Importance and vulnerability of the world's water towers.

Mountains are the water towers of the world, supplying a substantial part of both natural and anthropogenic water demands1,2. They are highly sensitive and prone to climate change3,4, yet their importance and vulnerability have not been quantified at the global scale. Here we present a global water tower index (WTI), which ranks all water towers in terms of their water-supplying role and the downstream dependence of ecosystems and society. For each water tower, we assess its vulnerability related to water stress, governance, hydropolitical tension and future climatic and socio-economic changes. We conclude that the most important (highest WTI) water towers are also among the most vulnerable, and that climatic and socio-economic changes will affect them profoundly. This could negatively impact 1.9 billion people living in (0.3 billion) or directly downstream of (1.6 billion) mountainous areas. Immediate action is required to safeguard the future of the world's most important and vulnerable water towers.

Recent climate tendencies on an East Antarctic ice shelf inferred from a shallow firn core network.

Nearly three decades of stable isotope ratios and surface mass balance (SMB) data from eight shallow firn cores retrieved at Fimbul Ice Shelf, East Antarctica, in the Austral summers 2009-2011 have been investigated. An additional longer core drilled in 2000/2001 extends the series back to the early eighteenth century. Isotope ratios and SMB from the stacked record of all cores were also related to instrumental temperature data from Neumayer Station on Ekström Ice Shelf. Since the second half of the twentieth century, the SMB shows a statistically significant negative trend, whereas the δ18O of the cores shows a significant positive trend. No trend is found in air temperature at the nearest suitable weather station, Neumayer (available since 1981). This does not correspond to the statistically significant positive trend in Southern Annular Mode (SAM) index, which is usually associated with a cooling of East Antarctica. SAM index and SMB are negatively correlated, which might be explained by a decrease in meridional exchange of energy and moisture leading to lower precipitation amounts. Future monitoring of climate change on the sensitive Antarctic ice shelves is necessary to assess its consequences for sea level change. KEY POINTS: Mass balance and stable oxygen isotope ratios from shallow firn coresDecreasing trend in surface mass balance, no trend in stable isotopesNegative correlation between SAM and SMB.

Expected injury cost indices on Finnish farms.

Annually, more than 6000 work-related injuries occur on Finnish farms. One-fourth of these injuries are classified as severe, resulting in considerable economic losses to agricultural enterprises and the national economy. The injury rate among farmers is more than twice that among all employees on average. This study aimed to identify the risk factors that should be considered when targeting interventions, thus improving their cost-effectiveness. The expected injury cost (EIC) risk index method, which combines the probability of injuries with their severity and costs, was implemented. The potential risk factors included the type of agricultural operation, worker characteristics (gender, age), agricultural work tasks performed, and the geographical location of the farm enterprise. Crop production emerged as the type of agricultural operation with the highest risk index (1.12). The lowest risk index was in sheep and goat husbandry operations (0.35). The risk index was higher for men compared to women (1.11 vs. 0.77). The highest risk age group was farmers from 55 to 59 years of age (1.36). Farmers under 40 (0.17 to 0.89) and over 65 years old (0.70) had the lowest injury risks. No evidence was found that dangerous regions are concentrated in certain geographical parts of the country. The most common agricultural work tasks in which injuries occurred were the repair and maintenance of machinery and equipment, the transportation and relocation of animals, and milking. These accounted for more than one-third of all compensated work injuries in 2005. The identified risk factors could be considered when setting priorities in injury prevention and resource allocation.