ALBERT

Description: By 2030, success for Ocean Decade Challenge number 5 will be marked by a move toward a more sustainable and climate-resilient ocean that aligns with the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. Crucially, the success of Challenge 5 is intricately linked to the outcomes of Challenges 1 to 4, which focus on understanding climate-ocean interactions, controlling marine pollution, conserving biodiversity, and ensuring sustainable food production. Success will include fulfillment of critical science and knowledge gaps with respect to climate adaptation and mitigation. Both approaches need to be addressed in parallel. Key mitigation approaches include the development of marine renewable energies, reduction in marine pollution, the development of blue carbon ecosystems, and marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR). Adaptation approaches include increased ocean literacy/awareness; co-designed governance and co-operation; improved risk reduction policies; and improved predictive capability of ocean, climate, and weather forecasts. Challenge 5 was reported as one of the most commonly cited Challenges for knowledge uptake in the Decade. However, important gaps still remain in terms of the geographical scope of the actions under this and other challenges.

Description: Published

Description: Refereed

Description: Challenge 9 aims to ensure comprehensive capacity development and equitable access to data, information, knowledge, technology, and participatory decision-making across all aspects of ocean science and for all stakeholders. It is based on the understanding that everyone has something to contribute through shared knowledge, resources, ideas, or partnerships. Challenge 9 therefore is focused on equity and justice in access to capacity, resources, and decision making. By 2030, success for Ocean Decade Challenge 9 will be reached when: Technical, transdisciplinary, and transversal skills required by scientists, resource users, educators, communicators, managers, and policymakers, to deliver the Decade’s challenges, are strengthened and evenly distributed with an emphasis on least developed countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and other under-represented groups. Funding mechanisms, multi-directional partnerships, multi-directional partnerships, infrastructure, and technology required to deliver the Decade’s challenges across regions and communities are enhanced and evenly distributed with emphasis on promoting access to LDCs and SIDS and on promoting greater cooperation between regions. Users and stakeholders from currently under-represented groups (i.e., women; ECOPs; Indigenous communities; LDCs and SIDS; people with disabilities; and others) are well-represented and participatory in ocean science, communication, management, decision making, and policy within the Decade framework. Wider promotion of ethically-driven actions and access to open-source software, ocean data, knowledge, and information among different users of the ocean has been achieved, and language barriers/restrictions have been mediated, including sharing knowledge in forms that are well articulated by non-scientific audiences. Recognition for Indigenous and local knowledge and traditional beliefs that promote conservation receives backing by the Decade and is integrated into all the Decade challenges. Success will include fulfilment of the following critical capacity development needs: skills enhancement; representation and meaningful participation; equitable funding; infrastructure; technology; access to data and information; publishing of research findings; better representation of scientists and knowledge from LDCs, SIDS and other under-represented groups in international publications and decision-making bodies and procedures; and promotion of the use of multiple languages in ocean science communication.

Description: Published

Description: Refereed

Description: By 2030, the success of Ocean Decade Challenge No.1 ‘Understand and Beat Marine Pollution’ will be demonstrated by the generation of scientifically sound data enabling a holistic understanding of the extent and impact of pollution across the land-ocean continuum, thereby supporting the achievement of a cleaner and healthier ocean where all ecosystems and their inhabitants thrive free from the impacts of marine pollution, allowing for their full functioning and service provision. This success will be based on completion of a comprehensive review of all available evidence about marine pollution, including an analysis of data gaps and the development and implementation of strategies for filling those gaps, as well as a comprehensive analysis of solutions for addressing and preventing the negative effects of marine pollution. Achieving this success will require knitting together existing and new data sets using AI and other technologies, identifying priority pollutants and areas for action, and providing globally consistent monitoring, data collection, storage and sharing protocols. Success will further be demonstrated through the establishment of new connections and partnerships among users across the public - private spectrum that lead to the funding, development and implementation of new technologies and projects aimed at monitoring, controlling, reducing, and/or mitigating marine pollution from any source, including the creation and sustainability of a global network of strategically positioned sentinel stations and regional laboratory hubs for sustained, long-term monitoring of marine pollution. Success will include fulfilment of the following critical knowledge gaps: • a comprehensive and holistic understanding of the impacts of priority pollutants (e.g., pollutants found or expected to emerge in high concentrations, or with high toxicity, or with significant adverse effects on biota or human health) across the land to ocean continuum; • a better understanding of the sources, sinks, fate and impacts of all pollutants, including the pollutants of emerging concern; • improved knowledge on the distribution and impacts of marine pollution, particularly in the Global South and deep ocean waters, which currently represent the largest geographical gaps. and the following priority datasets gaps: • long-term time series of marine pollutants; • baseline and toxicity data of pollutants across the land-ocean continuum; • data on the impacts of the co-occurrence of multiple pollutants; • data on the effects of climate change on the toxicity, bioavailability and impacts of multiple co-existent pollutants. • It will include development of: • a global network of strategically positioned sentinel stations for continuous, long-term monitoring; • cost-effective, real-time monitoring systems and technologies for tracking pollutant sources, distribution, and transfers across the land-ocean continuum; • a global network of regional laboratory hubs focused on generating high-quality data, promoting capacity building and facilitating technology transfer; • training programs on harmonized protocols for the acquisition, reporting and recording of quality-controlled data on marine pollution; • environmentally robust new technologies and processes for the control and mitigation of marine pollution.

Description: Published

Description: Refereed

Description: This draft White Paper is one of a series of ten White Papers all of which have been authored by an expert Working Group. Accompanied by a synthesis report authored by the Decade Coordination Unit, it will be discussed at the 2024 Ocean Decade Conference before being finalised and published. 1.2 Strategic Ambition of Ocean Decade Challenge No. 4 By 2030, success for Ocean Decade Challenge No. 4: Develop a sustainable and equitable ocean economy, will be marked by significant advancements in establishing a knowledge-driven framework for informed decision-making and policy formulation. There will be enhanced collaboration among stakeholders, ensuring diverse community engagement and equitable benefit sharing while acknowledging and prioritising the culture, identity, and rights of IPLC that have historically depended on and thrived alongside ocean resources. Strategic mobilisation of blue finance will support investments in sustainable coastal and marine infrastructure, innovative technologies, and conservation efforts, reinforcing the economic foundation. Key policies and governance frameworks promoting sustainability and equity will be in place, alongside a balanced and reflective approach, laying the groundwork for a resilient and inclusive ocean economy. This success will be underpinned by improved data accessibility and capacity-sharing efforts, fostering a shared understanding and commitment to sustainable ocean use. Success will include fulfilment of the following critical science and knowledge gaps: addressing the interface between knowledge systems, policy implementation, and public-private partnerships to enable informed decision-making, focusing on biodiversity restoration, protection, and sustainable management as foundational elements of a sustainable and equitable ocean economy, and ensuring the inclusion of local and indigenous knowledge alongside environmental sustainability and social equity. The following priority datasets gaps will be targeted: comprehensive and up-to-date data on both human activities and state of the environment supporting informed and equitable decision-making and ensuring stakeholder and rights holder engagement in data capture and knowledge co-production. It will include robust capacity development and sharing as well as knowledge exchange to deepen understanding of ocean-human activity interconnections, emphasising investment in context-specific education, training, and research programs, and the integration of appropriate technology and innovation to support a sustainable, equitable, and resilient ocean economy and ensuring that future generations can benefit from the ocean's diverse resources and opportunities.

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Description: Refereed

Description: By 2030, success for Ocean Decade Challenge No. 10 will be evidenced through a culture shift in the ocean community leading to implicit understanding that ocean threats are an outcome of human behaviour. This will require a shift in the way that ocean science, in the broad sense as defined in the Decade, is formulated, practiced, and communicated to ensure that all sectors of society have strengthened emotional connections with the ocean, and understand the vital role that the ocean plays in human and planetary well-being, including climate stability. All members of society across regions, sectors, and scales will have increased motivation, capability, and opportunity to make decisions and behave in ways that ensure a healthy ocean. By 2030, success for Ocean Decade Challenge No. 10 will include fulfilment of critical science and knowledge gaps: Increased priority and practice of science that embraces multiple knowledge systems and transdisciplinary collaboration Increased priority of Indigenous-led research, consistent with the supporting articles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), inherent rights, and signed treaty obligations with Indigenous Nations Increased priority of marine social sciences, particularly: public perceptions ocean research marine citizenship and identity research behavioural science research linked to ocean-climate education and communications research on how ocean literacy can be measured and monitored over time, and the impacts of an ocean literate society on ocean health research on ocean literacy as a policy tool science communication through multiple approaches including immersive technology, storytelling, and the arts Success will also depend on the generation, sharing, and use of the following priority datasets: human-ocean connection/human-ocean values dataset(s) pro-ocean behaviour change methodologies, case studies, and effective practices impact mapping of regional and key global ocean literacy initiatives ocean culture mapping that includes a global body of evidence (contextual, local knowledge) that demonstrates and supports cultural engagement as an enabler of ocean-human health. It will include the development of: a co-designed theory of change to action key drivers of Challenge 10, in which regional expertise helps guide the initial and ongoing strategic direction of the newly launched Decade Coordinating Office (DCO), Connecting People and Ocean a guiding portfolio of best practices on research co-design, co-production, co-implementation, and co-evaluation, respectfully bridging different forms of knowledge, ensuring mutual recognition and benefits, and nurturing long-term relationships with each other and nature a collaborative global, multi-dimensional ocean literacy survey tool (i.e., Ocean & Society Survey) to measure ocean connection and values, as well as motivators, enablers, barriers to action and behaviour change a global network of ocean communications experts and regional ocean communications communities of practice to support training, accreditation, upskilling, knowledge exchange, and impact measurement a global network of ocean-climate education experts (formal, informal, and non-formal) to support teacher training, certification programmes, and knowledge exchange a Global Blue Schools Network, building off the All-Atlantic and European Blue Schools Networks, to bridge practitioner best practices with research and training a global framework for sharing successful community projects that demonstrate practices and solutions specific to cultural connections, heritage, language, and place-based innovations for ocean-human health.

Description: Published

Description: Refereed

Description: This draft White Paper has been prepared as part of the Vision 2030 process of the United Nations (UN) Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (hereafter, Ocean Decade). The Vision 2030 process aims to identify tangible measures of success for each of the ten Ocean Decade Challenges by 2030. From a starting point of existing initiatives underway in the Ocean Decade and beyond, and through a lens of priority user needs, the process determines critical gaps in science and knowledge, needs for capacity development, priority datasets, infrastructure, and technology for each Challenge. Focusing investments in science and knowledge to address these needs will help ensure progress towards meeting each critical Challenge by the end of the Ocean Decade in 2030. The results of the process will contribute to the scoping of future Decade Actions, identification of resource mobilisation priorities, and ensure relevance of the Challenges over time. This draft White Paper is one of a series of ten White Papers, all of which have been authored by an expert Working Group and discussed at the 2024 Ocean Decade Conference. A synthesis report, authored by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO/IOC), will accompany the White Papers. With a substantial portion of people depending on the ocean as a primary source of nutrition and livelihood, a significant challenge comes into focus: How can we ensure that the ocean's resources continue to effectively nourish an expanding global population? The Ocean Decade responds to this critical concern through its Challenge 3: “Sustainably nourish the global population”.

Description: Published

Description: Refereed

Description: By 2030, successful achievement of Ocean Decade Challenge No. 6 will require demonstrating substantial advancements within the global community towards enhancing their resilience to coastal and ocean hazards. This includes implementing two crucial elements: (1) establishing comprehensive 'people-centered' early warning systems capable of addressing multiple hazards, and (2) devising adaptation strategies that specifically target risks associated with the ocean, including those linked to climate change. These endeavours will play a pivotal role in guiding sustainable practices in ocean planning. Success will also hinge on addressing critical gaps in scientific understanding and knowledge across important components such as risk assessment and risk reduction, in addition to putting in place robust institutional mechanisms for implanting novel solutions that contribute to coastal resilience. Some key elements to be addressed in this context include: (i) gathering and generating observational and modelling datasets relevant to risk assessment, including downscaled climate scenarios for coastal regions, within robust data-sharing frameworks; (ii) promoting interdisciplinary and international research and innovation to tackle challenges comprehensively, with a focus on methodologies like Digital Twin approaches; (iii) improving standards for risk communication at both national and international levels; (iv) fostering partnerships at various scales involving local communities, public and private disaster risk reduction entities, governmental bodies, and academic institutions; (v) building capacity in research and communication to cultivate a shared understanding of coastal resilience strategies; and (vi) enhancing resilient infrastructure and promoting sustainable resource management along coastlines. It is imperative to establish partnerships with existing international UN programs dedicated to disaster risk reduction and coastal resilience. Strengthening connections with UN Decade Actions through Decade Coordination Offices and Decade Collaboration Centers is of utmost importance for effective coordination and collaboration. Based on the above strategic ambition it is also suggested that the formulation of the Ocean Decade Challenge could be modified as follows: Increase community resilience to ocean and coastal risks

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Description: Refereed

Description: Ocean Decade Challenge 8 of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 (the ‘Ocean Decade’) seeks to create an adaptive and dynamic digital representation of the ocean to make the ocean accessible to a broader community, to enhance decision-making and to support sustainable ocean management. While creating a comprehensive digital representation of the Ocean is the ultimate objective of Decade Challenge 8, the focus in this White Paper is on delivering concrete outcomes and the transformational change needed to create the enabling environment and initial digital content, by 2030, that will allow us to fully deliver on the ambitions of Challenge 8 on the longer term. An Implementation Plan (IP) for the Ocean Decade’s Data and Information Strategy is currently under development by the Data Strategy Implementation Group (DSIG). This IP will outline how data systems participating in the Ocean Decade can co-create a distributed, robust, and collaborative ‘digital ecosystem’ that leverages open, scalable, easily implementable, and responsive technologies and management solutions. An interoperable, distributed data and information sharing system must be both deployed and maintained to allow the realization of Challenge 8, addressing specific challenges such as data interoperability, accessibility, and inclusivity. Additionally, potential issues related to data privacy, cybersecurity, and equitable access to technological infrastructure should be addressed to ensure the comprehensive development of the strategic ambition. In developing the Strategic Ambition for Challenge 8, we consider the data and information needs and priorities identified by the other Decade Challenges and their working groups, as our primary users (and contributors), representing as they do the key sustainability challenges for the Decade, and encompassing all relevant stakeholders. Guided by the Decade’s ambition to ‘leave no one behind’ we recognize that this challenge must deliver outputs that are relevant and useful for the global ocean science community, and in fact by extension the widest possible range of users and stakeholders, including the eight billion people on this planet, who should be able to access and use what is delivered by the Decade in ways adapted to their needs and capacities, if so desired. By 2030, the Strategic Ambition for Ocean Decade Challenge 8 is to have in place the enabling environment for the creation of and access to an increasing number of digital representations and twin applications of the Ocean as well as the underpinning data and information needed to develop them, delivering at minimum 10 societally relevant 0global base-layers accessible via a global online Digital Atlas, complemented by a minimum of 10 local use cases (prioritizing SIDS and LDCs) to address challenges in using and contributing to the Decade’s distributed digital ecosystem and to demonstrate and stress test its relevance, effectiveness and inclusiveness.

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Description: The strategic ambition is to develop an operational, comprehensive, and resourced system that delivers priority observations and information to guide mitigation and adaptation responses to climate change, sustains ocean health within a sustainable blue economy, and facilitates informed decision-making for science, business and society. Such a system is envisioned to be co-designed, fit-for-purpose, multidisciplinary, geographically expanded, responsive, and sustainable in time, delivering ocean observations to all nations and users, prioritising societal needs. Transforming ocean observations into accessible information will require integration across disciplines, across national observing systems, along the value chain, and across stakeholders. Innovative technology approaches and a diversified set of actors and approaches will be required for success. The Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) of IOC UNESCO can provide the implementation framework for Challenge 7 and the UN Ocean Decade provides the opportunity and vehicle for transformation. Five recommendations have been identified to fulfil the strategic ambition of Ocean Decade Challenge 7. Act now on known observational needs. Upgrade and expand ocean observing capacity in poorly-observed areas such as polar regions, island nations and territories, coastal areas of developing nations, coastal systems that are rapidly changing, and the under-observed deep ocean. Thematic priorities for ocean observing by 2030 should focus on key climate risk and adaptation needs, extreme events, coastal services for ocean management, ocean carbon, marine pollution, biogeochemistry, and biodiversity. Adopt new economic thinking. Establish new and sustained financing mechanisms for global ocean observing, including resourcing for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Use economic models for ocean investment to diversify and accelerate investment in ocean observing and infrastructure from new actors. Partnerships are key. Increase national, regional and global coordination, focusing on co-design and partnerships. Improved coordination that uses the GOOS framework to ensure standards, best practices for a sustainably expanded GOOS. Diversify partnerships across sectors (economic, public, private, and philanthropic) and embrace the abilities and needs of the different stakeholders to co-design, co-develop, and co-deliver observations that translate into the information required by these sectors. Technology and innovation will be a pillar. Integrate and harmonise observations across observing platforms (in situ, satellite, emerging networks). Develop innovative in situ, autonomous and cost-effective technologies to maximise reach, ensuring standardisation and best practices. Technology barriers still need to be lowered to ensure everyone has equitable access to observing technology and has the ability to use these assets. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) tools will provide user-ready information from integrated observations to democratise information for users. Expanded, capable, and diversified workforce. Expand and diversify the workforce of skilled and trained ocean professionals. Training and capacity development will be critical across the observing ‘ecosystem’ outlined in the Framework for Ocean Observing (FOO), from data collection to data analysis and modelling, and for data use and application.

Description: Published

Description: Refereed

Description: This draft White Paper has been prepared as part of the Vision 2030 process being undertaken in the framework of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. The Vision 2030 process aims to achieve a common and tangible measure of success for each of the ten Ocean Decade Challenges by 2030. From a starting point of existing initiatives underway in the Ocean Decade and beyond, and through a lens of priority user needs, the process determines priority datasets, critical gaps in science and knowledge, and needs in capacity development, infrastructure and technology required for each Challenge to ensure that it can be fulfilled by the end of the Ocean Decade in 2030. The results of the process will contribute to the scoping of future Decade Actions, identification of resource mobilization priorities, and ensuring the ongoing relevance of the Challenges over time. The process identifies achievable recommendations that can be implemented in the context of the Decade, or more broadly before 2030 to achieve the identified strategic ambition and indicators that will be used to measure progress. This draft White Paper is one of a series of ten White Papers all of which have been authored by an expert Working Group. Accompanied by a synthesis report authored by the Decade Coordination Unit, this white paper was discussed at the 2024 Ocean Decade Conference (Barcelona. Spain). Input received from diverse groups through public consultation and at the Conference was reviewed and incorporated as relevant.

Description: Published

Description: Refereed

Description: Impatiens marroninus Utami (Balsaminaceae), collected from Sumatra, Indonesia, is described and illustrated as a new species. The species belongs to subg. Impatiens sect. Kathetophyllon. It is characterized by opposite or whorled leaves, yellow flowers with red maroon stripes in the upper part of the two lateral petals, dark green leaves and the lower sepal deeply navicular and constricted into a short curved spur. This combination of morphological characters was previously unknown. Detailed description, illustration, phenology, IUCN conservation assessment and ecology of the species are provided.

Description: A new and florally unusual species of the genus Dichaea is described and illustrated from Costa Rica, where it is apparently endemic, and its relationships are discussed. Dichaea auriculata is compared with the group of species close to D. graminoides, from which it can be distinguished by the lip with a long isthmus, provided with two rounded auricles at the base, instead of the sessile lip typical of the group. It is also compared with another Costa Rican endemic in the same complex, D. gracillima, from which it can be distinguished by the autogamous, mostly cleistogamous, flowers, the 3-lobed lip with rounded basal lobes, the high keel along the lip isthmus, and the bifid ligule of the column. Notes on the habitat and the ecology of the new species are provided.

Description: Monitoring community composition of Foraminifera (single-celled marine protists) pro-vides valuable insights into environmental conditions in marine ecosystems. Despitethe efficiency of environmental DNA (eDNA) and bulk-sample DNA (bulk-DNA) me-tabarcoding to assess the presence of multiple taxa, this has not been straightforwardfor Foraminifera partially due to the high genetic variability in widely used ribosomalmarkers. Here, we test the correctness in retrieving foraminiferal communities by me-tabarcoding of mock communities, bulk-DNA from coral reef sediment samples, andeDNA from their associated ethanol preservative using the recently sequenced cy-tochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) marker. To assess the detection success, we com-pared our results with large benthic foraminiferal communities previously reportedfrom the same sampling sites. Results from our mock communities demonstrate thatall species were detected in two mock communities and all but one in the remainingfour. Technical replicates were highly similar in number of reads for each assigned ASVin both the mock communities and bulk-DNA samples. Bulk-DNA showed a signifi-cantly higher species richness than their associated eDNA samples, and also detectedadditional species to what was already reported at the specific sites. Our study con-firms that metabarcoding using the foraminiferal COI marker adequately retrieves thediversity and community composition of both the mock communities and the bulk-DNA samples. With its decreased variability compared with the commonly used nu-clear 18 S rRNA, the COI marker renders bulk-DNA metabarcoding a powerful tool toassess foraminiferal community composition under the condition that the referencedatabase is adequate to the target taxa.

Description: The mid-Piacenzian warm period (MPWP, ~3.264–3.025 Ma) has gained widespread interest due to its partial analogy with future climate. However, quantitative data–model comparison of East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) precipitation during the MPWP is relatively rare, especially due to problems in decoding the imprint of physical processes to climate signals in the records. In this study, pollen-based precipitation records are reconstructed and compared to the multi-model ensemble mean of the Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project Phase 2 (PlioMIP2). We find spatially consistent precipitation increase in most simulations but a spatially divergent change in MPWP records. We reconcile proxy data and simulation by decomposing physical processes that control precipitation. Our results 1) reveal thermodynamic control of an overall enhancement of EASM precipitation and 2) highlight a distinct control of thermodynamic and dynamical processes on increases of tropical and subtropical EASM precipitation, reflecting the two pathways of water vapor supply that enhance EASM precipitation, respectively.

Description: The integrated approach of molecular phylogenetic and morphological analyses has revolutionized the systematics and our understanding of the evolutionary relationships of marine taxa. One such group is the hexacorallian order Zoantharia Rafinesque, 1815. The monotypic genus Thoracactis Gravier, 1918 has been little investigated since its placement within the order Zoantharia more than 100 years ago. Here, we examined museum specimens collected from the Cape Verde Islands (eastern Atlantic) and newly collected specimens from Brazil (southwestern Atlantic), using a combined molecular and morphological approach. Our results conclusively show Thoracactis to be referable to the family Parazoanthidae. Morphological data show that Thoracactis topsenti Gravier, 1918, the type species of this monotypic genus, has a cyclically transitional arrangement of its sphincter muscle, and this arrangement has previously been reported from the Parazoanthidae. Thoracactis can be distinguished from other hexasterophoran glass-sponge-associated genera (Churabana Kise, Montenegro & Reimer, 2022, Parachurabana Kise, 2023, and Vitrumanthus Kise, Montenegro & Reimer, 2022) by a combination of morphological, ecological and molecular phylogenetic data. In addition, molecular phylogenetic analyses clearly indicate that Thoracactis topsenti is placed within Parazoanthidae. These results are yet another demonstration of the utility of comprehensive combined approaches. From now, research attention should focus on the revision of remaining taxonomic questions within the family Epizoanthidae, with the goal of a comprehensively revised suborder Macrocnemina within reach.

Description: The simulation of deep-sea conditions in laboratories is technically challenging but necessary for experiments that aim at a deeper understanding of physiological mechanisms or host-symbiont interactions of deep-sea organisms. In a proof-of-concept study, we designed a recirculating system for long-term culture (〉2 yr) of deep-sea mussels Gigantidas childressi (previously Bathymodiolus childressi). Mussels were automatically (and safely) supplied with a maximum stable level of ~60 μmol L−1 methane in seawater using a novel methane–air mixing system. Experimental animals also received daily doses of live microalgae. Condition indices of cultured G. childressi remained high over the years, and low shell growth rates could be detected, too, which is indicative of positive energy budgets. Using stable isotope data, we demonstrate that G. childressi in our culture system gained energy, both, from the digestion of methane-oxidizing endosymbionts and from digesting particulate food (microalgae). Limitations of the system, as well as opportunities for future experimental approaches involving deep-sea mussels, are discussed.

Description: Seagrass meadows have a disproportionally high organic carbon (Corg) storage potential within their sediments and thus can play a role in climate change mitigation via their conservation and restoration. However, high spatial heterogeneity is observed in Corg, with wide differences seen globally, regionally, and even locally (within a seagrass meadow). Consequently, it is difficult to determine their contributions to the national remaining carbon dioxide (CO2) budget without introducing a large degree of uncertainty. To address this spatial heterogeneity, we sampled 20 locations across the German Baltic Sea to quantify Corg stocks and sources in Zostera marina seagrass-vegetated and adjacent unvegetated sediments. To predict and integrate the Corg inventory in space, we measured the physical (seawater depth, sediment grain size, current velocity at the seafloor, anthropogenic inputs) and biological (seagrass complexity) environments to determine regional and local drivers of Corg variation. Here, we show that seagrass meadows in Germany constitute a significant Corg stock, storing on average 7,785 g C/m2, 13 times greater than meadows from other parts of the Baltic Sea, and fourfold richer than adjacent unvegetated sediments. Stocks were highly heterogenous; they differed widely between (by 10-fold) and even within (by 3- to 55-fold) sites. Regionally, Corg was controlled by seagrass complexity, fine sediment fraction, and seawater depth. Autochthonous material contributed to 78% of the total Corg in seagrass-vegetated sediments, and the remaining 22% originated from allochthonous sources (phytoplankton and macroalgae). However, relic terrestrial peatland material, deposited approximately 6,000 years BP during the last deglaciation, was an unexpected and significant source of Corg. Collectively, German seagrasses in the Baltic Sea are preventing 8.14 Mt of future CO2 emissions. Because Corg is mostly produced on-site and not imported from outside the meadow boundaries, the richness of this pool may be contingent on seagrass habitat health. Disturbance of this Corg stock could act as a source of CO2 emissions. However, the high spatial heterogeneity warrants site-specific investigations to obtain accurate estimates of blue carbon and a need to consider millennial timescale deposits of Corg beneath seagrass meadows in Germany and potentially other parts of the southwestern Baltic Sea.

Description: Seit über einem halben Jahrhundert wissen wir um die erschreckenden Auswirkungen von Umweltzerstörung und Klimawandel. Zwar häufen sich internationale Umwelt- und Klimakonferenzen, doch warum handeln wir nicht konsequent gegen die verheerenden Bedrohungen? Mojib Latif wendet sich in diesem Buch der Frage zu, warum unsere Welt trotz besseren Wissens weiterhin auf gefährliche Weise den Ast absägt, auf dem sie sitzt. Latif stellt die unbequemen Fragen nach dem Versagen der Politik und den Interessen weniger mächtiger Konzerne, die von dieser fatalen Entwicklung profitieren. Die zentrale These dieses Buches ist ebenso klar wie dringlich: Der Klimawandel ist zum verhängnisvollen Verhandlungsobjekt geworden. Nur wenige dabei gewinnen – zahllose verlieren. Doch es gibt Hoffnung, und Latif zeigt den Weg: Die Zukunft nachfolgender Generationen kann gerettet werden, wenn wir uns auf globale Zusammenarbeit besinnen sowie Wohlstand und Nachhaltigkeit in Einklang bringen.

Description: Persistently high marine temperatures are escalating and threating marine biodiversity. The Baltic Sea, warming faster than other seas, is a good model to study the impact of increasing sea surface temperatures. Zostera marina, a key player in the Baltic ecosystem, faces susceptibility to disturbances, especially under chronic high temperatures. Despite the increasing number of studies on the impact of global warming on seagrasses, little attention has been paid to the role of the holobiont. Using an outdoor benthocosm to replicate near-natural conditions, this study explores the repercussions of persistent warming on the microbiome of Z. marina and its implications for holobiont function. Results show that both seasonal warming and chronic warming, impact Z. marina roots and sediment microbiome. Compared with roots, sediments demonstrate higher diversity and stability throughout the study, but temperature effects manifest earlier in both compartments, possibly linked to premature Z. marina die-offs under chronic warming. Shifts in microbial composition, such as an increase in organic matter-degrading and sulfur-related bacteria, accompany chronic warming. A higher ratio of sulfate-reducing bacteria compared to sulfide oxidizers was found in the warming treatment which may result in the collapse of the seagrasses, due to toxic levels of sulfide. Differentiating predicted pathways for warmest temperatures were related to sulfur and nitrogen cycles, suggest an increase of the microbial metabolism, and possible seagrass protection strategies through the production of isoprene. These structural and compositional variations in the associated microbiome offer early insights into the ecological status of seagrasses. Certain taxa/genes/pathways may serve as markers for specific stresses. Monitoring programs should integrate this aspect to identify early indicators of seagrass health. Understanding microbiome changes under stress is crucial for the use of potential probiotic taxa to mitigate climate change effects. Broader-scale examination of seagrass–microorganism interactions is needed to leverage knowledge on host–microbe interactions in seagrasses.

Description: We contend that ocean turbulent fluxes should be included in the list of Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) created by the Global Ocean Observing System. This list aims to identify variables that are essential to observe to inform policy and maintain a healthy and resilient ocean. Diapycnal turbulent fluxes quantify the rates of exchange of tracers (such as temperature, salinity, density or nutrients, all of which are already EOVs) across a density layer. Measuring them is necessary to close the tracer concentration budgets of these quantities. Measuring turbulent fluxes of buoyancy (Jb), heat (Jq), salinity (JS) or any other tracer requires either synchronous microscale (a few centimeters) measurements of both the vector velocity and the scalar (e.g., temperature) to produce time series of the highly correlated perturbations of the two variables, or microscale measurements of turbulent dissipation rates of kinetic energy (ϵ) and of thermal/salinity/tracer variance (χ), from which fluxes can be derived. Unlike isopycnal turbulent fluxes, which are dominated by the mesoscale (tens of kilometers), microscale diapycnal fluxes cannot be derived as the product of existing EOVs, but rather require observations at the appropriate scales. The instrumentation, standardization of measurement practices, and data coordination of turbulence observations have advanced greatly in the past decade and are becoming increasingly robust. With more routine measurements, we can begin to unravel the relationships between physical mixing processes and ecosystem health. In addition to laying out the scientific relevance of the turbulent diapycnal fluxes, this review also compiles the current developments steering the community toward such routine measurements, strengthening the case for registering the turbulent diapycnal fluxes as an pilot Essential Ocean Variable.

Description: The 2015 Paris Agreement aims to strengthen the global response to climate change, and to maintain an average global temperature well below 2 °C, with aspirations towards 1.5 °C, by means of balancing sources and sinks of greenhouse gas emissions. Following this, the importance of carbon dioxide removal in global emission pathways has been further emphasized, and Negative Emissions Technologies (NETs) that capture carbon from the atmosphere and remove it from the system have been put in the spotlight. NETs range from innovative, engineered technologies, to well-known approaches like afforestation/reforestation. These technologies essentially compensate for a shrinking carbon budget coupled with hard-to-abate future emissions, and a historical lack of action. However, none has been deployed at scales close to what is envisioned in emission pathways in line with the Paris Agreement goals. To understand the potential contribution of NETs to meet global emission goals, we need to better understand opportunities and constraints for deploying NETs on a national level. We examine 17 Long-Term Low Greenhouse Gas Emission Development Strategies (LT-LEDS), and discuss them in the context of available NETs feasibility assessments. Our mapping shows that most countries include NETs in their long-term strategies, and that enhancement of natural sinks is the most dominating type of NET in these strategies. In line with many feasibility assessments, LT-LEDS focus on technical and biophysical considerations, and neglect socio-cultural dimensions. We suggest that feasibility assessments at the national level need to be more holistic; context-specific and comprehensive in terms of aspects assessed.

Description: Deep convection in the Subpolar Gyre (SPG) forms a link between the upper and lower limbs of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). The intensity of convection in ocean studies is usually estimated using mixed layer depth (MLD). Here MLD is derived using vertical profiles of potential density from the gridded ARMOR3D dataset and from in situ observations of the EN4 dataset. Given limited areas of convective chimneys, the robustness of the estimates from an available set of vertical profiles needs to be verified before accessing mechanisms of interannual variability of deep convection. For reaching this goal, we first outlined three convection domains in the SPG with a high frequency of deep convection events: the southwestern Labrador Sea (L-DC), the central Irminger Sea (I-DC), and the area south of Cape Farewell (F-DC). The minimum number of randomly scattered casts, required to be executed from January to April for a robust estimate of the maximum MLD, depends on the typical area of the convective regions within the domain and forms 50 casts for L-DC, 40 casts for I-DC and 10 casts for F-DC. For the investigated convection domains, a sufficient number of casts were collected for several standalone winters of the late 1990s, while continuous time series of the convection intensity can be obtained only since the mid-2000s.

Description: We characterize and decipher the resistome and the virulence factors of Shewanella algae MARS 14, a multidrug-resistant clinical strain using the whole genome sequencing (WGS) strategy. The bacteria were isolated from the bronchoalveolar lavage of a hospitalized patient in the Timone Hospital in Marseille, France who developed pneumonia after plunging into the Mediterranean Sea. Results: The genome size of S. algae MARS 14 was 5,005,710 bp with 52.8% guanine cytosine content. The resistome includes members of class C and D beta-lactamases and numerous multidrug-efflux pumps. We also found the presence of several hemolysins genes, a complete flagellum system gene cluster and genes responsible for biofilm formation. Moreover, we reported for the first time in a clinical strain of Shewanella spp. the presence of a bacteriocin (marinocin). Conclusion: The WGS analysis of this pathogen provides insight into its virulence factors and resistance to antibiotics.

Description: A novel strain, MA3_2.13T, was isolated from deep-sea sediment of Madeira Archipelago, Portugal, and characterized using a polyphasic approach. This strain produced dark brown soluble pigments, bronwish black substrate mycelia and an aerial mycelium with yellowish white spores, when grown on GYM 50SW agar. The main respiratory quinones were MK-10(H4), MK-10(H6) and MK-10(H8). Diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, three unidentified phospholipids and two glycophospholipids were identified as the main phospholipids. The major cellular fatty acids were iso-C16: 1, iso-C16: 0, anteiso-C17: 1 and anteisoC17: 0 . Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene showed that strain MA3_2.13T is a member of the genus Streptomyces and was most closely related to Streptomyces triticirhizae NEAU-YY642T (NR_180032.1; 16S rRNA gene similarity 97.9 %), Streptomyces sedi YIM 65188T (NR_044582.1; 16S rRNA gene similarity 97.4 %), Streptomyces mimosae 3MP-10T (NR_170412.1; 16S rRNA gene similarity 97.3 %) and Streptomyces zhaozhouensis NEAU-LZS-5T (NR_133874.1; 16S rRNA gene similarity 97.0 %). Genome pairwise comparisons with closest related type strains retrieved values below the threshold for species delineation suggesting that strain MA3_2.13T represents a new branch within the genus Streptomyces. Based on these results, strain MA3_2.13T (=DSM 115980T=LMG 33094T) is proposed as the type strain of a novel species of the genus Streptomyces, for which the name Streptomyces profundus sp. nov. is proposed.

Description: The recent severe European summer heat waves of 2015 and 2018 co-occurred with cold subpolar North Atlantic (NA) sea surface temperatures (SSTs). However, a significant connection between this oceanic state and European heat waves was not yet established. We performed two AMIP-like model experiments: (a) employing daily 2018 SSTs as observed and (b) applying a novel approach to remove the negative NA SST anomaly, while keeping SST daily and small-scale variability. Comparing these experiments, we find that cold subpolar NA SSTs significantly increase heat wave duration and magnitude downstream over the European continent. Surface temperature and circulation anomalies are connected by the upper-tropospheric summer wave pattern of meridional winds over the North Atlantic European sector, which is enhanced with cold NA SSTs. Our results highlight the relevance of the subpolar NA region for European summer conditions, a region that is marked by large biases in current coupled climate model simulations. Key Points: - Model study designed to investigate the ocean impact on European heat waves by prescribing observed and realistic ocean surface conditions - Cold subpolar North Atlantic sea surface temperatures significantly enhance heat wave intensity and duration over the European continent - North Atlantic ocean and European surface temperature and circulation anomalies are bridged by the upper-tropospheric summer mean wave

Description: The impact of oxygen on the preservation of organic matter in marine surface sediments is still controversial. We revisited this long-standing debate by determining the burial efficiency of sedimentary organic matter in the Black Sea, the largest anoxic and euxinic basin in the modern ocean. Surface sediments were sampled in the Danube paleodelta on the northwestern margin of the Black Sea at 420–1550 m water depth. Steady-state modeling of solid species (particulate organic carbon and nitrogen) and solutes (ammonium, sulfate, and total alkalinity) in sediments was performed to quantify rates of mass accumulation, particulate organic matter (POM) degradation, and POM burial. We develop a novel analytical model to quantify these rates applying an inverse modelling approach to down core data accounting for molecular diffusion, sediment burial and compaction. Our model results indicate that 56.7 ± 6.6 % of the particulate organic matter deposited in the study area is not degraded in surface sediments but accumulates below 10 cm sediment depth. This burial efficiency is substantially higher than those previously derived for seafloor areas underlying oxygenated bottom waters. Hence, our study confirms previous studies showing that euxinic bottom water conditions promote the preservation of particulate organic matter in marine sediments.

Description: The western Andean belt of Argentina displays a comprehensive record of the Carboniferous and earliest Permian rocks so extensive that it allows an exceptional reconstruction of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age of the southwestern margin of the South American Gondwana area. Severe endemism of the Gondwana biota during this period makes it difficult to achieve a precise correlation of these glacially influenced deposits with the coeval sequences of the palaeoequatorial belt, where the subdivisions of the International Chronostratigraphic Chart (ICC) are currently defined. The abundant palaeontological record available from the Upper Paleozoic deposits of central-western Argentina, central Patagonia and eastern Argentina makes it possible to recognize five successive faunal stages that allow a proper ordering of the sequences of this period. The proposed regional stages, and their assumed chronological position regarding the standards of the current ICC, are: the Malimanian (late Tournaisian), Barrealian (Mid-Carboniferous or Serpukhovian–Bashkirian), Aguanegrian (Upper Pennsylvanian), Uspallatian (Asselian–Tastubian?) and Bonetian (Sakmarian). This paper aims to reiterate former recommendations about the convenience of having regional reference units and suggests the consideration of the available faunal stages as possible chronostratigraphic subdivisions for the Carboniferous–early Permian of the southeastern margin of Gondwana.

Description: Marine sponges and other sessile macro-organisms were collected at a shallow water hydrothermal site in Eyjafjörður, Iceland. Bacteria were isolated from the organisms using selective media for actinomycetes, and the isolates were screened for antimicrobial activity. A total of 111 isolates revealed antimicrobial activity displaying different antimicrobial patterns which indicates production of various compounds. Known test strains were grown in the presence of ethyl acetate extracts from one selected isolate, and a clear growth inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus was observed down to 0.1 % extract concentration in the medium. Identification of isolates shows different species of Actinobacteria with Streptomyces sp. playing the largest role, but also members of Bacilli, Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria. Sponges have an excellent record regarding production of bioactive compounds, often involving microbial symbionts. At the hydrothermal vents, however, the majority of active isolates originated from other invertebrates such as sea anemones or algae. The results indicate that antimicrobial assays involving isolates in full growth can detect activity not visible by other methods. The macro-organisms inhabiting the Eyjafjörður hydrothermal vent area host diverse microbial species in the phylum Actinobacteria with antimicrobial activity, and the compounds responsible for the activity will be subject to further research.

Description: In its latest assessment report the IPCC stresses the need for carbon dioxide removal (CDR) to counterbalance residual emissions to achieve net zero carbon dioxide or greenhouse gas emissions. There are currently a wide variety of CDR measures available. Their potential and feasibility, however, depends on context specific conditions, as among others biophysical site characteristics, or availability of infrastructure and resources. In our study, we selected 13 CDR concepts which we present in the form of exemplary CDR units described in dedicated fact sheets. They cover technical CO2 removal (two concepts of direct air carbon capture), hybrid solutions (six bioenergy with carbon capture technologies) and five options for natural sink enhancement. Our estimates for their CO2 removal potentials in 2050 range from 0.06 to 30 million tons of CO2, depending on the option. Ten of the 13 CDR concepts provide technical removal potentials higher than 1 million tons of CO2 per year. To better understand the potential contribution of analyzed CDR options to reaching net-zero CO2 emissions, we compare our results with the current CO2 emissions and potential residual CO2 emissions in 2050 in Germany. To complement the necessary information on technology-based and hybrid options, we also provide an overview on possible solutions for CO2 storage for Germany. Taking biophysical conditions and infrastructure into account, northern Germany seems a preferable area for deployment of many concepts. However, for their successful implementation further socio-economic analysis, clear regulations, and policy incentives are necessary.

Description: We present a detailed field and petrological study of charnockites and ultra-high temperature (UHT) granulites from the Gruf Complex, eastern Central Alps. Charnockites occur as up to 0.5 km wide and 8 km long, internally boudinaged, opx-bearing sheet-like bodies within the regionally dominant migmatitic biotite-orthogneisses. Granulites occur as garnet–orthopyroxene–biotite–alkali feldspar-bearing schlieren (± sapphirine, sillimanite, cordierite, corundum, spinel, plagioclase, and quartz) within charnockites and as residual enclaves both in the charnockites and the migmatitic orthogneisses. Thermobarometric calculations, P–T pseudosections and orthopyroxene Al content, show that both charnockites and granulites equilibrated at metamorphic peak conditions of T = 920–940 °C and P = 8.5–9.5 kbar. Peak assemblages were subsequently overprinted by intergrowth, symplectite and corona textures involving orthopyroxene, sapphirine, cordierite and spinel at T = 720–740 °C and P = 7–7.5 kbar. We suggest that granulites and charnockites are lower crustal relicts preserved in the migmatitic orthogneisses. Garnet diffusion modelling shows that metamorphic garnet–opx ± sapphirine ± sillimanite peak assemblages and post-peak reaction textures always involving cordierite developed during two separate metamorphic cycles. Peak assemblages reflect UHT metamorphism related to post-Varican Permian extension, but post-peak coronae and symplectites formed during the mid-Tertiary, upper amphibolite facies, Alpine regional metamorphism. Fluid-absent partial melting of pelitic and psammitic sediments during the Permian UHT event lead to the formation of charnockitic magmas and granulitic residues. Intense melt loss and thorough dehydration of the granulites (although retaining biotite) favoured the partial preservation of peak mineral assemblages during Alpine metamorphism.

Description: In geoscience and other fields, researchers use models as a simplified representation of reality. The models include processes that often rely on uncertain parameters that reduce model performance in reflecting real-world processes. The problem is commonly addressed by adapting parameter values to reach a good match between model simulations and corresponding observations. Different optimization tools have been successfully applied to address this task of model calibration. However, seeking one best value for every single model parameter might not always be optimal. For example, if model equations integrate over multiple real-world processes which cannot be fully resolved, it might be preferable to consider associated model parameters as random parameters. In this paper, a random parameter is drawn from a wide probability distribution for every singe model simulation. We developed an optimization approach that allows us to declare certain parameters random while optimizing those that are assumed to take fixed values. We designed a corresponding variant of the well known Covariance Matrix Adaption Evolution Strategy (CMA-ES). The new algorithm was applied to a global biogeochemical circulation model to quantify the impact of zooplankton mortality on the underlying biogeochemistry. Compared to the deterministic CMA-ES, our new method converges to a solution that better suits the credible range of the corresponding random parameter with less computational effort.

Description: Sea spray aerosols (SSA) greatly affect the climate system by scattering solar radiation and acting as seeds for cloud droplet formation. The ecosystems in the Arctic Ocean are rapidly changing due to global warming, and the effects these changes have on the generation of SSA, and thereby clouds and fog formation in this region, are unknown. During the ship-based Arctic Century Expedition, we examined the dependency of forced SSA production on the biogeochemical characteristics of seawater using an on-board temperature-controlled aerosol generation chamber with a plunging jet system. Our results indicate that mainly seawater salinity and organic content influence the production and size distribution of SSA. However, we observed a 2-fold higher SSA production from waters with similar salinity collected north of 81°N compared to samples collected south of this latitude. This variability was not explained by phytoplankton and bacterial abundances or Chlorophyll-a concentration but by the presence of glucose in seawater. The synergic action of sea salt (essential component) and glucose or glucose-rich saccharides (enhancer) accounts for 〉80% of SSA predictability throughout the cruise. Our results suggest that besides wind speed and salinity, SSA production in Arctic waters is also affected by specific organics released by the microbiota.

Description: The University of Victoria Earth system climate model of intermediate complexity has been a useful tool in recent assessments of long-term climate changes including paleo-climate modelling. Since the last official release of the UVic ESCM 2.9, and the two official updates during the last decade, a lot of model development has taken place in multiple groups. The new version 2.10 of the University of Victoria Earth System Climate Model (UVic ESCM), to be used in the 6th phase of the coupled model intercomparison project (CMIP6), presented here combines and brings together multiple model developments and new components that have taken place since the last official release of the model. To set the foundation of its use, we here describe the UVic ESCM 2.10 and evaluate results from transient historical simulations against observational data. We find that the UVic ESCM 2.10 is capable of reproducing well changes in historical temperature and carbon fluxes, as well as the spatial distribution of many ocean tracers, including temperature, salinity, phosphate and nitrate. This is connected to a good representation of ocean physical properties. For the moment, there remain biases in ocean alkalinity and dissolved inorganic carbon, which will be addressed in the next updates to the model.

Description: Highlights • Development of an autonomous DIC analyzer based on Conductometric technique using a cell with 4 hollow brass electrodes. • CO2 extraction from seawater using a gas diffusion cell with a “Tube In A Tube” configuration and a gas permeable membrane. • Formulation of mathematical temperature and salinity correction to determine accurate DIC concentration. • Demonstration of the analyzer performance in the southwest Baltic Sea. Abstract Background The increase in anthropogenic CO2 concentrations in the Earth's atmosphere since the industrial revolution has resulted in an increased uptake of CO2 by the oceans, leading to ocean acidification. Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC) is one of the key variables to characterize the seawater carbonate system. High quality DIC observations at a high spatial-temporal resolution is required to improve our understanding of the marine carbonate system. To meet the requirements, autonomous DIC analyzers are needed which offer a high sampling frequency, are cost-effective and have a low reagent and power consumption. Results We present the development and validation of a novel analyzer for autonomous measurements of DIC in seawater using conductometric detection. The analyzer employs a gas diffusion sequential injection approach in a “Tube In A Tube” configuration that facilitates diffusion of gaseous CO2 from an acidified sample through a gas permeable membrane into a stream of an alkaline solution. The change in conductivity in the alkaline medium is proportional to the DIC concentration of the sample and is measured using a detection cell constructed of 4 hollow brass electrodes. Physical and chemical optimizations of the analyzer yielded a sampling frequency of 4 samples h−1 using sub mL reagent volumes for each measurement. Temperature and salinity effects on DIC measurements were mathematically corrected to increase accuracy. Analytical precision of ±4.9 μmol kg−1 and ±9.7 μmol kg−1 were achieved from measurements of a DIC reference material in the laboratory and during a field deployment in the southwest Baltic Sea, respectively. Significance This study describes a simple, cost-effective, autonomous, on-site benchtop DIC analyzer capable of measuring DIC in seawater at a high temporal resolution as a step towards an underwater DIC sensor. The analyzer is able to measure a wide range of DIC concentrations in both fresh and marine waters. The achieved accuracy and precision offer an excellent opportunity to employ the analyzer for ocean acidification studies and CO2 leakage detection in the context of Carbon Capture and Storage operations.

Description: Following several small-scale benthic disturbance experiments, an industrial polymetallic nodule collector trial was conducted by the company Global Sea mineral Resources (GSR) in their exploration contract area in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone using the pre-prototype vehicle Patania II (PATII). In this study, meiofaunal (i.e., nematode abundance, ASV diversity and genus composition) and environmental (i.e., grain size, total organic carbon/total nitrogen and pigment) properties are compared between disturbance categories (i.e., Pre-impact, Collector Impact and Plume Impact). One week after the trial, proxies for food availability within the Collector Impact sediments were altered with lower total organic carbon (TOC) and pigment (i.e., CPE: sum of Chlorophyll a and phaeopigments) values. Albeit not significant, the observed decrease of nematode abundance and ASV diversity, further indicate the consequences of the removal of the ecologically important surface sediment layer within the PATII tracks. Next to sediment removal, exposed sediments were modified in different ways (e.g., central strips, parallel caterpillar imprints with alternating bands of depressions/ripples and interface patches) and were also subject to heavy collector-induced sediment blanketing. We propose that these cumulative impacts have led to intricate seabed modifications with various levels of disturbance intensity which resulted in the high meiofaunal variability observed. Adjacent nodule-rich areas (i.e., Plume Impact) received considerable levels of sediment deposition (2-3 cm) and were defined by significantly lower food sources (CPE, TOC, carbon to nitrogen ratio) and an observation of meiofaunal enrichment (i.e., higher average nematode abundance and ASV diversity; although statistically non-significant), but mechanisms behind these ecological changes (e.g., suspended material-surface fluxes, passive dispersal of fauna in the plume vs. active upward migration and “viability” of redeposited fauna) remain unresolved. We conclude that complex benthic pressure-response relationships associated with the PATII trial, combined with the high degree of natural spatial and temporal variability in abyssal meiofaunal communities and sedimentary parameters, complicates the quantitative assessment of deep-sea mining associated disturbances.

Description: Flow of dense shelf water provide an efficient mechanism for pumping CO 2 to the deep ocean along the continental shelf slope, particularly around the Antarctic bottom water (AABW) formation areas where much of the global bottom water is formed. However, the contribution of the formation of AABW to sequestering anthropogenic carbon ( C ant ) and its consequences remain unclear. Here, we show prominent transport of C ant (25.0 ± 4.7 Tg C yr −1 ) into the deep ocean (〉2,000 m) in four AABW formation regions around Antarctica based on an integrated observational data set (1974–2018). This maintains a lower C ant in the upper waters than that of other open oceans to sustain a stronger CO 2 uptake capacity (16.9 ± 3.8 Tg C yr −1 ). Nevertheless, the accumulation of C ant can further trigger acidification of AABW at a rate of −0.0006 ± 0.0001 pH unit yr −1 . Our findings elucidate the prominent role of AABW in controlling the Southern Ocean carbon uptake and storage to mitigate climate change, whereas its side effects (e.g., acidification) could also spread to other ocean basins via the global ocean conveyor belt. Plain Language Summary The Southern Ocean is thought to uptake and store a large amount of anthropogenic CO 2 ( C ant ), but little attention has been paid to the Antarctic coastal regions in the south of 60°S, mainly due to the lack of observations. Based on an integrated data set, we discovered the deep penetration of C ant and a visible pattern of relatively high concentration of C ant along the AABW formation pathway, and the concentration of C ant along the shelf‐slope is higher than that of other marginal seas at low‐mid latitudes, implying a highly effective C ant transport in AABW formation areas. We also found strong upper‐layer CO 2 uptake and a significant acidification rate in the deep waters of the Southern Ocean due to the AABW‐driven CO 2 transport, which is 3 times faster than those in other deep oceans. It is therefore crucial to understand how the Antarctic shelf regions affect the global carbon cycle through the uptake and transport of anthropogenic CO 2 , which also drives acidification in the other ocean basins. Key Points We show evidence for the accumulation of C ant along the Antarctic shelf‐slope into the deep ocean The process of AABW formation drives C ant downward transport at 25.0 ± 4.7 Tg C yr −1 , sustaining the CO 2 uptake in the surface ocean This further triggers acidification of AABW at a rate of −0.0006 ± 0.0001 pH unit yr −1 , which is faster than in other deep oceans

Description: The ocean region along the latitude of 40oS in the South Atlantic, characterized by enhanced primary productivity, forms a transition zone between the nutrient replete but iron depleted Southern Ocean, and the nitrate and iron depleted Subtropical Gyre. Here, we present distributions of nutrient-type dissolved and particulate trace metals (dTMs and pTMs) including cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn) in the South Atlantic from the GEOTRACES GA10 cruises. Phytoplankton uptake, riverine and atmospheric inputs shaped dTM and pTM concentrations in surface waters (dCd 27.8±36.0 pmol kg-1, n=222; dCu 0.732±0.429 nmol kg-1, n=222; dNi 3.38±0.52 nmol kg-1, n=219; dZn 0.332±0.398 nmol kg-1, n=214). Subsurface nutrients and dTMs (dCd 563±184 pmol kg-1, n=335; dCu 1.819±0.773 nmol kg-1, n=334; dNi 6.19±1.06 nmol kg-1, n=330; dZn 3.71±2.10 nmol kg-1, n=333) were controlled by the mixing of Antarctic origin waters and North Atlantic Deep Waters (NADW) with negligible contributions from local remineralization. Dissolved and particulate TMs in the Argentine Basin showed elevated concentrations towards the seafloor because of benthic inputs. Direct hydrothermal inputs of dTMs and pTMs to deep waters were not observed along the transect. The Cd-Cu-Zn-phosphate stoichiometries of Antarctic origin waters were set by a combination of dynamic physical circulation and preferential uptake of Cd, Cu, and Zn relative to phosphate in surface waters because of a dominance by diatoms in the Southern Ocean. Water mass mixing subsequently produced convoluted dCu-P and dZn-P relationships and apparent linear dCd-P and dNi-P relationships in the South Atlantic. More importantly, endmember characteristics of Antarctic waters and NADW are largely fixed in their formation regions in high latitude oceans. Therefore, the highly dynamic high latitude oceans are key regions that supply nutrients and TMs at specific ratios to low latitude oceans via the thermohaline circulation. Changes to processes in the high latitude oceans may have consequences for marine primary productivity downstream, and hence the global carbon cycle.

Description: To reach their net-zero targets, countries will have to compensate hard-to-abate CO2 emissions through carbon dioxide removal (CDR). Yet, current assessments rarely include socio-cultural or institutional aspects or fail to contextualize CDR options for implementation. Here we present a context-specific feasibility assessment of CDR options for the example of Germany. We assess 14 CDR options, including three chemical carbon capture options, six options for bioenergy combined with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), and five options that aim to increase ecosystem carbon uptake. The assessment addresses technological, economic, environmental, institutional, social-cultural and systemic considerations using a traffic-light system to evaluate implementation opportunities and hurdles. We find that in Germany CDR options like cover crops or seagrass restoration currently face comparably low implementation hurdles in terms of technological, economic, or environmental feasibility and low institutional or social opposition but show comparably small CO2 removal potentials. In contrast, some BECCS options that show high CDR potentials face significant techno-economic, societal and institutional hurdles when it comes to the geological storage of CO2. While a combination of CDR options is likely required to meet the net-zero target in Germany, the current climate protection law includes a limited set of options. Our analysis aims to provide comprehensive information on CDR hurdles and possibilities for Germany for use in further research on CDR options, climate, and energy scenario development, as well as an effective decision support basis for various actors. Key Points: - More context-specific assessments of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) options are needed to guide national net-zero decision making - Ecosystem-based CDR options with comparably low implementation hurdles in Germany show relatively small CO2 removal potentials - High CDR potential options in Germany face high institutional, technological and societal hurdles linked in many ways to geological storage

Description: This article investigates the event-triggered adaptive containment control problem for a class of stochastic nonlinear multiagent systems with unmeasurable states. A stochastic system with unknown heterogeneous dynamics is established to describe the agents in a random vibration environment. Besides, the uncertain nonlinear dynamics are approximated by radial basis function neural networks (NNs), and the unmeasured states are estimated by constructing the NN-based observer. In addition, the switching-threshold-based event-triggered control method is adopted with the hope of reducing communication consumption and balancing system performance and network constraints. Moreover, we develop the novel distributed containment controller by utilizing the adaptive backstepping control strategy and the dynamic surface control (DSC) approach such that the output of each follower converges to the convex hull spanned by multiple leaders, and all signals of the closed-loop system are cooperatively semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded in mean square. Finally, we verify the efficiency of the proposed controller by the simulation examples.

Description: This paper presents a study on the predefined-time (PdT) and practical PdT synchronization of competitive neural networks (CNN) in the presence of different time scales and external disturbances. Two types of external disturbances, which satisfy Lipschitz or bounded conditions, are investigated respectively. The new PdT and practical PdT stability theorems are derived in singularly perturbed systems, where the final residual set is given in detail. By employing the newly derived stability theorems, novel autonomous controllers are designed without relying on a continuous linear term and time scale parameters, while enabling PdT or practical PdT synchronization for drive-response CNNs. Additionally, upper bounds for the settling time are estimated, allowing for adjusting the predefined synchronization times regardless of the initial conditions. Finally, numerical simulations are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the main results.

Description: The evolution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet is of vital importance given the coastal and societal implications of ice loss, with a potential to raise sea level by up to 58 m if melted entirely. However, future ice-sheet trajectories remain highly uncertain. One of the main sources of uncertainty is related to nonlinear processes and feedbacks of the ice sheet with the Earth System on different timescales. Due to these feedbacks and the ice-sheet inertia, ice loss may already be triggered in the next decades and then unfolds delayed on multi-centennial to millennial timescales. This committed Antarctic sea-level contribution is not reflected in typical sea-level projections based on mass balance changes of Antarctica, which often cover decadal-to-centennial timescales. Here, using two ice-sheet models, we systematically assess the multi-millennial sea-level commitment from Antarctica in response to warming projected over the next centuries under low- and high-emission pathways. This allows bringing together the time horizon of stakeholder planning with the much longer response times of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Our results show that warming levels representative of the lower-emission pathway SSP1-2.6 may already result in an Antarctic mass loss of up to 6 m sea-level equivalent on multi-millennial timescales. This committed mass loss is due to a strong grounding-line retreat in the Amundsen Sea Embayment as well as a potential drainage from the Ross Ice Shelf catchment and onset of ice loss in Wilkes subglacial basin. Beyond warming levels reached by the end of this century under the higher-emission trajectory SSP5-8.5, a collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is triggered in the entire ensemble of simulations from both ice-sheet models. Under enhanced warming, next to the marine parts, we also find a substantial decline in ice volume of regions grounded above sea level in East Antarctica. Over the next millennia, this gives rise to a sea-level increase of up to 40 m in our experiments, stressing the importance of including the committed Antarctic sea-level contribution in future projections.

Description: Detection of critical slowing down (CSD) is the dominant avenue for anticipating critical transitions from noisy time-series data. Most commonly, changes in variance and lag-1 autocorrelation [AC(1)] are used as CSD indicators. However, these indicators will only produce reliable results if the noise driving the system is white and stationary. In the more realistic case of time-correlated red noise, increasing (decreasing) the correlation of the noise will lead to spurious (masked) alarms for both variance and AC(1). Here, we propose two new methods that can discriminate true CSD from possible changes in the driving noise characteristics. We focus on estimating changes in the linear restoring rate based on Langevin-type dynamics driven by either white or red noise. We assess the capacity of our new estimators to anticipate critical transitions and show that they perform significantly better than other existing methods both for continuous-time and discrete-time models. In addition to conceptual models, we apply our methods to climate model simulations of the termination of the African Humid Period. The estimations rule out spurious signals stemming from nonstationary noise characteristics and reveal a destabilization of the African climate system as the dynamical mechanism underlying this archetype of abrupt climate change in the past.

Description: We show that many delay-based reservoir computers considered in the literature can be characterized by a universal master memory function (MMF). Once computed for two independent parameters, this function provides linear memory capacity for any delay-based single-variable reservoir with small inputs. Moreover, we propose an analytical description of the MMF that enables its efficient and fast computation. Our approach can be applied not only to single-variable delay-based reservoirs governed by known dynamical rules, such as the Mackey–Glass or Stuart–Landau-like systems, but also to reservoirs whose dynamical model is not available.

Description: Central Asia (CA) is among the world's most vulnerable regions to climate change. Increasing anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations (GHGs) are the primary forcing of the current and future climate system for the time scale of a century. By analysing observation datasets, we show that a warming of 1.2°C led to a decrease of 20% in snow-depth CA during the last 70 years, especially over the mountains. In recent decades, longer summer times and fewer icing days (more than 20 days·year−1) have exposed unprecedented shock to CA's climate system's components. Furthermore, we analyse 442 model simulations from Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project Phase 5 and 6 (CMIP5, CMIP6) and show that CMIP6 simulations are generally warmer and wetter than the CMIP5 ones in CA. For instance, under the highest emission scenarios (RCP8.5 and SSP5-8.5), CMIP6 projects a 6.1°C increase, while CMIP5 projects a 5.3°C increase, suggesting CMIP6 anticipates greater warming with high emissions. In contrast to CMIP6, the CMIP5 precipitation trends suggest a potential nonlinear relationship between increased greenhouse gas emissions and changes in precipitation, though the impact is much less pronounced than the temperature changes. Our analysis shows that CMIP6 models are more sensitive to temperature rise than CMIP5 ones. Both simulation sets' ensemble means capture well the observed warming trend. The imposed snow-melting leads to an increase in the run-off in the vicinity of glaciers. Such climatic shifts lead to more flooding events in CA. Given the projected warming range of 2–6°C in CA at the end of the century in various scenarios and models, such warming trends might be catastrophic in this region. The seasonal cycle of the temperature change indicates an extension of the glacier's melting period under future scenarios with fossil-fueled development. The models' uncertainty increases for the far-future time-slice, and warming larger than 4°C in CA is very likely among all the models and during all the seasons if no sustainable action is taken. This study also incorporates a detailed Köppen climate classification analysis, revealing significant shifts towards warmer climate categories in Central Asia, which may have profound implications for regional hydrological cycles and water resource management, particularly in the Amu Darya and Syr Darya river basins under warmer scenario by the end of the century. The Tundra and ice cap climate categories will lose more than 60% of their coverage at the end of the century compared to the historical period in the Amu Darya and Syr Darya river basins.

Description: Media inform the public, thereby influencing societal debates and political decisions. Despite climate change’s importance, drivers of media attention to climate change remain differently understood. Here we assess how different sociopolitical and extreme weather events affect climate change media coverage, both immediately and in the weeks following the event. To this end, we construct a data set of over 90,000 climate change articles published in nine major German newspapers over the past three decades and apply fixed effects panel regressions to control for confounders. We find that United Nations Climate Change Conferences affect coverage most strongly and most persistently. Climate protests incite climate coverage that extends well beyond the reporting on the event itself, whereas many articles on weather extremes do not mention climate change. The influence of all events has risen over time, increasing the media prominence of climate change.

Description: Understanding the ongoing investments in coal-fired power plants requires an analysis of the political economy. Here, we conduct a computational analysis of 212 interviews from 12 countries on the political economy of coal using topic modelling (TM). Our study highlights relevant topics by actor group and country. While most topics are similarly distributed across all actor groups, we find distinct clusters of countries in which similar topics play important roles. For example, in Indonesia and India, sustaining low electricity tariffs is brought forward as a reason to invest in coal, whereas in South Africa and Kenya the civil society is considered instrumental in the choice of coal or alternatives. To validate our findings, we compare them to outcomes of qualitative case studies and to papers grouping countries based on quantifiable factors. As this study is among the first to apply TM to interview data, we thereby highlight strengths and challenges for such application and the interpretability of results. We argue that topic models are effective supplements to qualitative case studies, particularly when analysing large amounts of text.

Description: research

Description: Nach dem Streit um die Lieferung und den Besitz von Eisenstein zwischen Johannes, Abt des Klosters Grünhain, und Ernst II. von Schönburg, erließ Johannes mit Unterstützung von Kurfürst Johann Friedrich I. 1534 eine Bergordnung für den Eisensteinbergbau am Emmler und dem Hutstein.

Description: source

Description: thesis

Description: research

Description: Over the past two decades, the airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) system has become a useful tool for acquiring high-resolution topographic data, especially in active tectonics studies. Analyzing Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) from LiDAR exposes morpho-structural elements, aiding in the understanding of fault zones, among other applications. Despite its effectiveness, challenges persist in regions with rapid deformation, dense vegetation, and human impact. We propose an adapted workflow transitioning from the conventional airborne LiDAR system to the usage of drone-based LiDAR technology for higher-resolution data acquisition. Additionally, drones offer a more cost-effective solution, both in an initial investment and ongoing operational expenses. Our goal is to demonstrate how drone-based LiDAR enhances the identification of active deformation features, particularly for earthquake-induced surface faulting. To evaluate the potential of our technique, we conducted a drone-based LiDAR survey in the Casamicciola Terme area, north of Ischia Island, Italy, known for the occurrence of destructive shallow earthquakes, including the 2017 Md = 4 event. We assessed the quality of our acquired DTM by comparing it with existing elevation datasets for the same area. We discuss the advantages and limitations of each DTM product in relation to our results, particularly when applied to fault mapping. By analyzing derivative DTM products, we identified the fault scarps within the Casamicciola Holocene Graben (CHG) and mapped its structural geometry in detail. The analysis of both linear and areal geomorphic features allowed us to identify the primary factors influencing the current morphological arrangement of the CHG area. Our detailed map depicts a nested graben formed by two main structures (the Maio and Sentinella faults) and minor internal faults (the Purgatorio and Nizzola faults). High-resolution DEMs acquired by drone-based LiDAR facilitated detailed studies of the geomorphology and fault activity. A similar approach can be applied in regions where the evidence of high slip-rate faults is difficult to identify due to vegetation cover and inaccessibility.

Description: Published

Description: 1899

Description: OST3 Vicino alla faglia

Description: JCR Journal

Description: More than forty years after the 23 November 1980 earthquake, which devastated the Campania and Basilicata regions, causing the destruction of a large number of towns and the death of around three thousand people, we have tried, through a large survey, to understand how and to what extent the urban fabric and the most affected communities have been rebuilt. Our main objective was to show, on one side, the commitment of the scientific community, and on the other the transitions that have led from the emergency to reconstruction. Of the Apenninic towns Conza della Campania, Laviano, Lioni, Santomenna, and others, where the devastation was almost total, we have tried to give an iconographic vision of the post-earthquake phase through the change in the urban layout. The partial or total reconstruction of the towns has taken place most of the time in situ, only in some cases by relocating buildings to neighboring areas, as happened in Conza della Campania, Bisaccia and Romagnano al Monte. Reconstruction was carried out mainly of anti-seismic buildings and only in some cases recovering preexisting buildings in historic centres; reconstruction was completed after a very long period, in some cases lasting over thirty years, inevitably passing through a dramatic experience of the population in temporary settlements of various kinds, from tents, caravans, railway carriages, to containers, and finally to thermo-igloos and to prefabricated wooden chalet-type. A very complex and detailed reconstruction was linked to factors not only territorial, economic and political but also conditioned unfortunately by the non-negligible intervention of organized crime.

Description: Published

Description: 103-130

Description: N/A or not JCR

Description: The Alfred Wegener Institute operates two stations in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. The German overwintering station Neumayer III is located on the Ekström Ice Shelf at 70°40’S and 08°16’W and is the logistics base for three long-term observatories (meteorology, air chemistry and geophysics) and nearby research activities. Due to the vicinity to the coast (ca. 20 km from the ice shelf edge), the Neumayer III Station is the junction for many German Antarctic expeditions, especially as the starting point for the supply traverse for the second German station Kohnen. The summer station Kohnen is located about 600 km from the coast and 750 km from Neumayer III Station on the Antarctic plateau at 75°S and 00°04’E. It was erected as the base for the deep-drilling ice core project, which took place between 2001 and 2006. Since then Kohnen Station is used as a logistics base for different research projects.

Description: Due to the remoteness and di culty to access the snow covered polar regions, ski-equipped aircraft are an indispensable tool for polar research. The Alfred Wegener Institute has a long tradition in airborne polar science – starting with the aircraft Polar1 and Polar2 in 1983. In 2007 the rst Basler BT-67 (Polar5) and in 2011 the second Basler BT-67 (Polar6) were brought into service and replaced Polar2 and Polar4. They carry a variety of scienti c equipment for investigation of the lithosphere, atmosphere and cryosphere and all their interactions. Beside being deployed for science missions, the aircraft are also part of the Dronning Maud Land Air Network (DROMLAN), a logistical partnership to transport equipment and personnel to various stations in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica.

Description: Foraminifera are unicellular eukaryotic organisms that live individually autonomous in the sea (Hottinger, 2005). They form mechanically resistant tests, either by gluing material found in the environment or by secreting organic or calcareous shells. Along with the test, main characteristic of foraminifera are their pseudopodia emerging from the cell body through multiple apertures. Foraminifera are extremely abundant in marine sediments, which makes them useful in recent and fossil paleoenvironmental studies. The first simple forms of foraminifera appeared in Cambrian and since provide a long and well recorded evolutionary record throughout Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic (BouDagher‐ Fadel, 2008). Based on life strategy, foraminifera are divided in two groups: benthic and planktonic foraminifera. Planktonic foraminifera passively float through the waters of open oceans moved by currents. Benthic foraminifera live on the sea floor; on the surface, buried into the sediment, or attached to plants, rocks or sediment particles. Based on their size and internal morphological structure benthic foraminifera can be divided into two groups; smaller and larger benthic foraminifera. The main criteria for identifying LBF is the complex internal structure which evolved to efficiently host photosymbionts, the key elements in the ecology of LBF. The symbiotic algae utilize the waste product of the foraminifera, allowing them to efficiently recycle of nutrients and to facilitate calcification (Ross, 1974; Leutenegger, 1984). This life strategy, LBF as a greenhouse, limits their occurrences to photic zone since algal symbionts are dependent on light for photosynthesis (Leutenegger, 1984). Besides light levels, the distribution and abundance of LBF is determined by relatively well‐known parameters, including hydrodynamic energy, water temperature, salinity, food availability and substrate type (Hottinger, 1983; Hohenegger, 1994; Renema, 2006). Therefore, the assemblage composition of fossil LBF can provide important and valuable data for paleoenvironmental reconstructions (Hallock and Glenn, 1986; Renema and Troelstra, 2001). Present day Southeast Asia represents the region that supports the most diverse marine ecosystems on Earth. The origin of this biodiversity is still unresolved, but it is proposed to be present at least since the Early Miocene (Renema et al., 2008). Therefore, the data acquired from the fossil assemblages may contribute to our understanding of this biodiversity hotspot. In this thesis Miocene LBF were investigated in order to provide new insights regarding their biostratigraphy and depositional paleonvironments of Indonesia. The focus of the research includes mixed carbonate‐siliciclastic (MCS) systems of the Kutai Basin in East Kalimantan. However, to provide a comparative model with the blue‐water systems (Wilson, 2012), the study also included localities from Bulu Formation with carbonate platform deposits in Central Java. Until recently, MCS systems were considered to be environments inhospitable for carbonate producers compared to the blue‐water marine systems, and hence were often neglected in biodiversity studies (Friedman, 1988). However, recent studies reveal high biodiversity in these turbid water settings, including corals (Santodomingo et al., in press), LBF (Novak and Renema, in press), algae (Rosler et al., in press), and bryozoans (Di Martino and Taylor, 2014). The Kutai Basin was a host for the development of numerous MCS systems, with a peak of their deposition during the Miocene (Wilson and Rosen, 1998; Wilson, 2005). Herein MCS systems are defined as in situ mixing (Mount, 1984) with the carbonate fraction consisting of autochthonous or parautochthonous death assemblages of calcareous organisms accumulated on or within siliciclastic substrates. In these systems LBF are important contributors to carbonate production, and combined with their high tolerance of terrigenous input, individually they are the most suitable taxa for paleoenvironmental reconstruction and interpretation in MCS systems (Lokier et al., 2009; Novak et al., 2013). By investigating LBF assemblages of Miocene MCS systems of the Kutai Basin by updating their biostratigraphy, providing environmental reconstructions, and comparing them with contemporaneous carbonate platform deposits, this research helps in untangling the origins of the Indo‐Pacific biodiversity hotspot.

Description: A taxonomic revision of the genus Scleria (Cyperoideae, Cyperaceae) in Madagascar is presented. Herbarium specimens have been examined and 422 identified to species level. Our results recognise 25 species of Scleria from Madagascar, plus an additional heterotypic variety. Eight species are endemic to Madagascar, two are near endemic, eight taxa are also found on mainland Africa, and eight are widespread tropical taxa. Scleria achtenii is reported from Madagascar for the first time, and S. rosea is accepted at species level instead of being considered as a synonym of S. trialata. Distribution maps, conservation assessments, and notes on synonymy, ecology and ethnobotany are provided. Fourty-seven names are typified. Three rare endemic species: S. andringitrensis, S. madagascariensis and S. perpusilla, are assessed as threatened; and a recently described species, S. ankaratrensis, is indicated as Data Deficient. The most species-rich infrageneric taxa, sections Hypoporum, Abortivae and Foveolidia include 18 taxa in total, and showed strong differences in habitat preference.

Description: The twenty-eighth Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Dubai among many other items concluded the first Global Stocktake (GST) under the Paris Agreement. This article discusses the conference's outcomes in the areas of mitigation, loss and damage, adaptation, climate finance, and cooperation under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. The conference arguably made history by for the first time ever recognising the need to "transition away" from fossil fuels, adopting specific targets for the scale-up of renewable energy and energy efficiency, and by operationalising a fund to support developing countries in dealing with loss and damage caused by climate change. However, the legal language in the call for an energy transition is relatively non-committal and the conference failed to underpin the new global objectives with adequate resources. Actual implementation of the Dubai outcomes will therefore to a large extent depend on whether COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan - already billed as "finance COP" - will be able to cut the Gordian knot of finance.

Description: Aufgrund struktureller Haushaltsprobleme ist in vielen Gebietskörperschaften in den letzten Jahrzehnten im Bereich ihrer Liegenschaften ein immer größer werdender Sanierungsstau entstanden. Das heißt, notwendige Instandsetzungsinvestitionen, Modernisierungen und/oder energetische Sanierungen sind vielerorts unterblieben. Dieses Fachbuch zeigt innovative Lösungen auf.

Description: North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) is the industrial center of Germany and one of the most important industrial locations in Europe. It is a key location for the energy-intensive basic materials industry like the production of steel and non-ferrous metals, (petro)chemicals, cement and lime, bricks, glass and ceramics, and paper. Around 20 % of NRW's total greenhouse emissions derive from industrial processes. By 2045, industry must achieve climate-neutrality, which requires a massive transformation effort. Technologically, this needs large-scale utilization of green hydrogen, carbon management, consequent circular economy, and climate-neutral production of process heat. Furthermore, various adjustments to the policy framework are essential.

Description: Digitalisierung und Nachhaltigkeit sind Megatrends der Gegenwart und der Zukunft. Die Digitalisierung bietet das Potenzial, das Nachhaltigkeitsmanagement von Unternehmen zu unterstützen. Die Nachhaltigkeitsplattform "EcoHub" erlaubt es, Unternehmensdaten mit Bezug zur Nachhaltigkeit an einer zentralen Stelle unter Berücksichtigung von Aspekten der Datensicherheit und Zugriffsberechtigung zu sammeln und als zentrale Datensenke der weiteren Analyse und für die Rückkopplung im Unternehmen zur Verfügung zu stellen.

Description: Over 175 million Nigerians rely on the use of traditional biomass for cooking, and it is estimated that more than 128,000 people died in Nigeria in 2019 from household air pollution related to these fuels. There is currently a gap in the study of possible pathways to meet Nigeria's goals in clean cooking and in understanding the health and climate impacts that different pathways can bring about. We explore clean cooking access scenarios for Nigeria until 2060 under a business-as-usual scenario, a moderate climate mitigation scenario, and an ambitious transformative scenario. We carry out a disaggregation at the state level for the period up to 2030 to better guide shorter-term policy development. Our analysis shows that under an ambitious scenario where 85 million households achieve access to clean cooking by 2060, annual premature deaths due to exposure to household air pollution would decrease by 7 % compared to 2018 levels. A baseline scenario, on the other hand, sees a dramatic 77 % increase, resulting in 209,000 people dying prematurely, of which 94,000 children under 5. Furthermore, we find that woodfuel removals from forestland would lead to a tripling of carbon dioxide emissions from land use change, reaching 602 Mt CO2 by 2060. Our findings stress the vital importance of a clean cooking transition in Nigeria and underline the urgent need for immediate acceleration in national efforts regarding access to clean cooking for all.

Description: Das zentrale Anliegen des Projektes besteht darin, regionale Stoffkreisläufe in der metallverarbeitenden Industrie zu schließen - mit einem Schwerpunkt auf (Hand-) Werkzeuge und Schneidwaren - sowie dies durch den Einsatz digitaler Technologien zu organisieren und zu optimieren. Das Ziel ist, Ressourcen- und Energieverbräuche zu reduzieren sowie ökonomische Vorteile für die Unternehmen zu realisieren. Im Detail soll es darum gehen, verschlissene metallische Produkte am End-of-Life nicht einer Verwertung durch Umschmelzen zuzuführen, sondern durch Remanufacturing und Repurposing die Nutzungsdauer der mit hohem Energie- und Ressourcenaufwand erzeugten Metalle zu verlängern. Diese Ansätze sollen unternehmensübergreifend aufgestellt werden und erfordern eine digital unterstützte Logistikkette sowie eine vollständige Rückverfolgbarkeit. Eine Rückführung verschlissener Maschinenmesser lohnt sich nach derzeitigem Kenntnisstand nicht, wenn dieses Material nur den Schrottpreis aufweist. Im Projekt "Circle of Tools" soll daher ein neues Geschäftsmodell entwickelt werden, das darauf basiert, sortenreine, qualitativ hochwertige Materialien entweder im primären Herstellungsprozess zu nutzen oder zur Weiterverarbeitung in andere Herstellungsprozesse unternehmensübergreifend zu integrieren. Neben den rein technischen Möglichkeiten werden betriebswirtschaftliche Faktoren, das Ressourceneffizienzpotenzial und der rechtliche Rahmen untersucht. Die in der europäischen Abfallrahmenrichtlinie und dem deutschen Kreislaufwirtschaftsgesetz verankerte Abfallhierarchie geht von der grundsätzlichen ökologischen Vorteilhaftigkeit der unterschiedlichen Stufen aus. Während das stoffliche Recycling von Produkten in der Regel vorteilhafter ist als ihre thermische Verwertung oder Deponierung, sind Reuse/Kaskadennutzung demnach ökologisch vorteilhafter als sämtliche Recyclingtechnologien. Die Datenlage ist hier jedoch im Vergleich zu vielen Recyclingtechnologien noch äußerst lückenhaft und unsystematisch. Einzelne Untersuchungen weisen jedoch auf signifikante Ressourceneffizienzpotenziale hin. Abschätzungen zeigen, dass die in diesem Vorhaben angedachte Reuse-/Kaskadennutzung zu einer Einsparung von 300 Tonnen Primär-Werkzeugstahl führen könnte. Das Vorhaben kann diese signifikanten Potenziale nachweisen und gleichzeitig geeignete und übertragbare Geschäftsmodelle aufzeigen. Auf Grundlage der empirischen Erhebungen werden im Projekt genaue Wirkungen berechnet für folgende Fragen: (1) Welche Mengen an Rohstoffe können durch Remanufacturing/Repurposing eingespart werden? (2) Welche ökonomische Wertschöpfung ist damit zu erzielen? (3) Wie ist ein Remanufacturing/Repurposing im Vergleich zu anderen Verwertungsverfahren ökologisch und ökonomisch einzuschätzen?

Description: The goal of this dissertation is to facilitate the assessment of impacts from sustainable measures and projects with an emphasis on impact reporting for Green, Social or Sustainability Bonds in the Sustainable Finance market. It does so by providing analysts with the means to develop, depict, formulate, and assess a causal hypothesis between an intervention and its subsequent effects in an impact-chain, represented by desired environmental (E), social (S) or governance (G) changes. This is achieved by developing a methodology for so-called ESG Logic Models or ESG-LM, that combine heuristic Theories-of-Change with propositional logic and Bayesian Reasoning. Three research questions are investigated and responded to. Research Question 1 asks how such Theories-of-Change can be developed for any type of ESG-related issue and how the different process steps in a causal chain can be classified, hierarchised, and prioritised regarding their efficacy towards overarching sustainability goals and their plausibility. Research Question 2 studies (a) the means by which the analyst or any other interested third party might be warranted in believing the causal claims from an ESG-LM, and (b) how an ESG-LM can be improved if this credence is low. Research Question 3 then looks at the reporting of impacts themselves regarding indicator selection, indicator assessment and indicator quantification as well as the provision of information on the contributions and attributions by different actors. The dissertation draws on a variety of theories and adapts existing methods to achieve that. It operationalises concepts from empirical Sustainable Finance research and already existing impact assessment methodologies. It adapts scholarly and practitioner approaches for theory-based evaluation and applies a qualitative social science perspective towards theory-building and evaluation, while some of the assessment tools in the dissertation are grounded in Logic, Set Theory and Bayesian Epistemology. Examples for such tools include rules for the Attribution by actors, heuristics for the abduction of plausible outcome pathways, or a four-stage Argument and Decision-Tree to assess the credibility of ESG-LM claims (based on Bayes Theorem). My assessment of the entire methodology is positive overall, as it provides solutions to each of the three research areas. Limitations of the approach, and thus opportunities for further research, are the additional expertise and time required by analysts compared to the existing, and somewhat more pragmatic, solutions in the current market. However, this is outweighed in my opinion by the ability of the framework to strongly mitigate impact washing by actors in the financial markets as well as biases by analysts. Its overall methodology also provides opportunities for new research angles in the area of sustainability indicators and assessments.

Description: From 1983 to 1985 the TOPOGULF current meter project took place along 48° N from 35° to 20° W. The objective of the investigation was to describe the influence of a large topographic feature such as the Mid Atlantic Ridge on the mean and turbulent motion fields. 72 series of velocity and temperature of yearly nominal length have been obtained. The present data report shows the individual low pass filtered data records and the primary statistics.

Description: Sponges (Porifera) are one of the most ancient animals present on the planet. They are aquatic, filter-feeding sessile metazoans that rely on asexual and sexual reproduction. These animals have a long history on Earth and had plenty of time to develop different reproductive strategies. Here, we review different aspects of the physiology of reproduction in Porifera. This chapter is divided into six sections. In the first section, we present general features of sponge reproduction, such as factors that trigger the onset of their reproduction, as well as the periodicity of their reproductive cycles. The molecular basis of the hormonal control of gametogenesis is presented although sponges have no endocrine system. The second section deals with gametogenesis, 2including how sex and the germline are determined and maintained in this group, how oocytes and spermatozoa are formed and nourished, and how they behave once released. The third section reviews different topics about the reproductive mode. Here, we discuss the dichotomy in reproductive mode: oviparity vs. viviparity, the spatial distribution of the reproductive elements in the sponge tissue, the effect of symbiosis in reproduction (and vice-versa), and energetic trade-offs during reproduction. The fourth section describes fertilization, and we cover the factors controlling the spawning events and how the sperm are attracted and recognized by the egg. The diversity of developmental modes, the molecular control of sponge embryonic development, and the maternal-embryo relationship are discussed in the fifth section. Finally, in the sixth section, the types of asexual reproduction, factors influencing budding, gemmulation, hibernation, and gemmule development are described. Knowledge about the physiology of reproduction of sponges is still fragmentary and based on studies in very few species. Consequently, there are many generalizations that need further investigation. However, evidence-based on morphological, experimental, and molecular data demonstrates that their physiology is not very different from that of other metazoans

Description: The boundary between the American and European plates emerges in Iceland, an outstanding natural laboratory where it is possible to analyse ongoing rifting processes. In the North Volcanic Zone, we studied with unprecedented detail an active rift, known as the Theistareykir Fissure Swarm (ThFS). We surveyed an area of 85 km2 with 694 measurement sites along 1537 post-Late Glacial Maximum extension fractures. In the southern sector of the study area, fractures strike N30–40° with opening directions about N120°. Fractures in the central sector strike about N00° and opening directions are N90–100°. In the northern sector, fractures strike about N30° with opening directions about N125°. Through a comparison with older faults cropping out in the substrate at the shoulder of the ThFS, we are able to suggest that variations in fracture strike are the effect of substrate structural inheritance as well as the possible interaction with the Tjörnes Fracture Zone. With regard to kinematics, we highlight that most fractures show a small, but systematic, strike-slip component (a more frequent right-lateral component and a less common, left-lateral one). This cannot be explained as the result of fracture strike rotation relative to the regional, tectonic least principal stress. We conclude that the net opening directions can result from the combination of tectonic offsets and events caused by shallow magma chamber inflation and/or dyke intrusions. The latter can produce transcurrent components of displacement along new or already existing fractures.

Description: The ‘law of the wall’ for the inner part of a turbulent shear flow over a solid surface is one of the cornerstones of fluid dynamics, and one of the very few pieces of turbulence theory whose results include a simple analytic function for the mean velocity distribution, the logarithmic law. Various aspects of the law have recently been questioned, and this paper is a summary of the present position. Although the law of the wall for velocity has apparently been confirmed by experiment well outside its original range, the law of the wall for temperature seems to apply only to very simple flows. Since the two laws are derived by closely analogous arguments this throws suspicion on the law of the wall for velocity. Analysis of simulation data, for all the Reynolds stresses including the shear stress, shows that law-of-the-wall scaling fails spectacularly in the viscous wall region, even when the logarithmic law is relatively well behaved. Virtually all turbulence models are calibrated to reproduce the law of the wall in simple flows, and we discuss whether, in practice or in principle, their range of validity is larger than that of the law of the wall itself: the present answer is that it is not; so that when the law of the wall (or the mixing-length formula) fails, current Reynolds-averaged turbulence models are likely to fail too.

Description: This paper describes a Bayesian inversion of acoustic reflection loss versus angle measurements to estimate the compressional and shear wave velocities in young uppermost oceanic crust, Layer 2A. The data were obtained in an experiment on the thinly sedimented western flank of the Endeavor segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge, using a towed horizontal hydrophone array and small explosive charges as sound sources. Measurements were made at three sites at increasing distance from the ridge spreading center to determine the effect of age of the crust on seismic velocities. The inversion used reflection loss data in a 1/3-octave band centered at 16 Hz. The compressional and shear wave velocities of the basalt were highly sensitive parameters in the inversion. The compressional wave velocity increased from 2547±30 to 2710±18 m/s over an age span of 1.4 million years (Ma) from the spreading center, an increase of 4.5±1.0%/Ma. The basalt shear wave velocity increased by nearly a factor of 2, from ∼725 to 1320 m/s over the same age span. These results show a decreasing trend of Poisson’s ratio with age, from a value of 0.46 at the youngest site closest to the ridge axis.

Description: If ground‐water levels of a confined aquifer fluctuate with sea tides, individual values of hydraulic conductivity and specific storage can then be determined. Apparent tidal efficiency and time lag are first calculated from the water level data recorded at an observational device situated inland from the sea, taking into account the response characteristics of the observational device according to criteria established by Hvorslev [1951]. The true tidal efficiency of the aquifer at the seacoast is then determined from the apparent tidal efficiency and used to obtain the specific storage. This and the tidal time lag are utilized to calculate the hydraulic conductivity. The method was tested in Prince Edward Island, Canada, and yielded results compatible with pump test data. This is a simple and inexpensive way to test a confined aquifer in the coastal environment.