Journal of Geography & Natural Disasters最新文献

{"title":"Planktonic Assemblages in a Coastal Mediterranean Area Subjected to Anthropogenic Pressure","authors":"C. Caroppo, L. Musco, L. Stabili","doi":"10.4172/2167-0587.1000121","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4172/2167-0587.1000121","url":null,"abstract":"In marine environment phytoplankton and picoplankton are responsible for a bulk of production and nutrient cycling and may give important information about the different seawater habitats. In the present paper, the temporal changes of phytoplankton as well as autotrophic and heterotrophic picoplankton abundance and biomass in two coastal areas in the Gulf of Taranto (Mediterranean Sea) subjected to different levels of anthropogenic pressure were studied and related to the main environmental variables. The two analysed areas were significantly different as regards the abiotic conditions which also varied temporally. Univariate analyses revealed that larger phytoplankton and heterotrophic picoplankton abundance and biomass varied as well. The multivariate analyses showed a complex distribution of the whole planktonic assemblages, which varied in time and space without a decipherable pattern, presumably due to the peculiar spatial-temporal dynamics of the sole autotrophic picoplankton abundance. Significant correlations between planktonic assemblages and environmental variables were discussed by taking into account also the potential role of the considered planktonic components as useful environmental monitoring parameters.","PeriodicalId":233291,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Geography & Natural Disasters","volume":"8 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128439112","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluating the Local Climate Impacts Profile Tool for Assessing Local Impacts of Extreme Weather Events","authors":"A. Carlsson-kanyama, K. Blennow","doi":"10.4172/2167-0587.1000122","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4172/2167-0587.1000122","url":null,"abstract":"The climate change adaptation tool Local Climate Impacts Profile (LCLIP), developed and previously widely used in the UK, was systematically evaluated in terms of its transferability to Sweden and its usefulness as a catalyst for awareness-raising and action with respect to climate change adaptation. The tool includes scoping, media trawl, interviews and reporting and was applied in three Swedish municipalities. It was found that after some adjustment, the tool can be applied successfully under Swedish conditions. The municipalities involved found the results useful for stimulating local adaptation work. However, the municipalities concluded that LCLIP is primarily a beginner’s tool that can be applied at a low cost and that other, more costly investigations on vulnerability to extreme weather typically need to be conducted for successful adaptation to climate change at municipal level. An advantage of the LCLIP tool is that it involves civil servants from all departments in the municipality and thus the resulting vulnerability discussions also involve departments dealing with ‘soft’ issues, such as administration and care.","PeriodicalId":233291,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Geography & Natural Disasters","volume":"10 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128569443","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Spatial Variability of Flood Hazard Risks in the Balasore Coastal Block, Odisha, India","authors":"Nilay Kanti Barman, Soumendu Chetterjee, Ansar Khan","doi":"10.4172/2167-0587.1000120","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4172/2167-0587.1000120","url":null,"abstract":"This paper pays attention on measuring and assessing the coastal flood hazard risk through quantification of flood intensity and impacts across the different Gram Panchayats (GPs) in Balasore block, Odisha, India. With respect to the June, 2008 flood event, enormity of flooding has been calculated for each GP using normalised values of measurable parameters relating flood characteristics. Thus, a Flood Magnitude Rank (FMR) has been assigned to each of the GPs according to degree of flooding severity. Similarly, Flood Impact Rank (FIR) for each GP has been derived from damage database. The product of FMR and FIR gives Flood Severity Score (FSS) of a GP which when multiplied by probability of flood event occurrence yields Flood Hazard Score (FHS) for the GP. The analysis helps dividing the study area into five flood risk zones viz. a) Very Low (FHS Below 2.0653); b) Low (FHS 2.0653 – 3.2755); c) Moderate (FHS 3.2755 – 4.4857); d) High (FHS 4.4857 – 5.6959) and e) Very high (FHS Above 5.6959), respectively. Joydebkasba, Parikhi, Bahabalpur, Sartha, Srikona falls in very high flood hazard risk class while, Patrapada, Sindhia, Rasalpur 2 tend to have very low risk from flood hazards. The rest 19 GPs along with the Balasore town of the area under study come under different risk classes in between the above two extreme classes according to their flood hazard scores.","PeriodicalId":233291,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Geography & Natural Disasters","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114203728","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sustainable Development: The Need for Vulnerability Resilience Profile and the Green Economy Transition in Mauritius","authors":"R. Ramessur","doi":"10.4172/2167-0587.1000E116","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4172/2167-0587.1000E116","url":null,"abstract":"The Rio +20 outcome document, the future we want, declares green economy as “an important tool for achieving sustainable development”. In that spirit, the national budget 2014 has put growth at the centre of mauritius’s economic strategy, with green economy, as a high priority, in line with the Maurice Ile durable policy, strategy and action plan. Notwithstanding the fact that the island is blessed by strong political commitment to pursue a green transition, there are also several development challenges which largely jeopardize the green paradigm shift that Mauritius is striving for. As a small island developing state (SIDS), the republic of Mauritius faces unique environmental and economic challenges such as limited resource base, high population density, isolated geography, high dependence on fossil fuels and imported food and high vulnerability to natural disasters and climate change events. It is against this difficult backdrop that Mauritius is striving to pursue a green economy.the assessment for the green economy entails a macro-economic analysis to identify the potential benefits and challenges of investment in priority economic sectors, taking into account the long-term outcomes of the economic and social transformation plan (ESTP) and the Maurice Ile Durable (MID) policy strategy and action plan. A 10 year green economy action plan will then stem from the green economy assessment to elaborate on policies, instruments, strategies, reforms and costed actions that will enable the green economy transition in Mauritius. It is important to understand the local context and carry out a stock-taking of green economy-related policies and initiatives already existing in the country as part of the green economy assessment and to identify areas of potential scenario building. A vulnerabilityresilience profile (VRP) was initiated by un DESA in Mauritius in 2013 to assess the progress in tackling the vulnerabilities and building resilience of SIDS by selecting economic, social and environmental indicators and implementing commitments to sustainable development as outlined in the barbados plan of action in 1994 (BPAO) and the mauritius strategy for further implementation (MSI) in 2005 for sustainable development, eradicating poverty, improving livelihoods and adopting climate compatible development and strategies for sids [1-6].","PeriodicalId":233291,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Geography & Natural Disasters","volume":"78 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133307688","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Study on Benefit Evaluation of Recreational Resource by Developing Ecotourism in Tropical Islands","authors":"Han-Shen Chen","doi":"10.4172/2167-0587.1000119","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4172/2167-0587.1000119","url":null,"abstract":"Although sustainable ecotourism has been developing for years, most people still travel purely for sightseeing, not ecotourism. The study applied Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) to analyze the non-use economical benefits of the ecological resource on the Lanyu from the very first of this research, and then applied the SWOT analysis to develop the strategies on Ecotourism. Finally, the research applied the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to evaluate the strategies and provide the basis of the priority actions to policymaker. The results of this study included: (1) the research indicated that the visitors were willing to pay 785.558 NT dollars per year per person for the resource conservation on Lanyu. The total economical benefits are 45,051,751 NT dollars and this datum also could regard as the funds of ecological conservation applying from the government. (2) The strategies of ecotourism in the future are in sequence: (i) invite the professionals to set up the plans of conservation and integration on Lanyu; (ii) set up the visitor center, offer the interpreter and exhibit the agricultural products; (iii) proceed the control of carrying capacity for the sustainable development on ecology industry; (iv) build the exclusive exhibition and website to display the database of ecological conservation; (v) found the authority institution.","PeriodicalId":233291,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Geography & Natural Disasters","volume":"3 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115540540","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Physical Health Problem Intrusion Linking Religious Attributions to Marital Satisfaction in Survivors of the 2004 Tsunami","authors":"Alyssa Banford, T. Wickrama, Scott A. Ketring","doi":"10.4172/2167-0587.1000118","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4172/2167-0587.1000118","url":null,"abstract":"The impact of the 2004 tsunami that struck East Asia on Buddhist, Sri Lankan mothers was investigated in this study. More specifically, the relationship between attributing the 2004 tsunami to Karma and marital satisfaction was examined in a sample of 163 women, 3 years after the Disaster. Mediation by persisting physical health problems, on the relationship between attributing the tsunami to Karma and martial satisfaction, after controlling for mental health status and income before the tsunami was also tested. Karma attributions were not directly associated with marital satisfaction. However, an indirect path positively linking Karma attributions with persistent physical health challenges, and negatively linking physical health challenges to marital satisfaction was observed. Using Hobfoll’s (1989) conservation of resources (COR) model, implications of physical health challenges for disaster survivors and attributions endorsing an external locus of control are discussed.","PeriodicalId":233291,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Geography & Natural Disasters","volume":"30 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114287821","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Vegetation Influence on Runoff and Sediment Yield in the Lateritic Region: An Experimental Study","authors":"P. Shit, G. Bhunia, R. Maiti","doi":"10.4172/2167-0587.1000116","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4172/2167-0587.1000116","url":null,"abstract":"The lateritic badland topography (Western part of West Bengal, India) is prone to severe erosion, caused by heavy rainfall events of short duration and high intensities. Five catchments were instrumented in order to study the rainfall– runoff process and soil management impact on runoff and/or sediment yield. In the five micro catchments (Rangamati, Medinipur), characterized by a homogeneity of surface geology, a data set of about 43 rainfall–runoff events covering the January 2012 to Sept, 2012 period was generated by field monitoring. Multiple regression analysis is done to define the role of rainfall volume vis-a-vis vegetation cover on sediment yield. The physical and chemical properties of soil were estimated at the initial and final stage of the gully development in the lower gully basin area. Temporal assessment of soil erosion indicated that increase of rainfall volume protracted the whole process of sediment production, and vegetation on the slope delayed that process. Results indicated that the highest spatial coverage of vegetation (73.5%) yield very low amount of soil [basin-I experimental site (Adjusted R2 = 0.56)] whereas, the lowest spatial coverage (5.9%) leads to severe soil loss [(basin-IV experimental site (Adjusted R2 = 0.33)]. Results illustrated that at the initial stage, the percent of sand was maximum in the upper catchment of each gully basin and the concentration of silt and clay is less. Gradually as vegetation starts trapping the sediment, composition of soil changes registering higher percentage of finer particles. Again, the nutrients detached from the upper catchment were arrested by check dams that induced nutrients supply and water storage, which in turn, increased the growth of vegetation. This result proved the significance of vegetation cover to curb soil erosion and it may help the planners and managers to take proper decision for the conservation of soil.","PeriodicalId":233291,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Geography & Natural Disasters","volume":"155 ","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114048952","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Health Risks through Flooding and Coping Strategies for Citizens of Dhaka","authors":"Nikola Medimorec","doi":"10.4172/2167-0587.1000114","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4172/2167-0587.1000114","url":null,"abstract":"This article is a literature review about the challenges and countermeasures for Dhaka’s citizens, who are most vulnerable to flooding and climate change. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is a fast growing city and it has a large proportion of poor citizens. Cyclones or terrestrial rainfall hits Bangladesh regularly. Concerning climate change, weather events will intensify and cause more casualties. Millions of people get displaced or die in floods and their health is under great risk of epidemics. Traditional countermeasures are changes in the built environment but this alone is not enough to secure the livelihood. Especially for the urban poor more soft measures are needed. Measures like education, warning systems and micro-insurances will play a dominant role in the future against the challenge of climate change.","PeriodicalId":233291,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Geography & Natural Disasters","volume":"21 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"113964049","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Physiological and Psychological Impacts of Walking Stress in an Urban Environment on Young Males","authors":"Chorong Song, Harumi Ikei, Y. Tsunetsugu, Juyoung Lee, T. Kagawa, Y. Miyazaki","doi":"10.4172/2167-0587.1000113","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4172/2167-0587.1000113","url":null,"abstract":"Rapid urbanization and artificialization have caused environmental changes that threaten human health and quality of life. However, there is a lack of evidence-based research focused on the physiological and psychological impacts of urban environments. The aim of this study was to clarify the physiological and psychological impacts of urban environments using a field experiment. Thirty-six Japanese male university students (mean age 22.1 ± 1.8 years) participated in the study, each was instructed to walk a predetermined 13-min course in an urban area (test) and forested area (control). Heart rate and heart rate variability were measured to assess physiological responses to the environment. The semantic differential method for assessing emotions and reports of feeling “refreshed” were used to determine psychological responses. Heart rate was significantly higher and the high-frequency component of heart rate variability, which is an index of parasympathetic nervous activity that is enhanced in relaxing situations, was significantly lower when the subjects walked through urban than through forested areas. Moreover, the psychological indices showed that the subjects felt more artificial and less “refreshed” when walking in the urban areas. In conclusion, these findings provide important scientific evidence of physiological and psychological impacts of walking stress in urban environments.","PeriodicalId":233291,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Geography & Natural Disasters","volume":"15 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-11-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122816367","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Harmonizing Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in the Health Sector","authors":"Åsa Holmner","doi":"10.4172/2167-0587.1000E114","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4172/2167-0587.1000E114","url":null,"abstract":"Our planet is getting warmer and this has severe consequences, whether we acknowledge them or not. Sea levels are rising, the amount of snow and ice is declining and the concentration of greenhouse gases is still increasing. The latest report from the International Panel of Climate Change released in September 2013 (see http://www.ipcc. ch/report/ar5/wg1/), makes it harder than ever to ignore that climate change can be attributed to human activities. As a consequence, extreme weather or climatic events will change in frequency, intensity, spatial distribution and duration, which combined with human factors, can lead to increased risk for serious health impacts, or even disasters.","PeriodicalId":233291,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Geography & Natural Disasters","volume":"30 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126469798","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}