Prioritising climate change actions post COVID-19 amongst university students, a Q methodology perspective in the United Arab Emirates

The COVID-19 pandemic caused strict regulations to lower transmission rates. Industries were shut down, people were in lockdown, and travel was curtailed. Restrictions were in effect for an enough period for people's behaviour to change. For example, online meetings rather than needing to travel. This opens the possibility for alterations to the perception that it is possible to commit to effective climate change actions. A Q methodology study was conducted to analyse how 33 university environmental students across the United Arab Emirates perceive the importance of prioritising climate change actions post-pandemic. Statistical analysis yielded four discourses. The first emphasises the need to learn lessons about climate sustainability and sustain them post-pandemic. The second, more pessimistic but advocates preventing a return to pre-pandemic norms by implementing post-pandemic climate change regulations. The third expects economic recovery to take priority over reducing emissions. The fourth raises opportunities and challenges for environmental sustainability post-COVID-19.

Post-COVID-19 energy transition strategies: even reaching 100% renewable in Ecuador by 2055 is not enough to face climate change issue

The pandemic scenario caused by Covid-19 generated negative impacts. Covid-19 has made it clear that our daily lives depend to a high degree on access to energy. Therefore, now more than ever, it is necessary to promote new activities such as local food production, but also local energy capture. This article is an attempt to expose and quantify the benefits of a renewable energy transition in Ecuador post Covid-19 and post-oil. The generation, consumption, and reserves of oil in Ecuador were characterized, and the concept of energy transition was applied to evaluate the possibilities of integration of renewables, the progressive exit of thermal power plants, and future energy strategies. The year 2015 was taken as a basis and it was determined that energy use was 154.0 TWh / year, which corresponds to an end-user of approximately 147 TWh / year. The objective was to reduce this end-use demand to 80.0 TWh/year by 2055 through the integration of renewables and energy efficiency, for which 5 transition phases were planned until a 100% renewable system was obtained. It is concluded that the energy transition in Ecuador is technically possible and economically viable, without giving up the energy well-being that we currently enjoy. However, results show that even 100% renewable is not enough to face climate change.

COVID19, the war in Ukraine, the economic crisis, the energy crisis, climate change

Each month brings new fears and new reasons to worry about the future. In a world marked by permanent change, by the occurrence of the unthinkable generating a continuous feeling of insecurity, having confidence has become increasingly difficult: confidence in the future, confidence in our environments, in our organisations, confidence in our contemporaries, confidence in our collaborators and confidence in our ability to face a difficult tomorrow. Confidence and fear are inseparable and they are like the opposite sides of the same coin. Unable to look at both sides of a coin at the same time, we must constantly fight our fears with confidence. Therefore, more than ever, trust is an essential element to obtain team security and it only takes one person feeling insecure for the overall confidence of the team to be eroded. This feeling of low self-confidence is particularly true for the younger generation of veterinary surgeons and specialized veterinary assistants. This can result in difficulties that are often unexpressed and can lead professionals to abandon these vocations of "passion" since they do not feel up to the expectations of clients and managers alike. Building the self-confidence of the people concerned has become a professional priority. The origin of the feeling of lack of self-confidence is collective. Therefore, its treatment is collective. Since each member has the capacity to fight against their fears, he or she can play their part and increase security in the team.

COVID-19, climate shocks, and food security linkages: evidence and perceptions from smallholder farming communities in Tanzania

Insights on the indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are critical for designing and implementing policies to alleviate the food security burden it may have caused, and for bolstering rural communities against similar macroeconomic shocks in the future. Yet estimating the causal effects of the pandemic is difficult due to its ubiquitous nature and entanglement with other shocks. In this descriptive study, we combine high-resolution satellite imagery to control for plot-level rainfall with household socio-economic panel data from 2014, 2016, 2019 and 2020, to differentiate the effect of the pandemic from climatic shocks on food security in Morogoro, Tanzania. We find evidence of decreased incomes, increased prices of staple foods, and increased food insecurity in 2020 relative to previous years, and link these changes to the pandemic by asking households about their perceptions of COVID-19. Respondents overwhelmingly attribute economic hardships to the pandemic, with perceived impacts differing by asset level.

Reaction of the cereal market to the disruption of trade flows in Romania

The paper presents the reaction of the Romanian cereal market to the disruption of trade flows caused by certain shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which lead to changes with high impact on the functioning of this market, representing an important test for the resilience of the sector. Due to trade liberalization in global markets, including agri-food markets, the competitiveness of exports has become increasingly important, contributing to the creation of the country's competitive advantage. Any restrictions to trade in agri-food products can distort trade flows, and this disruption will have an impact on supply and prices. Maintaining a balance between imports and exports is essential to ensure domestic market stability. International trade in agri-food products plays an important role in global food security. The results show that Romania mainly exports unprocessed agricultural products, with cereals having the largest share in the export structure, cereal supply is dependent on climate change, yet it is one of the products with the lowest volatility. The cereal market shows a more elastic reaction to price responses, even though demand for staple foods is generally inelastic.

Potential cultivating plant-based raw materials in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern for the pharmaceutical industry: an online survey from the perspective of the pharmaceutical industry

The goal of this study is to assess the potential of cultivating plant-based raw materials in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern from the perspective of the pharmaceutical industry and to discuss the factors that could hinder the realization of high-quality cultivation. Procuring high-quality plant-based materials is crucial for the production of plant-based medicines, and the pharmaceutical industry has faced increasing challenges in sourcing these materials in recent years. The methodology involved surveying pharmaceutical companies that are members of the German Pharmaceutical Industry Association and are involved in the fields of homeopathic/anthroposophic medicines and plant-based pharmaceuticals. An online questionnaire was used to collect data. According to the pharmaceutical industry's perspective, there is growing demand for plant-based raw materials from domestic cultivation. Stable supply chains, quality, and reliability are seen as primary advantages over foreign cultivation. Geopolitical conflicts, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic have negatively affected the stability of supply chains for imported goods. 73% of companies reported encountering import difficulties multiple times. The majority of pharmaceutical companies can envision increased cooperation with agricultural enterprises in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Sustainability in sourcing was already deemed significant by more than two-thirds of the respondents. The study concludes that the importance of sustainable pharmaceutical production, stable supply chains, and high-quality plant-based raw materials will continue to grow. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern provides favorable conditions to meet a portion of the demand. To fully utilize the theoretical potential, close collaboration between the industry, academia, and policymakers is needed, along with minimizing regulatory and bureaucratic barriers for agricultural enterprises.

Evolution of oilseed sector in Romania - an analysis from the perspective of effects produced by the COVID-19 pandemic

Romania ranks first in the European Union for the production of sunflower seeds, third for the production of soybeans and seventh for the production of rapeseed. The paper aims to analyse the effects produced by the COVID-19 pandemic on the evolution of the oilseed sector in Romania. Thus, the following indicators were analysed: evolution of areas under oilseeds, total oilseed production and average yields, as well as the volatility of selling prices for oilseeds. The results of the study reveal that Romania has been the largest producer of sunflower seeds in the European Union. The average yields in sunflower, soybeans and rapeseed have shown great variations in the analysed period. According to Eurostat data, it can be noticed that although Romania is the third large producer of oilseeds in the EU, the average yields continue to be low compared to those from other large EU producers. Yields are also among the most volatile in the EU. The selling prices for soybeans showed a higher increase in the year 2020 than in 2019 in Romania, compared to the increase in the average selling prices of the EU-27 (+9.89%). The selling prices for rapeseed also had a higher increase in 2020 than in 2019 in Romania, compared to the increase in the average selling prices of the EU-27 (+2.31%).

Post-pandemic American travelers' behavior given a chikungunya outbreak

Introduction: Mosquito-borne diseases have historically affected communities, especially in tropical areas where mosquitoes and illnesses are endemic. Globalization, climate change, and increased travel have created ideal conditions for outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases that could threaten the American health system and place a burden on the national economy, especially in southern states. Methods: The study adopts a quantitative cross-sectional design with a retrospective survey carried out using the Pollfish platform in June 2022. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and hierarchical multiple regression to assess the three hypotheses: (H1) Chikungunya awareness is related to sociodemographic factors;(H2) Wearing long sleeves and pants is related to (a) Chikungunya awareness and (b) information-seeking behaviors, when controlling for sociodemographic variables;(H3) Use of insect repellents is related to (a) Chikungunya awareness and (b) information-seeking behaviors when controlling for sociodemographic variables. Results: The results highlight the relationships between chikungunya's awareness, information-seeking behavior, and willingness to engage in protective behaviors. 45.91% of the participants mentioned not having heard about chikungunya, and 67.07% of respondents had sought information about mosquito-borne illnesses in the past, 55.9% have looked at the U.S. State Department's website for mosquito-borne diseases, 38.32% have visited the U.S. CDC website for information specifically about chikungunya. Conclusions: The results of this study show that most American travelers are unaware of chikungunya and its mode of transmission. Travel could likely introduce the chikungunya virus to the United States. Despite increased health information-seeking behavior among U.S. residents after the Covid19 pandemic, Chikungunya awareness is low.

Ethical duties in the preparation

The experience of the COVID-19 pandemic and the horizon of expectations in relation to climate change reminds us that it is a collective responsibility to anticipate to the best of our ability and knowledge the risks of foreseeable disasters and their potential impacts on vulnerable communities. The article will examine the meaning and status of moral duties regarding disaster preparedness by adopting a disaster ethics approach which draws on the interrelationship of bioethics with public health ethics and looks at the full cycle of disaster management and the corresponding cycle of protection of victims and professionals. After discussing some normative controversies accompanying well-known classifications of disasters and characterizing the ethical turn to preparedness in disaster management, it will be argued that preparedness duties include obligations relating to planning, anticipation, and prevention of disasters and that they are derivative and positive duties involving a series of prospective, shared and institutionally mediated responsibilities.

COVID-19, black swans and the anticipation of health disasters: future problems and the future as a problem in public health ethics

The COVID-19 pandemic has recalled the importance of prevention and preparedness for highly disastrous events in community health. Several emerging phenomena pose prospective threats to public health. However, the largely future-oriented character of problems, for instance, such as antibiotic resistance, the impact of climate change on health, or the bioengineering of pathogens generates difficulties of analysis. What are the ethical and epistemological challenges raised by future public health problems? How should the moral problems of potentially catastrophic future scenarios be addressed? This article argues in favour of adopting anticipatory ethical approaches from public health ethics. First, it will be argued that addressing these future problems requires reflection on the future as an ethical and epistemic problem. Second, the characteristics of the emerging anticipatory ethics in the fields of ethics of technology and bioethics will be clarified. Third, the application of foresight and anticipatory methodologies in public health ethics debates will be defended. Finally, some reflections will be offered to strengthen anticipatory normative analyses to prevent and address in advance the adverse effects of future health crises.

Ecosystems for future generations. 4th International Conference of Environmental Network Researchers Group of IPN, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico, 6-8 October 2021

These proceedings contain 14 papers that are focused on ecosystems and its process, discussed on six different themes affecting the ecosystem: (1) natural resource and biodiversity, (2) society, economy, and sustainable development, (3) climate change, (4) environmental pollution and bioremediation, (5) new technologies, energy, and environment, and (6) health, COVID-19, pandemic, and their global effects.

Fostering landscape immunity to protect human health: a science-based rationale for shifting conservation policy paradigms

Anthropogenic land use change is a major driver of zoonotic pathogen spillover from wildlife to humans. According to the land use-induced spillover model, land use change alters environmental conditions that in turn alter the dynamics between zoonotic pathogens and their wildlife hosts. Thus, in response to the global spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (the agent of COVID-19 disease), there have been renewed calls for landscape conservation as a disease preventive measure, including by the G7 Ministers responsible for Climate and the Environment. Landscape immunity, as a new construct, points to four paradigm shifts the world must favor to effectively mitigate pandemic risks. We provide a landscape immunity primer for policy makers and make the case for "world views" that place Homo sapiens within ecological systems, regard human health as an ecological service, prioritize investments in prevention, and apply ecological restoration to human health goals. Crisis is a conversation starter for reimagining and recommitting ourselves to what is most vital and generative. We urge world leaders to make the move to a nature-positive world.

On growth patterns and mechanisms in arctic-alpine shrubs. (Special Issue: The uneven geographies of the COVID-19 pandemic.)

Arctic-alpine ecosystems are considered hot-spots of environmental change, with rapidly warming conditions causing massive alterations in vegetational structure. These changes and their environmental controls are highly complex and variable across spatial and temporal scales. Yet, despite their numerous implications for the global climate system, the underlying physiological processes and mechanisms at the individual plant scale are still little explored. Using hourly recordings of shrub stem diameter change provided by dendrometers, paired with on-site environmental conditions, enabled us to shed light on these processes. In this way, growth patterns in three widely distributed shrub species were assessed and linked to thermal and hygric conditions. We started our analysis with a close examination of one evergreen species under extreme environmental conditions, followed by a comparison of evergreen and deciduous species, and, finally, a comparative look at growth patterns across local micro-habitats. The results revealed distinct growth strategies, closely linked to species-specific water-use dynamics and cambial rhythms. Within the heterogenous alpine landscape these conditions were mainly attributed to the variation in local micro-habitats, defined by fine-scale topography and consequent variation in snow conditions and exposure. Thus, the overall growth success was mainly controlled by complex seasonal dynamics of soil moisture availability, snow conditions, and associated freeze-thaw cycles. It was therefore in many cases decoupled from governing regional climate signals. At the same time, exceedingly high summer temperatures were limiting shrub growth during the main growing season, resulting in more or less pronounced bimodal growth patterns, indicating potential growth limitation with on-going summer warming. While shrubs are currently able to maximize their growth success through a high level of adaptation to local micro-site conditions, their continued growth under rapidly changing environmental conditions is uncertain. However, our results suggest a high level of heterogeneity across spatial and temporal scales. Thus, broad-scale vegetational shifts can not be explained by a singular driver or uniform response pattern. Instead, fine-scale physiological processes and on-site near-ground environmental conditions have to be incorporated into our understanding of these changes.

Vertical farming - smart urban agriculture for enhancing resilience and sustainability in food security

Global food security has been significantly threatened by the Covid-19 pandemic and several prolonged challenges such as climate change, population increases, shortage of natural resources, energy crisis, and rapid urbanisation worldwide. Although numerous attempts have been made to secure resilience in the food system, many countries are suffering from hunger and malnutrition, particularly in African and some Asian countries. This review paper presents one of the sustainable farming practices - vertical farming that could play a key role in mitigating global food security in the current uncertain world. It addresses the recent development of vertical farming with advanced precision monitoring and controlling system by the Internet of Things (IoT) applications. It also provides information about the opportunities and challenges of vertical-urban agriculture and how urban agriculture meets economic, social and educational needs.

COVID and US farm labor. (Special Issue: The global race for migrant labour: pandemic contradictions.)

Many governments closed their borders in spring 2020 to prevent the spread of Covid, but they also made exceptions to allow farm employers to recruit temporary foreign workers to fill seasonal farm jobs. The pandemic changed many parameters of food systems. Closed restaurants led to widespread layoffs in leisure and hospitality, rates of Covid were high among nonfarm food processing and meatpacking workers, and there was less Covid than expected among the foreign workers who increased their share of employment in production agriculture. The pandemic accelerated three major changes that were already underway, viz., more labor-saving mechanization, more foreign workers, and increased imports of labor-intensive commodities. Mechanization increases the resilience of production agriculture to labor supply shocks.

Regenerative tourism in Aotearoa New Zealand - a new paradigm for the VUCA world. (Special Issue: The re-imagination of New Zealand tourism.)

Purpose: The paper provides a summary of the findings from GOOD Awaits - The Regenerative Tourism New Zealand (NZ) Podcast and envisions a regenerative future for tourism in Aotearoa. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is based on the findings from the GOOD Awaits Podcast, a series of interviews with pioneers and practitioners of regenerative tourism. The podcast was created as a platform for the collective discovery of a new way forward for tourism in the wake of COVID-19, and the series provides a detailed summary of the regenerative tourism movement in NZ. Findings: Through these interviews, a vision for a regenerative visitor economy in Aotearoa emerged. This new model is rooted in indigenous knowledge and living systems theory. It is a paradigm shift that allows us to see tourism as a living ecosystem and requires innovative economic models, such as social entrepreneurship, systems level changes to the way tourism operates and is governed, local tourism solutions with community thriving as the primary aim and much more collaboration both within tourism and across sectors. Originality/value: Regenerative tourism is an emerging model and one that is rapidly gaining traction in NZ and globally. The GOOD Awaits podcast is a unique, thoughtful and practical demonstration of what this model could look like in Aotearoa. It demonstrates the potential and feasibility of regenerative tourism practice, and the response has shown the desire for these conversations at a national and international scale. This paper is an accessible summary of the podcast's first season and has value for anyone interested in the regenerative tourism movement in Aotearoa.

Mapping the trophic state index of eastern lakes in China using an empirical model and Sentinel-2 imagery data

Lake eutrophication has become a critical environmental issue due to the global effects of anthropogenic activities and climate change, and has been comprehensively studied for many years. A series of models and indicators have been proposed to assess the trophic state of lakes. The trophic state index (TSI) is a synthetic index that integrates chlorophyll-a, water clarity, and total phosphorus and is widely used to evaluate the trophic state of aquatic environments. In this study, we collected in situ lake samples (N = 431) from typical lakes to match Sentinel-2 MultiSpectral Instrument (MSI) imagery data using the Case 2 Regional Coast Color processor. Then we developed a new empirical model, TSI = -34.04 x (band 4/band 5) - 1.114 x (band 1/band 4) + 97.376. This model is valid for all of China, with good performance and few errors (RMSE = 7.36;MAE = 6.25) for the validation dataset. Recognizing that over 94% of the Chinese population located along eastern watersheds and large lakes have competing water uses, and given the TSI model on the seasonal scales, we further estimated the mean TSI and trophic state in eastern Chinese lakes (> 100 km2) from 2019 to 2020. The results revealed that more lakes were eutrophic in autumn (94.28%) than in spring (> 77.14%), indicating a serious eutrophication of eastern lakes. Although the eastern lakes have been studied in more detail, this study found that eutrophication still has markedly negative impacts on lake ecosystems. In addition, no significant improvement was observed in spring, most likely due to the months of curfew/lockdown from January 2020 onwards due to COVID-19. This may be due to the enrichment of nutrients deposited in sediment or watershed soil, which can be characterized as "autochthonous sources" of lake eutrophication, over decades with high rates of economic development. This study demonstrates the applicability of Sentinel-2 MSI data to monitor lake eutrophication as well as the feasibility of blue/red and red/red edge combinations. The framework and TSI model used bands available on MSI sensors to develop a novel approach for generating historical eutrophication data for large-scale evaluation of and decision-making related aquatic environmental changes, even in poorly studied areas.

Will climate change disrupt the tourism sector?

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the links between climate change and tourism and explores the connections between these themes. Design/methodology/approach: The paper provides an analysis based on the literature and evidences from recent studies. Findings: The tourism sector was already severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and whereas it is now on a slow pathway to recover, climate change is adding an additional pressure to it. Social implications: Knock-on effects could also trigger disruptions in various other sectors. This includes not only local agriculture but also important sources of income for people in tourist destinations such as service providers (e.g. drivers, tourism guides), local handicraft industries and many other small businesses, which rely on tourism as source of employment or of direct income. Originality/value: The paper points out to the fact that, whereas adaptation to climate change is a long-term process, a strategic approach to handle its immediate impacts to the tourism sector are important.

The uneven distribution of futurity: slow emergencies and the event of COVID-19

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic strains conventional temporal imaginaries through which emergencies are typically understood and governed. Rather than a transparent and linear temporality, a smooth transition across the series event/disruption-response-post-event recovery, the pandemic moves in fits and starts, blurring the boundary between normalcy and emergency. This distended temporality brings into sharp relief other slow emergencies such as racism, poverty, biodiversity loss, and climate change, which inflect how the pandemic is known and governed as an emergency. In this article, we reflect on COVID-19 responses in two settler colonial societies-Australia and the United States-to consider how distinct styles of pandemic responses in each context resonate and dissonate across the racially uneven distribution of futurity that structures liberal order. In each case, the event of COVID-19 has indeed opened a window that reveals multiple slow emergencies;yet in these and other responses this revelation is not leading to meaningful changes to address underlying forms of structural violence. In Australia and the United States, we see how specific slow emergencies-human-induced climate change and anti-Black violence in White supremacist societies, respectively-become intensified as liberal order recalibrates itself in response to the event of COVID-19.

Wine, sustainability, and the dynamism of changing lifestyles

Economic globalization characterizes the 21st century. A digital world has replaced the analog world. "Time is money, and thinking is money." Thinking and time are patentable. Branding is a metaphor for a lifestyle change. The "Big Brother" described by Orwell in his novel "1984" is relevant today. We have moved from a world of thoughtful synthesis to one of analysis mediated by "likes," "thumbs-up," and "opinion leaders."Wine, a social marker and cultural base, is being diluted in an interconnected world where it is easy to lose identity, principles, and economic worth (Pareto's ofelimity). The perception of the value of the wine is changing from a cultural symbol to mercantilism. The pandemic lockdown has shown many fragilities of the wine system, fueling e-commerce and digital search, creating an immediatist, identity-less, and easy-to-disinform society.In general, people talk about "Eco-friendly," "sustainability," "climate change," "resilience," and more very lightly and without awareness, limiting themselves to hashtags for viral dissemination, influencers, and the transmission of incomplete, easy sensationalism or false documents (fake news).It outlines Italian viticulture at the great crossroads between sustainability established on a value chain or that of semi-finished products and built on years of observation, possible with a paradigm based on years of statistical and empirically significant observation It outlines Italian viticulture at the great crossroads between sustainability established on a value chain or that of semi-finished products, built on years of observation, possible with a paradigm based on statistical and empirically significant observation. By leaving its specific place centered on typicity, wine can become a commodity product, sharing the same destiny as agricultural raw materials.