done in order to understand and quantify direct and indirect relationships between climate change and estimated nutrient fluxes taking into consideration the specific pathways of the MONERIS model

In this paper we argue for the need to apply a cognitive approach to understand deep dynamics and determinants of technological evolutions. After examining main contributions from innovation studies to the conceptualization of innovation and change in complex socio-technical environments, we highlight the contribution coming from the application of the cognitive approach to evolutionary studies on technologies and we introduce the concept of technological memory as an interpretative tool to understand those changes. We discuss our hypothesis with reference to several observations carried out in different local contexts – Mexico, India and Italy – in relation to technological change in the water sector. In those cases deliberate attempts to substitute traditional technologies with modern ones led to interesting trajectories of change ranging from the collapse of old technologies to the development of multifaceted hybridization patterns. Tema. Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment, 2014: INPUT 2014 - Smart City: planning for energy, transportation and sustainability of the urban system

This book provides an outlook on recent investigated combinations of membrane operations and renewable energy sources (solar, wind, geothermal, etc.) in the field of water desalination (seawater and brackish water), wastewater treatment and hydrogen production. The combination of a renewable energy facility with a membrane process not only solves the sanitation problem of isolated regions, but also enables a more cleaner wastewater treatment system in view of carbon emission and resource recovery. Regarding biomass, the integration of membrane reactors in the production processes of green fuels in the logic of the process intensification strategy is also considered.

Historically, water resources have allowed the development of urban settlements and water forms and availability - such as surface water or underground water (springs, rivers and streams, aquifers, lakes), have influenced the urban environment either in connection to danger and risk connected to the proximity of the water body, either for the functional and aesthetic value. The educational project Daylighting Rivers -co-funded by the European Union in 2017 (Project number 2017-1-IT02- KA201-036968), takes its cue from such theme to develop a teaching methodology that aims to facilitate STEM learning and at the same time to raise teachers' and students' awareness on the importance and vulnerability of water bodies, especially in a urban context. The project was implemented in Italy, Spain and Greece, countries with similar environmental characteristics and urban sprawl processes that have been emphasizing water issues especially in time of climate change. Over the first two years, the project involved three pilot secondary schools that tested an innovative, multidisciplinary and participatory teaching methodology, based on a model of Inquiry Based Learning. From the pedagogical point of view, the methodology fosters the students' centrality and curiosity for investigating the local river in own town or province. Twenty learning units were developed on specific topics connected to macro-themes that can be implemented in different school disciplines. The promotion of innovative digital tools such as Location Based Games have also allowed students to approach and work with georeferenced information, but also combine technical-scientific aspects and language to historical-humanistic-artistic aspects and storytelling. Students could also reflect on a variety of aspects related to rivers in town such as social, ecological, cultural and economic well-being aspects.

Plant water status is a major factor influencing burning potential of vegetation and a low-cost method to assess the water status can provide an index for fire potential. It can also reduce costs associated with travel to remote locations and can improve fire forecast models. Under severe water stress, plant stomata close and reduce the actual evapotranspiration rate (ETa) relative to the potential evapotranspiration rate (ETp). A fire potential index (I=1 - ETa/ETp) is a measure of vegetation burning potential. When there is no ET reducing water stress, I=0 and it increases as the ETa rate decreases relative to ETp. The difficulty in the application of a fire index is the cost and complexity to measure or estimate ETa and ETp. From solar radiation (Rs) measurements and site specific calibration, it is possible to estimate net radiation (Rn) and soil heat flux density (G). If a good estimate of sensible heat flux density is available, then latent heat flux density (LE) can be calculated as the residual of the energy balance equation (LE=Rn - G - H). The surface renewal (SR) method for estimating sensible heat flux from canopies provides a simple, portable, robust, and low-cost method to measure sensible heat flux density (H). High frequency temperature data are collected with fine-wire thermocouples. The data are analyzed with a structure function to identify average ramp characteristics (i.e., amplitude and duration) of the temperature traces during a sampling period. Then the amplitude and duration are used in a conservation of energy equation to estimate H. This method has been used over a wide variety of crops and natural vegetation with good results. Recently, the method was tested over grass in a wildfire-prone mixed oak-grassland region of the Sierra Nevada Mountain foothills in California. In this paper, the methodology to measure H with the SR method and the results of the fire index calculations will be reported.

Water protection has long been a cornerstone of EU environmental policy. It is the sector with the most comprehensive coverage in EU environmental regulations (Kallis & Butler 2001). In some European countries such as the Netherlands, France, Sweden and Italy, national and local governments have implemented substantial programmes aimed at combating excessive nutrient loss to watercourses from agricultural, silvicultural and waste treatment activities. It is generally accepted that agricultural operations contribute, in a significant manner, to increased nitrogen and phosphorous loss to water catchments and result in environmentally unacceptable occurrences such as eutrophication and algal blooms. The increase in N and P loading may be dealt with in a number of ways, including a reduction of input or better fertiliser management. However there remains two problems. One is the perseverance of high fertility in the catchment long after regulation or cessation of input and the other is the potential for lower yields as a result of policy change. Water catchment nutrient management is poorly developed in Ireland and runoff nutrient entering watercourses is increasing (Tunney et al 2001). This has a serious and detrimental effect on water quality as well as ecological processes. It has been demonstrated that many trees have the ability to intercept and absorb large volumes of nutrients (Hefting & de Klein 1998). Buffer plantations of, often, willow (Salix spp.) and other species may be established in order to effectively and efficiently intercept surface runoff of nitrate (N) and phosphate (P). In addition, such buffer plantations could themselves produce an annual crop requiring little management and low-priced technology to harvest. Yet, the science behind the application has not been established in Ireland. Hefting, M.M. & de Klein, J.J.M, (1998) Nitrogen removal in buffer strips along a lowland stream in the Netherlands: a pilot study. Environmental Pollution, 102, 521 – 26. Kallis, G. & Butler, D. (2001) The EU water framework directive: measures and implications. Water Policy, 3, 125 – 42. Tunney, H., Coulter, B., Daly, K., Kurz, I., Coxon, C., Jeffery, D., Mills, Kiely, G. & Morgan, G. (2000) Quantification of Phosphorus (P) Loss from Soil P to Water: Synthesis Report. EPA, Johnstown Castle Estate, Wexford. If you have any difficulty accessing this document, or you would like to know more about the Connecting Nature project, please email marcus.collier@tcd.ie. Suggested citation: Collier, Marcus J.. (2004) The PNtrap Project: Using trees and woody shrubs to intercept excess nutrient in farm and forestry runoff. Poster presented at: The 7th International Conference on Diffuse Pollution and Basin Management, Johnstown Castle, Wexford, 17th - 22nd August. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3923778.

{"references": ["Toledo-Cervantes A., Serejo M., Blanco S., P\u00e9rez R., Lebrero R., Mu\u00f1oz R., (2016). Photosynthetic biogas upgrading to bio-methane: Boosting nutrient recovery via biomass productivity control. Algal Res.17, 46-52.", "Bahr M., D\u00edaz I., Dom\u00ednguez A., Gonz\u00e1lez A. and Mu\u00f1oz R. (2013). Microalgal-Biotechnology as a platform for an integral biog\u00e1s upgrading and nutrient removal from anaerobic effluents. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2014, 48, 573-581.", "Posadas E., Serejo M.L., Blanco S., P\u00e9rez R., Garc\u00eda-Encina P.A. and Mu\u00f1oz R. (2015). Minimization of biomethane oxygen concentration during biogas upgrading in algal-bacterial photobioreactors. Algal Res. 12: 221-229."]} Poster presented in AlgaEurope 2017. Conference about algal-bacterial processes for biogas upgrading in wastewater treatment plants.