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The importance of climate change for driving adverse climate impacts has motivated substantial effort to understand the rate and magnitude of regional climate change in different parts of the world. However, despite decades of research, there is substantial uncertainty in the time remaining until specific regional temperature thresholds are reached, with climate models often disagreeing both on the warming that has occurred to-date, as well as the warming that might be experienced in the next few decades. Here, we adapt a recent machine learning approach to train a convolutional neural network to predict the time (and its uncertainty) until different regional warming thresholds are reached based on the current state of the climate system. In addition to predicting regional rather than global warming thresholds, we include a transfer learning step in which the climate-model-trained network is fine-tuned with limited observations, which further improves predictions of the real world. Using observed 2023 temperature anomalies to define the current climate state, our method yields a central estimate of 2040 or earlier for reaching the 1.5 degrees C threshold for all regions where transfer learning is possible, and a central estimate of 2040 or earlier for reaching the 2.0 degrees C threshold for 31 out of 34 regions. For 3.0 degrees C, 26 degrees C out of 34 regions are predicted to reach the threshold by 2060. Our results highlight the power of transfer learning as a tool to combine a suite of climate model projections with observations to produce constrained predictions of future temperatures based on the current climate. Environmental Research Letters, 20 (1) ISSN:1748-9326 ISSN:1748-9318

| openaire: EC/H2020/963646/EU//HELIOS Lithium titanate oxide (LTO) batteries have been under intensive research due to their stability, safety, and rapid charging characteristics. Nevertheless, uncertainties as to LTO-batteries behavior when used as a raw material in battery recycling still exist. This study provides a grave-to-gate life cycle inventory for a hydrometallurgical battery recycling process in which Li-battery waste materials nickel manganese cobalt (NMC), LTO, and graphite were used as feed. The simulation showed that NMC cathode materials and lithium from both battery waste fractions could be recovered. In contrast, the titanium present within LTO cannot be recovered by the recycling process. Nevertheless, the life cycle assessment (LCA) of the process demonstrated clear benefits of recycling battery materials, highlighted by the decrease in global warming potential, acidification, eutrophication, and ozone depletion potential. Additionally, two routes for hazardous waste management were simulated to ascertain the environmental impacts of hazardous waste management within the recycling process. Peer reviewed

This document presents a teaching case study that explores the challenges and considerations of electrifying the Raqaypampa community in Bolivia. It examines the technical aspects of implementing a power generation and distribution system, while also considering the cultural, social, and economic context of the community. The study analyzes various power generation methods, including diesel generators, solar, wind, and hydraulic systems, and evaluates their suitability for Raqaypampa. It also discusses the potential impact of electrification on the community's development and way of life. The content includes testimonials from individuals involved in the project, providing insights into the unique challenges and opportunities presented by this initiative. This case study is designed to be used in educational settings to facilitate discussions and learning around sustainable development, appropriate technology, and community engagement.

These are the scripts used for the analyses performed in Bauer, V., Schemm, S., Portmann, R., Zhang, J., Eirund, G. K., de Hertog, S. J., & Zibell, J. (2025). Impacts of North American forest cover changes on the North Atlantic ocean circulation.

1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectra were recorded on a Bruker Avance III 400 or Magritek Spinsolve 60 spectrometer at 293 K. Chemical shifts are reported as δ in parts per million (ppm) and referenced to the chemical shift of the residual solvent resonances (CDCl3: 1H: δ = 7.26 ppm, 13C: δ = 77.16 ppm). Polymer molecular weight and dispersity were determined using a Malvern Viscotek GPCmax size exclusion chromatograph instrument fitted with a Viscotek TDA 305 detector unit equipped with refractive index and light scattering detectors. Samples were dissolved in tetrahydrofuran at a concentration of approximately 1 mg mL-1 and eluted through a guard column and two Agilent PLGel 5 µm mixed C columns (300 x 7.5 mm) at a flow rate of 1 ml.min-1; the elution pathlength was heated to 30 °C for the duration. Molecular weights were calibrated against known poly(methyl acrylate) standards. Differential scanning calorimetry was conducted using a TA Instruments Discovery 2500. Samples were analysed in non-hermetic aluminium pans and compared against an empty reference pan of the same type. Loaded sample masses were between 3 and 10 mg. Samples were subjected to two complete heat/cool cycles from -50 °C to 150 °C (-85 °C to 150 °C for lower Tg samples) and both heating and cooling rates were set at 10 °C min-1. UV/Vis transmittance and absorption spectra were measured with a PerkinElmer Lambda 750 spectrophotometer. Transmittance spectra of films were measured using wavelength scan with a resolution of 1 nm at a scan speed of 267 nm/min and a slit width of 2 nm. Samples were directly mounted to the sample holder. Solution spectroscopy was carried out on solutions in THF in quartz SUPRASIL® cuvettes (10 mm pathlength). Absorption spectra of luminophore solutions were taken using a wavelength scan with a resolution of 0.5 nm at a scan speed of 141.20 nm/min and a slit width of 2 nm. A reference sample of THF in an identical cuvette was used to apply a 100% transmission correction. Steady-state PL spectroscopy was performed on a Fluorolog-3 spectrophotometer (Horiba Jobin Yvon). Solid-state emission spectra were recorded using the front-face configuration. Solution emission spectra were recorded using the right-angle configuration, over 10 averaged scans. The excitation and emission slits were adjusted so that the maximum PL intensity was within the range of linear response of the detector and were kept the same between samples if direct comparison between the emission intensity was required. Emission and excitation spectra were corrected for the wavelength response of the system and the intensity of the lamp profile over the excitation range, respectively, using correction factors supplied by the manufacturer. Photoluminescence quantum yields (ΦPL) were measured using a Quanta-phi integrating sphere (Horiba Jobin Yvon) mounted on the Fluorolog-3 spectrophotometer. The UC emission and phosphorescence spectra, threshold intensity (I_th), UC quantum yield (UC) and lifetime measurements were performed using an FLS1000 time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) spectrometer (Edinburgh Instruments Ltd.). The samples were excited with a 532 nm laser (MGL-III-532, 200mW). To determine I_th, the laser power was adjusted using a Thorlabs PM100A Power Meter Console combined with a S120VC Si photodiode power sensor (range: 200-1100 nm) before the measurement, across the 5 to 8000 mW cm-2. The ΦUC was measured with an integrating sphere (SNS125 5-inch sphere, three windows, International Light Technologies). The sample was placed at the center of the sphere using a sample holder. A baffle is placed in front of the observation window, which blocks any scattering and reflection of the laser from the sample surface. The angle of the sample holder is adjustable. The normal direction of the sample holder is 22.5˚ to the excitation beam line, which leads the reflection of the laser to the inner surface of the sphere. The laser power was measured with a photodiode before each ΦUC measurement. Both the emission of the sample (380-500 nm) and scattering of the laser beam (530-534 nm) were measured. A neutral density filter (O.D.=3.0) was placed before the excitation beam for the scattering intensity measurements. Six data sets were collected to calculate the ΦUC of each sample: 1. sample in the path of the beam – “in fluorescence”; 2. sample in scattering; 3. sample facing away from beam – “out of fluorescence”, 4. sample out of scattering; 5. empty sphere fluorescence; 6. empty sphere scattering. Fluorescence decay measurements were performed using the multi-channel scaling (MCS) method on a the FLS1000 TCSPC spectrometer. The emission decay was recorded using a photomultiplier tube (PMT-980) equipped with TCC2 counting electronics. For the upconversion lifetime measurements, a wavelength of 440 nm was selected, and a short-pass filter (cut-off at 500 nm, Thorlabs) was placed in front of the detector. For the phosphorescence lifetimes, a wavelength of 660 nm was selected, and a long-pass filter (cut-off 550 nm, Thorlabs) was used. The instrument response function (IRF) was measured using Ludox® colloidal silica solution (a SiO2 particle suspension solution) and using a neutral density filter (O.D.=3) to attenuate the laser intensity. The pulse repetition rate was adjusted to ensure the full decay was detected within the time window. Data-fitting was carried out by tail fitting to each emission decay trace using a multiexponential decay function within the FAST software package (Edinburgh Instruments Ltd.). The goodness of fit was evaluated using the reduced chi-square statistics (χ2) and the randomness of the residuals. Please also see the readme file for more details on data collection and file organisation.

Earth materials are subsoils used in construction due to their natural cementing properties. These properties originates from its clay fraction, which becomes cohesive during drying. Unlike common cement, earth materials are recyclable and have no CO2 emission apart from manufacturing. Unfortunately, earth materials containing the abundant clay mineral smectite exhibit large swelling and shrinkage strains. Such earth materials are considered unsuitable for construction unless a stabiliser is added, which is commonly Portland cement or quicklime. This study explored the use of MgO-based cementitious Binder (MB) as alternative with a focus on the mineralogical effect of MB on smectite during hydration. A series of MB/smectite blends and MB components/smectite was cured up to six months to investigate the mineralogical changes and the formation of magnesium (alumino) silicate hydrate. The results showed that MB transformed smectite into Mg-hydroxy-interlayered smectite (Mg-HIS) within hours. The reason is the dissolution of MgO, a main constituent of MB. The dissolved Mg precipitates as Mg-hydroxy in the interlayer and transforms the smectite to Mg-HIS in this process. This is causing a pH increase and may prevent a complete HIS formation as the MgO dissolution mechanism will change once the pH is above the point-of-zero charge of MgO. An advantage of the smectite to Mg-HIS transformation is the strongly reduced the swelling/shrinkage properties of the clay. This suggests that adding MB to smectite could be a superior binding approach compared to quicklime, which primarily causes clay particle flocculation. Applied Clay Science, 265 ISSN:0169-1317

Sustainable Development (SD) is a significant, high-visibility endeavor. However, there is no comprehensive synthesis of the concept. Instead, there is diversity and vagueness to the point where the term may have lost utility. The following dissertation investigates both theories and practices of SD, aiming to identify, validate, and apply a simple, informative, and operationalizable core idea behind SD. The research objectives are three-fold: (1) to propose a definition of SD that balances complexity and simplicity while accounting for variation in SD approaches; (2) to create an evaluation framework that effectively and minimally differentiates between adequate and inadequate approaches; and (3) to offer guidelines for SD implementation based on the framework’s application to selected case studies. The research consists of three studies, each focused on one of the objectives and presented in chapters two, three, and four.The first study seeks to identify a core concept for SD that is both simple and informative. The study argues that four concepts are fundamental to adequately understand SD: development, sustainability, justice, and governance. First, as a directional change in the net quality of life, development is needed to ensure desirable living standards for the overall population and subpopulations. Second, as the ability to maintain a system feature or state over a time horizon, sustainability is required to guarantee that the quality of life remains uncompromised in the face of social and environmental constraints and trade-offs. Third, justice is critical because while development can be unjust and injustices can be sustained, these outcomes are inconsistent with SD objectives. Fourth, governance is fundamental to regulate and enforce the desired traits of the system characterized by the previous three concepts, particularly to oppose existing tendencies toward inequity and injustice. The second study focuses on devising a diagnostic tool, i.e., an evaluation framework, to address the need to assess and compare the abundance of theoretical and practical approaches. Based on an intense interdisciplinary literature review, the developed framework consists of ten questions addressing development, sustainability, justice, and governance. The study argued that an adequate SD approach should cover and address all these questions promptly. The first two questions capture development by determining which metrics to use and how to measure developmental success. The next three questions cover sustainability by addressing what to sustain, how to determine success, and the intended time horizon. The following two questions focus on justice, addressing the target recipients and the distribution of benefits and burdens. Lastly, the final three questions encompass governance, including whether it is a shared practice, whether it results in collective actions toward SD, and whether SD objectives are integrated. Based on the analysis, SD is defined as Sustainable Development as the evolution of a particular Coupled Human and Natural System (CHANS) resulting from an intervention to improve or maintain the net quality of life for the entire system within the environmental and social constraints of the system, while ensuring that the increase in the relative quality of life for the least advantaged members of the system is at least greater than for the remainder, over multi-generation time horizons for system participants, and opposing existing tendencies toward inequity and injustice via appropriate governance. The third study applies the evaluation framework to two case studies, the Burning Man Project (BMP) and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to demonstrate the diagnostic tools’ utility, validate its robustness, and extract cross-scales insights. The investigation reveals that both BMP and SDGs meet the minimum criteria for adequate SD approaches despite implicit or partial responses to the ten questions. Recommendations for improving these approaches include explicating the time horizon of sustainability and a more thorough integration of objectives. Furthermore, based on the comparison of the two cases, the study discusses the role of the population, the importance of integrating objectives, and scale considerations and provides practical insights. For instance, both BMP and SDGs need to uphold a minimum commitment among their target population to their respective practices and ensure meeting sustainability constraints. However, the reasons, potential solutions, and management mechanisms differ between the two cases due to context-dependent factors and variations in scale. The aspiration is that this research offers a foundation for future investigation and application of SD, providing a comprehensive and operationalizable framework to evaluate and compare diverse SD approaches and facilitating more effective development and implementation of SD strategies. The insights gained from this study can help inform the development of new SD approaches, monitoring and assessment tools, and foster a more nuanced understanding of the intricacies inherent in the pursuit of SD.

The data archived here represents data files and code used in the publication “Hydroclimate Volatility on a Warming Earth” by Swain et al. 2025. Here, we include the derived "hydroclimate whiplash" variable used in the summary analysis described in the published paper as calcuated for the historical period (ending in 2023) the ERA5 reanalysis (ERA5), and the NOAA-CIRES-DOE 20CRv3 reanalysis (NCD20C), as well as the future period (2014-2100 using SSP3-7.0 forcing) from the CESM2 Large Ensemble (CESM2-LE). Additionally, code used in the analysis discussed in the associated published manuscript is also available in this repository.

Occurence data for 26 Caladenia species for the paper: "Orchids back from the brink: climate change will not result in large-scale range contractions of conservation significant orchids" Abstract Aim Understanding how species respond to ongoing climate change is crucial for their conservation. While extant species have persisted through historical climate cycles and temperature fluctuations, it is not clear how their ranges will be shaped by ongoing rapid rises in mean ambient temperature. We modelled distributions for Australia’s most threatened orchid genus using 26 Caladenia species, a diverse group native to Australia’s temperate Southwest Biodiversity Hotspot. Location Southwest Australian Biodiversity Hotspot Methods We compared current range extents with past and future climate scenarios using a suite of consensus niche models to assess conservation risks. We also investigated ten species known to hybridize and how ecogeographical isolation will change as a premating barrier in future climates. Results Under historical warmer climate scenarios most species had smaller ranges compared with present conditions. However, under both moderate and extreme future climate scenarios, only three species experienced range contractions, with the remaining species showing either no range change, or a surprising increase in their range compared with current conditions. In species that hybridize, ecogeographical isolation will potentially increase, thereby acting as a stronger reproductive barrier than under present conditions. Main conclusions As Caladenia species naturally occur in seasonally dry conditions (dormant period), and have evolved in OCBIL environments already subject to prior epochs of climate change, these results suggest that Caladenia are pre-adapted to survive in elevated temperatures under future climate scenarios. These results shed light on the potential influence of rising ambient temperatures on distributions of orchid species, but will hold only if habitats are protected and restored and the mutualists on which these species depend continue to be functionally available in the future.