Posters (Asynchronous Session)
The Impacts Of Climate Changes On Urmia Lake And Its Nearby Cities And Ecosystem View Digital Media
Poster Session Sepideh Azizi
In the late 1990s, Lake Urmia, in north-western Iran, was twice as large as Luxembourg and the largest salt-water lake in the Middle East. Since then it has shrunk substantially, and was sliced in half in 2008, with consequences uncertain to this day. In the current work, we study some of the main reasons for its drought and hazards on the nearby ecosystem and cities. It also sets agricultural activities of local people at risk and causes a lot of economical problems. Some actions need to be taken in order to save its valuable ecological environment. Due to its importance for all the countries which are in this region and its historical significance, it postulates international contribution. The methodology adopted follows expressing descriptive and comparative information from different sources and documentaries to reveal the tensions of this situation. GIS image Analysis of Arial photos has been used as well to integrate this study and make it more illustrative.
Featured Climate Change Impact Assessment on Extreme Weather in Iran
Poster Session Mohammad Reza Khazaei
Recent studies on climate change (CC) have indicated that the frequency and intensity of extreme weather would increase significantly in the future. For an active adaptation strategy, it is necessary to assess the impacts of CC on extreme weather. In this paper, two robust daily weather generator (IWG and LARS-WG) is employed to assess CC impacts on extreme precipitations and heatwaves for three stations over a diverse range of climatic conditions in Iran. Some advantages of these models for this study are as follows: [1] IWG and LARS-WG are capable of reproducing extreme precipitations and heatwaves, respectively. [2] They generate long time series of weather data, decrease the uncertainty of climate variability, and are helpful for risk assessment. [3] Changes in various important statistics, predicted by GCMs, may be preserved in the downscaled scenarios. For each station, the models were calibrated, and 3000-year daily weather series were generated. Then, parameters of the models were perturbed based on each of the CanESM2 projections under RCP scenarios. Then 3000-year future weather series were generated for each station anther each scenario. Consequently, CC impacts on extreme precipitations and heatwaves were assessed.
Understanding the Lived Experience of Adolescents Concerned about Climate Change View Digital Media
Poster Session Kailie Drumm
The aim of the study is to explore the lived experience of adolescents who are concerned about climate change. A critical gap exists in research concerning climate change and adolescent mental health. Youth are at particularly high risk for the negative health effects of climate change. As a vulnerable population, adolescents are also at a critical stage in moral and cognitive development that increases their risk for traumatic mental health outcomes associated with climate change such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety and depression. Research is needed to understand the meaning and experience adolescents give to being concerned about climate change, and how this affects them. The purpose of this pilot study is to explore the lived experience of adolescents who are concerned about climate change and to deepen our understanding of the complex nature of the juncture between adolescent development, climate change concern and mental health. This pilot study utilizes a participant-driven philosophical hermeneutic approach. The participants are asked an opening question “tell me what it is like to be concerned about climate change”. From there, deeper, probing questions are asked as new themes arise in the participant’s story. Analysis is conducted with a team of researchers, including content and methods experts. The findings contribute to understanding the physical and mental health impacts that climate change has on adolescents. Due to the vulnerable nature of the adolescent developmentally, it is critical to understand these effects to develop primary prevention measures to promote healthy outcomes and counter negative challenges.
Greater Tokyo Rail Network at Climate Change Risk: Ranking vulnerability View Digital Media
Poster Session Efthymia Koliokosta
Greater Tokyo rail network is the busiest and largest railway network in the world. Greater Tokyo area is a quite low laying region, and thus several railway stations are exposed to oceanic hazards, such as sea level rise and storm surges. Despite the adaptation measures adopted, ie sea walls, the tsunami after Fukusima earthquake proved that measures towards flooding are inadequate and offer low resilience towards natural disasters. Ranking their vulnerability to sea level rise and storm surges could contribute to more effective risk management and prioritization of adaptation and resilience investments. This paper analyzes the exposure of each railway station using geospatial data and assesses their vulnerability to sea level rise and storm surges. Vulnerability assessment and ranking is a vital tool for decision makers and stakeholders, who manage to mitigate climate change risks by maximizing resilience and utility of adaptation investments.
