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This study analyzes the relationship between drought processes and crop yields in Moldova, together with the effects of possible future climate change on crops. The severity of drought is analyzed over time in Moldova using the Standard Precipitation Index, the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index, and their relationship with crop yields. In addition, rainfall variability and its relationship with crop yields are examined using spectral analysis and squared wavelet coherence. Observed station data (1950–2020 and 1850–2020), ERA5 reanalysis data (1950–2020), and climate model simulations (period 1970–2100) are used. Crop yield data (maize, sunflower, grape), data from experimental plots (wheat), and the Enhanced Vegetation Index from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer satellites were also used. Results show that although the severity of meteorological droughts has decreased in the last 170 years, the impact of precipitation deficits on different crop yields has increased, concurrent with a sharp increase in temperature, which negatively affected crop yields. Annual crops are now more vulnerable to natural rainfall variability and, in years characterized by rainfall deficits, the possibility of reductions in crop yield increases due to sharp increases in temperature. Projections reveal a pessimistic outlook in the absence of adaptation, highlighting the urgency of developing new agricultural management strategies.

Earth observation (EO) data are useful tools to analyse geomorphological processes, among which slow-moving landslides triggered by rainfall. EO data are also used to evaluate climate change and to assess its impact on geomorphological processes and geo-hydrological phenomena. The latter is the topic of the Project OT4Clima (Innovative Earth Observation technologies to study Climate Change and its impact on the environment) joined by CNR-IRPI within a consortium that includes other CNR institutes, universities and private companies. The OT4CLIMA project moves from the awareness that the impacts of climate change on the environment need to be better observed, understood, and modelled, especially at a regional scale, in order to put in place appropriate and effective risk mitigation strategies. Within the project, the CNR-IRPI group works on the development of rigorous methods and procedures for evaluating the impact of climate and its change on landslides, in particular on those characterized by a slow cinematic, at a regional scale. The test site is represented by four catchments located in the Basilicata region, southern Italy, namely the basins of the Bradano, Basento, Agri, and Sinni rivers. Long-term rainfall series gathered from 22 rain gauges located in the four catchments are analysed to evaluate the presence of temporal trends. To this aim, non-parametric and statistical tests are applied to the series. Historical landslide information is gathered from the analysis of the IFFI (Inventario dei Fenomeni Franosi in Italia) database, the Idrogeo platform (https://idrogeo.isprambiente.it/app/) and the AVI (Aree Vulnerate in Italia) catalogue. Only some types of landslide movements are considered, namely rotational-translational slides, slow slides/flows, complex movements. Moreover, Copernicus Sentinel-1 images are employed to detect the spatial and temporal distribution of slow earth surface deformations. The obtained results are used for checking the completeness of the landslide inventories. More in detail, the deformation maps of the test site are obtained by means of the application of the SBAS (Small BAseline Subset) technique to three datasets of Sentinel-1 images: t146 ascending orbit and t51 and t124 descending orbits, for the period 2015-2020. Then, a comparative analysis of rainfall data with displacement series is carried out with the aim of identifying clusters of satellite measurements with homogeneous behaviour likely correlated to variations in the rainfall regime. In particular, only the points with a mean velocity in the observation higher than 0.1 cm/year are considered to be moving. Moreover, only the displacement series of points located in areas mapped as landslides - as for the historical inventories - and sited within the influence regions of each rain gauge in the study area are analysed. A 10-km circular buffer centred in the stations are used to define the influence region of each station. The displacement series are analysed and compared to the rainfall series to search for correlations and to evaluate the effects of climate drivers on slow moving landslides.

RFID tags will really become smart objects of the Internet of Things (IoT) if they will be able to exploit the passive nature of the communication also for exchanging data with any other networked devices in the Internet. To this aim, an adaptation layer, named 6lo-RFID, has been specifically designed to run IPv6 over the RFID link technology. In this paper we draw the design principles for the development of a fully passive, IPv6-compliant, and energy-efficient 6lo-RFID tag platform. In particular, we discuss the block's design of an RF energy harvester and evaluate the simulated performance of a fully-passive 6lo-RFID tag when GET/PUT CoAP methods are used to execute operations on the tag memory.

Bio-based and biodegradable plastics (BBPs) are innovative materials, wholly or partially produced from biomass, with the potential to enhance the circulation of resources in the biological cycle of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s butterfly diagram. Although BBPs are generally considered more environmental-friendly than conventional plastics, robust scientific evidence is still missing. The lack of tools and metrics to assess the circularity and sustainability of the BBPs industry poses relevant challenges for its upscaling and contribution to climate neutrality goals in Europe. It calls for adopting system and life cycle thinking, guided by multi-level and multi-dimensional examinations, which led researchers to build a comprehensive picture of trends, gaps and future orientations that may boost a sustainable circular bioeconomy in the sector. The value- chain based and multi-faceted SWOT analysis that emerged from the intersection of system and corporate data reveals the need to establish a combined circular bioeconomy strategy where incentives to integrated local supply chain, dedicated EPR scheme, eco-design guidelines, revised EoL standards, new clear labelling schemes and harmonised sustainability criteria should be prioritized and conjointly pursued to accelerate the transition towards a sustainable circular bioeconomy of the BBPs value chain. European Journal of Social Impact and Circular Economy, V. 4 N. 2 (2023)

Metadata only record Within the last thirty years in the West African Sahel, farmers have started to implement agroenvironmental practices which have allowed them to improve the soil quality and increase crop yields. Using two examples of land rehabilitation in Africa, this paper examines the technical and institutional innovations and their impacts on the ability to meet food demand for the growing population. Agroenvironmental techniques incorporate trees into the agricultural landscape, which improves water retention in the soil, increases the supply of nutrients, reduces wind erosion, and provides other marketable tree products. This large-scale effort has created income opportunities for farmers, benefited women, and increased food supply for many African families.

The winter package to reform EU’s energy system Diritto dell'energia

Rising carbon dioxide concentrations in the air increase the global temperature since the industrial revolution. Today, there exists a great need to limit global warming, and an energy transition is vital to do so. With the upcoming changes in our energy system, bioenergy is widely discussed, resulting in a heated debate on including or excluding bioenergy in the energy transition. This study aims to identify the least controversial feedstocks out of 40 different ones and if they will help to resolve the controversies around bioenergy. Before a feedstock is deemed controversial, a background of bioenergy was established to see what role bioenergy has in today's energy system and in the future. A literature analysis identifies the role of bioenergy today. Using the 'IAMC 1.5C Scenario Explorer' hosted by IIASA the role in the future is identified. To determine the least controversial feedstocks, a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) is performed. The PROMETHEE II method is used to perform the MCDA and the entropy weight method for weighting the criteria. The ranking and weighting make use of MATLAB. Since the aim is to classify feedstocks as the least controversial, the criteria are deduced from a literature analysis and represent the controversies of bioenergy. The first part of the report indicates a significant role in today's renewable energy system and a shift towards more modern bioenergy implementations like biofuels and bio-electricity. According to the scenario analysis, for the five different shared socio-economic pathways, bioenergy will be used. Besides the identification of a clear use of bioenergy in the future energy system, the scenario analysis of TFE of bioenergy indicated a shift towards modern bioenergy use. It was observed that the solid biomass use reduced and a strong increase in liquid biofuels in the transport sector will happen. These findings are in line with the predictions made by the IPCC. Also, this is in accordance with the observed growth rates and development trends found for ...

The Philippines, and in particular its urban agglomerations (Manila, but not only), is characterized by innumerable social and environmental problems. These are largely due to recent history, from colonization onwards, to a socio-political system that has never found stability, but also to environmental impacts of the country's development, such as pronounced deforestation, massive urbanization and growth linked to the use of fossil fuels. In this framework, the role of climate is really important. The Philippines is located in a region of the globe strongly influenced by monsoons, which bring dry seasons (with frequent heat waves) alternating with wet ones with heavy rainfall. In addition, the region is often hit by typhoons, some of them very intense (super-typhoons), and the sea-level rise and storm surges associated with intense events cause severe flooding on the coasts of this archipelago. During recent decades, anthropogenic climate change has generally intensified all these phenomena, with even very serious consequences on territories that can often be considered fragile and on a very exposed population, in the countryside and on the coasts, but especially in urban centres. The environmental and social degradation we are witnessing in the Philippines certainly calls for systemic thinking like that of Pope Francis in his encyclical Laudato si' (Pope Francis 2015). It is a matter of adapting to a changed climate that will not return to the pre-industrial conditions, while at the same time strongly mitigating with a drastic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. But here, as in the world's other fragile states, more than anything else there is a need for the developed countries, and the ones that created the problems related to climate change, to reach out to the Philippines with support of international cooperation to make the whole world a fair, more prosperous, safe and happy place to live. In this paper, I will attempt to describe the Philippines' climate and its recent changes, the impacts of these on the territories, the consequences on Philippine society, and the challenges of ecological conversion in this situation of environmental degradation.

Numerous LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) import terminals are under construction to fulfil the growing demand for energy carriers. After storage in tanks, the LNG needs to be heated and evaporated, also called ‘regasified’, to the natural gas needed in households and industry. Several options exist for providing the required heat. In the interest of sustainable development it is important to decide carefully upon which technology to apply for LNG evaporation. In this research, three options for LNG evaporation have been investigated: using the waste heat from a power plant, integrating the LNG terminal with an air separation unit and an oxy-fuel power plant, and combining the evaporation process with an Organic Rankine Cycle to produce electricity. The research consisted of an environmental life cycle assessment, calculation the life cycle costs, conducting a social life cycle assessment and determining the cumulative exergy extracted from the natural environment (CEENE). The option in which the LNG terminal is integrated with an air separation unit and an oxy-fuel coal power plant appeared to be preferable. This research is part of a study after the effects of involving exergy analysis in decisions regarding future energy supply on the environmental, economic and social aspects of its sustainability. Infrastructure Systems & Services Technology, Policy and Management