ALBERT

Description: Sea ice conditions and navigability along four typical routes of the Northeast Passage (NEP) are analysed using remote-sensing data from 1979 to 2019. The influence of air temperature (Tair) and surface wind on the sea ice concentration (SIC) and the navigability of routes is determined. It is found that the annually averaged SICs of the different routes have decreased over the past 41 years. The fastest rate of decrease occurred in the Kara Sea (∼−1% per year), while the slowest rates of decrease occurred in the Laptev/East Siberian Sea (∼−0.42% per year). The number of navigable days for the Kara Sea has become ∼1–2 months longer than the Laptev/East Siberian Sea route as a result. The effect of Tair on SIC, quantified by ΔSIC/ΔTair in the routes through the eastern Kara Sea and Laptev/East Siberian Sea in 2010s was ∼−0.04/°C, two to three times that seen during the 1980s. Air temperature is becoming a significant driving force of melting ice in these routes. Surface winds are also a crucial factor for the navigability of the Vilkitsky Strait and Long Strait, as they drive ice drift, and affect the navigability of the Kara Strait by introducing warm air.

Description: Negative emissions technologies (NETs) are an essential part of most scenarios for achieving the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to below 2°C and for all scenarios that limit warming to 1.5 °C. The deployment of these technologies requires carbon accounting methods for a range of different purposes, such as determining the effectiveness of specific technologies or incentivising NETs. Although the need for carbon accounting methods is discussed within the literature on NETs, there does not appear to be a clear understanding of the range of different accounting challenges. Based on a systematic literature review this study identifies five distinct accounting issues related to NETs: 1. estimating total system-wide change in emissions/removals; 2. non-permanence; 3. non-equivalence of ‘no overshoot’ and ‘overshoot and removal’; 4. accounting for incentives for NETs; and 5. the temporal distribution of emissions/removals. Solutions to these accounting challenges are proposed, or alternatively, areas for further research and the development of solutions are highlighted. One key recommendation is that carbon accounting methods should follow a ‘reality principle’ to report emissions and removals when and where they actually occur, and an important overall conclusion is that it is essential to use the correct accounting method for its appropriate purpose. For example, consequential methods that take account of total system-wide changes in emissions/removals should be used if the purpose is to inform decisions on the deployment or incentivisation of NETs. Attributional methods, however, should be used if the purpose is to construct static descriptions of possible net zero worlds.

Description: Touch interaction has established a dominating role in the realisation of Human–Machine Interfaces. However, to be able to use touch effectively and efficiently, users have to comply with particular prerequisites. Due to age-related changes, such as the decline of tactile accuracy and speed, especially elderly users often struggle with the touch modality. Interfaces that adapt to specific user characteristics could be a promising solution to overcome this problem. Notwithstanding the advantages of adaptive systems, perceived changes in the user interface can reduce the system's predictability and transparency. The present study compares three approaches concerning the adaptation of touch button sizes: no adaptation and adaptation with visible and invisible feedback. Results show that especially elderly users substantially benefit from an adaptive approach. Furthermore, data shows that the type of adaptation supports different usage goals. While adaption with visual feedback enables a higher interaction speed, invisible adaptation leads to a higher degree of accuracy.

Description: Pyroxene crystals from recent Central Plateau tephras are used to deduce their formation conditions through two-pyroxene thermobarometry. Crystals return pseudo-pressures and pseudo-temperatures that are artefacts of uptake of antecrysts formed at a range of crustal levels by isobaric cooling of previously intruded magmas. MELTS modelling of tephra glass compositions shows that pseudo-PT conditions are reproduced at oxygen fugacities above the nickel-nickel oxide buffer (NNO+1, NNO+2), mid- to upper crustal pressures (100–400 MPa), and temperatures between c. 900°C and 〉1100°C. Modelled crystals from the deep crust (800 MPa) are restricted to clinopyroxenes. However, these display chemical equilibrium with shallow orthopyroxenes at higher pseudo-PT conditions than observed in Central Plateau pyroxenes. The data indicate uptake of high-temperature pyroxenes at mid- to shallow crustal levels into ascending andesitic melts and thus preclude the presence of long-lived crustal mush zones (〈1000°C) as a source for the crystal cargo of the Central Plateau tephras studied here. Further, the apparent absence of deep crustal pyroxene antecrysts does not preclude models of arc andesite genesis without a ‘deep crustal hot zone’ beneath the Central Plateau. Generation and ascent of primary andesites from a heterogeneous mantle wedge is therefore a possible scenario at the southern Hikurangi margin.

Description: Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) will be necessary to fulfil the hundreds of pledges to reach net-zero by 2050. As with any industry, standard methodologies and certification are crucial to guarantee successful and reliable activities. However, buyers and policymakers currently face challenges in evaluating the ecosystem of CDR certification. The issue is not with CDR, nor with individual certifications – some of which may be very robust – but with the lack of transparency in the overall ecosystem. To bring some clarity, we present a snapshot of the CDR certification and standards ecosystem for the year 2021–2022. We find a complex ecosystem with at least 30 standard developing organizations proposing at least 125 standard methodologies for carbon removal from 23 different CDR activities and selling 27 different versions of certification instruments in voluntary and compliance markets. This exercise reveals many more existing standards for nature-based than for engineering-based activities and more diversity from standards serving the voluntary rather than the compliance market. It also highlights a proliferation of standards for the same activity, and a plethora of activities without standards. The process revealed ambiguity on what constitutes carbon removal, with many standards certifying activities that remove CO2 already in the environment as well as activities that avoid or reduce new emissions by sequestering the carbon into reservoirs. This mapping highlights key gaps and potential starting points for reforms to strengthen the CDR certification industry; it also underscores the need for independent oversight.