How much wetland has the world lost? Long-term and recent trends in global wetland area

2014 ◽  
Vol 65 (10) ◽  
pp. 934 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick C. Davidson
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Wetland Loss ◽  
Supporting Evidence ◽  
Ramsar Convention ◽  
Wetland Area ◽  
The World ◽  
Natural Wetlands ◽  
Recent Trends ◽  
National Governments

It has been frequently stated, but without provision of supporting evidence, that the world has lost 50% of its wetlands (or 50% since 1900 AD). This review of 189 reports of change in wetland area finds that the reported long-term loss of natural wetlands averages between 54–57% but loss may have been as high as 87% since 1700 AD. There has been a much (3.7 times) faster rate of wetland loss during the 20th and early 21st centuries, with a loss of 64–71% of wetlands since 1900 AD. Losses have been larger and faster for inland than coastal natural wetlands. Although the rate of wetland loss in Europe has slowed, and in North America has remained low since the 1980s, the rate has remained high in Asia, where large-scale and rapid conversion of coastal and inland natural wetlands is continuing. It is unclear whether the investment by national governments in the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands has influenced these rates of loss. There is a need to improve the knowledge of change in wetland areas worldwide, particularly for Africa, the Neotropics and Oceania, and to improve the consistency of data on change in wetland areas in published papers and reports.

A Forecasting Method for Fertilizers Consumption in Brazil

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo Ogasawara ◽  
Daniel de Oliveira ◽  
Fabio Paschoal Junior ◽  
Rafael Castaneda ◽  
Myrna Amorim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Moving Average ◽  
Logistic Function ◽  
Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average ◽  
Forecasting Method ◽  
The World ◽  
Entire Country ◽  
Function Models ◽  
Nitrogen Phosphorus

Tracking information about fertilizers consumption in the world is very important since they are used to produce agriculture commodities. Brazil consumes a large amount of fertilizers due to its large-scale agriculture fields. Most of these fertilizers are currently imported. The analysis of consumption of major fertilizers, such as Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium (NPK), Sulfur, Phosphate Rock, Potash, and Nitrogen become critical for long-term government decisions. In this paper we present a method for fertilizers consumption forecasting based on both Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) and logistic function models. Our method was used to forecast fertilizers consumption in Brazil for the next 20 years considering different economic growth for the entire country.

Contrasting tactical and strategic dynamics on a Clausewitz landscape

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-153
Author(s):  
Rodrick Wallace
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Models ◽  
Limit Theorems ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Local Resources ◽  
Human Organization ◽  
The World ◽  
Short Time

Statistical models based on the asymptotic limit theorems of control and information theories allow formal examination of the essential differences between short-time “tactical” confrontations and a long-term “strategic” conflict dominated by evolutionary process. The world of extended coevolutionary conflict is not the world of sequential “muddling through.” The existential strategic challenge is to take cognitive control of a long-term dynamic in which one may, in fact, be “losing” most short-term confrontations. Winning individual battles can be a relatively direct, if not simple or easy, matter of sufficient local resources, training, and resolve. Winning extended conflicts is not direct, and requires management of subtle coevolutionary phenomena subject to a dismaying punctuated equilibrium more familiar from evolutionary theory than military doctrine. Directed evolution has given us the agricultural base needed for large-scale human organization. Directed coevolution of the inevitable conflicts between the various segments of that organization may be needed for its long-term persistence.

Global lessons from Ebola crisis may be ignored

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Health Services ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Priorities ◽  
Local Health ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The World ◽  
National Governments

Subject Lessons from the Ebola crisis. Significance The Ebola epidemic in West Africa caught national governments and international organisations off-guard. As the epidemic begins to abate in the affected countries, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has begun an internal process to learn lessons for future global health emergencies. However, many of the required responses were well-known before the Ebola outbreak but ignored. Shifting entrenched political attitudes will be a challenge. Impacts Popular distrust of local health services continues to mar comprehensive detection of Ebola infections in affected countries. Re-building local health services will be distorted if the Ebola crisis dominates planning over long-term health priorities. However, donors tend to prefer orientation towards disease-specific programmes and interventions over strengthening health systems.

scholarly journals The World Trade Organization's legitimacy crisis

2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
DANIEL C. ESTY
Keyword(s):  
Global Governance ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Checks And Balances ◽  
Trade Regime ◽  
The Public ◽  
The World ◽  
Successful Launch ◽  
National Governments ◽  
Legitimacy Crisis

Despite the successful launch of a new round of multilateral trade negotiations at Doha, the World Trade Organization faces a legitimacy crisis. Protests continue to rock major international economic meetings, and the WTO's role in globalization is being questioned by many observers. This paper examines the contours of this crisis and explores the possibility that the WTO's indirect ties to popular sovereignty – through national governments – provide an insufficient foundation for the trade regime's authority and central role in the emerging structure of global governance. Arguing that the WTO needs to re-establish its legitimacy based on wider links to the public around the world in whose name freer trade is pursued, the paper suggests that the WTO must also re-build its reputation for efficacy in a context where success is no longer measured exclusively in narrow economic terms. To be seen as serving the interests of the world community broadly, the trade regime needs to pursue its economic goals in a fashion that shows sensitivity to other important goals and values, such as poverty alleviation, environmental protection, and the promotion of public health. Long-term success further depends on the trade regime becoming embedded within a broader structure of global governance that provides ‘checks and balances’ and reinforces the legitimacy of international trade policy making.

scholarly journals Development of a global dataset of Wetland Area and Dynamics for Methane Modeling (WAD2M)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhen Zhang ◽  
Etienne Fluet-Chouinard ◽  
Katherine Jensen ◽  
Kyle McDonald ◽  
Gustaf Hugelius ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Surface ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Microwave Remote Sensing ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Annual Maximum ◽  
Time Step ◽  
Wetland Area ◽  
Wetland Extent

Abstract. Seasonal and interannual variations in global wetland area is a strong driver of fluctuations in global methane (CH4) emissions. Current maps of global wetland extent vary with wetland definition, causing substantial disagreement and large uncertainty in estimates of wetland methane emissions. To reconcile these differences for large-scale wetland CH4 modeling, we developed a global Wetland Area and Dynamics for Methane Modeling (WAD2M) dataset at ~25 km resolution at equator (0.25 arc-degree) at monthly time-step for 2000–2018. WAD2M combines a time series of surface inundation based on active and passive microwave remote sensing at coarse resolution (~25 km) with six static datasets that discriminate inland waters, agriculture, shoreline, and non-inundated wetlands. We exclude all permanent water bodies (e.g. lakes, ponds, rivers, and reservoirs), coastal wetlands (e.g., mangroves and sea grasses), and rice paddies to only represent spatiotemporal patterns of inundated and non-inundated vegetated wetlands. Globally, WAD2M estimates the long-term maximum wetland area at 13.0 million km2 (Mkm2), which can be separated into three categories: mean annual minimum of inundated and non-inundated wetlands at 3.5 Mkm2, seasonally inundated wetlands at 4.0 Mkm2 (mean annual maximum minus mean annual minimum), and intermittently inundated wetlands at 5.5 Mkm2 (long-term maximum minus mean annual maximum). WAD2M has good spatial agreements with independent wetland inventories for major wetland complexes, i.e., the Amazon Lowland Basin and West Siberian Lowlands, with high Cohen's kappa coefficient of 0.54 and 0.70 respectively among multiple wetlands products. By evaluating the temporal variation of WAD2M against modeled prognostic inundation (i.e., TOPMODEL) and satellite observations of inundation and soil moisture, we show that it adequately represents interannual variation as well as the effect of El Niño-Southern Oscillation on global wetland extent. This wetland extent dataset will improve estimates of wetland CH4 fluxes for global-scale land surface modeling. The dataset can be found at http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3998454 (Zhang et al., 2020).

scholarly journals YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

2020 ◽  
pp. 69-74
Author(s):  
Oxana Martirosyan ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Quality Education ◽  
International Labour Organization ◽  
Decent Work ◽  
Youth Labor Market ◽  
The World ◽  
Long Term Consequences ◽  
Mental Well Being

The economic crisis caused by the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to serious long-term consequences for young people around the world, primarily because States have suspended funding for education and a large number of youth projects, and many children and adolescents have not been able to implement their plans for quality education and decent work. The international labour organization conducted a large-scale study on “Youth and COVID-19: impact on jobs, education, rights and mental well-being”, covering 112 countries and 120 thousand respondents. The article presents some results of this study, reflecting the situation in the youth labor market.

scholarly journals Practice of Preserving Collections in the Library and Archives Canada

2020 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 509-521
Author(s):  
Ekaterina A. Barysheva
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Storage Conditions ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Storage Facility ◽  
Federal Department ◽  
The World ◽  
Library And Archives Canada ◽  
Storage Facilities ◽  
Library Collections

The Library and Archives of Canada (LAC) is Federal department of Canada established by the Parliament of Canada in 2004 to integrate services and functions of the National library and the National Archives of Canada; and currently it is the fourth-largest library in the world. The article discusses the experience of the Library and Archives Canada in creating modern centres for preserving documentary heritage, organizing the work of collections management, their conservation and restoration, ensuring openness and accessibility of collections. The main sources were materials published on the LAC website, primarily planning, reporting and financial documentation of the institution, as well as publications in the Canadian periodical press. Special attention is paid to the buildings and premises of the LAC storage facilities. The author describes the concept of the project of the Gatineau Preservation Centre, GPC. The complex, opened in 1997, is one of the top architectural objects constructed in Canada in the 20th century and one of the most secure library storage facilities in the world. The article considers organization of collections storage in the GPC and the work of restoration laboratories located in it. The author shows that GPC provides the most favourable storage conditions for the most valuable and vulnerable LAC collections. The paper gives information about the storage facility in the main LAC building in Ottawa on Wellington Street (built in 1967; modernized in the early 2000s), as well as storage facilities in Gatineau, Renfrew and Winnipeg.The author characterizes the new version of the LAC Collections Preservation Program (2018) which defines the strategic objectives of the institution in this area, both for the nearest future and for the long term. The paper presents results of a large-scale study of the state of the collections storage in LAC (2016—2018) and outlines the most acute problems identified in this study. There is emphasized the importance of the construction of the new Gatineau-2 complex, launched in 2019 (Project cost is 330 million Canadian dollars). According to experts, Gatineau-2 will become one of the largest, technologically equipped and environmental centres for the conservation and restoration of library collections in the world, as well as the first zero-energy storage facility in North America. In Canada, special attention is paid to the construction of modern centres for the preservation of documentary heritage, which create all the necessary conditions for long-term security of collections, conservation and restoration work. Implementation of such projects is impossible without government support, without understanding by authorities of the leading role of libraries and archives in the preservation and promotion of the national cultural heritage. The experience of LAC may be of interest to Russia, taking into account the tasks set in the document “The main directions of development of activities to preserve library collections in the Russian Federation for 2011—2020” and elaboration of long-term programs in this area.

scholarly journals Development of the global dataset of Wetland Area and Dynamics for Methane Modeling (WAD2M)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2001-2023
Author(s):  
Zhen Zhang ◽  
Etienne Fluet-Chouinard ◽  
Katherine Jensen ◽  
Kyle McDonald ◽  
Gustaf Hugelius ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Surface ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Microwave Remote Sensing ◽  
Annual Maximum ◽  
Time Step ◽  
Wetland Area ◽  
Wetland Extent

Abstract. Seasonal and interannual variations in global wetland area are a strong driver of fluctuations in global methane (CH4) emissions. Current maps of global wetland extent vary in their wetland definition, causing substantial disagreement between and large uncertainty in estimates of wetland methane emissions. To reconcile these differences for large-scale wetland CH4 modeling, we developed the global Wetland Area and Dynamics for Methane Modeling (WAD2M) version 1.0 dataset at a ∼ 25 km resolution at the Equator (0.25∘) at a monthly time step for 2000–2018. WAD2M combines a time series of surface inundation based on active and passive microwave remote sensing at a coarse resolution with six static datasets that discriminate inland waters, agriculture, shoreline, and non-inundated wetlands. We excluded all permanent water bodies (e.g., lakes, ponds, rivers, and reservoirs), coastal wetlands (e.g., mangroves and sea grasses), and rice paddies to only represent spatiotemporal patterns of inundated and non-inundated vegetated wetlands. Globally, WAD2M estimates the long-term maximum wetland area at 13.0×106 km2 (13.0 Mkm2), which can be divided into three categories: mean annual minimum of inundated and non-inundated wetlands at 3.5 Mkm2, seasonally inundated wetlands at 4.0 Mkm2 (mean annual maximum minus mean annual minimum), and intermittently inundated wetlands at 5.5 Mkm2 (long-term maximum minus mean annual maximum). WAD2M shows good spatial agreements with independent wetland inventories for major wetland complexes, i.e., the Amazon Basin lowlands and West Siberian lowlands, with Cohen's kappa coefficient of 0.54 and 0.70 respectively among multiple wetland products. By evaluating the temporal variation in WAD2M against modeled prognostic inundation (i.e., TOPMODEL) and satellite observations of inundation and soil moisture, we show that it adequately represents interannual variation as well as the effect of El Niño–Southern Oscillation on global wetland extent. This wetland extent dataset will improve estimates of wetland CH4 fluxes for global-scale land surface modeling. The dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3998454 (Zhang et al., 2020).

An Exploration of Thinking About Complex Global Issues and Then Taking Action

2018 ◽  
pp. 102-146
Author(s):  
Ian Roderick
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Global Issues ◽  
The World ◽  
Taking Action

There are many problems and challenges facing the world. They go beyond problems that can be solved. They present as continual challenges that perpetually shift and transform themselves. The word we use for these situations are issues and they are by nature complex and large scale – they are global and long term. However, action does follow thinking and talking, even if that action is internalized. This chapter explores thinking about complex global issues and taking action.

Loss of wetlands due to the expansion of polder in the Dongting Plain, China, AD 1368–1980

The Holocene ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 646-656
Author(s):  
Yikai Li ◽  
Yu Ye ◽  
Xiuqi Fang ◽  
Chengpeng Zhang ◽  
Zhilong Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Wetland Loss ◽  
Spatial Difference ◽  
Chronological Order ◽  
Wetland Area ◽  
The Past ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Times ◽  
Wetland Losses ◽  
Over Time

The Dongting Plain is an area characterized by wetland losses because of long-term polder construction. The study of historical polder expansion provides an opportunity to better understand the loss of wetlands covered by polders. To reconstruct the polder expansion over time, the polder patches extracted though remote sensing were marked with the names obtained from maps and the times of construction obtained from local gazetteers, and shown in the chronological order of turning points. Then, the distribution and changes in the wetlands covered by polders during 1368–1980 were reconstructed. The following are the major findings: (1) the current polders (2010s) accumulated over many centuries. There were 5.7% of the current polder area in 1644, 14.0% in 1735, 23.4% in 1850, 55.0% in 1911, 73.6% in 1949, and 100% in 1980; (2) the wetlands were mostly lost in the northern part of the region and declined rapidly over the past two centuries. The wetland area in 1850 was 6635 km2, which in 1911, 1949 and 1980 were 73.9%, 62.7% and 40.6% of that in 1850, respectively; (3) there were differences in the rate of wetland loss. The fastest time of wetland area disappearance was in 1949–1980, and 45.8 km2 of the wetlands had been lost each year; and (4) there was a spatial difference in wetland losses caused by polder expansion. In the northern part of the area, the wetland loss was mainly in 1851–1980, and the polders constructed in this period covered 89.5% of the polder area. In contrast, in the southern part of the area, the change in the wetland area was relatively small in each period, and the polder constructed before and after 1850 covered 48.3% and 52.7% of the polder area, respectively.

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