• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.129-136
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• 2012

BACKGROUND: The changes in the climatic conditions have brought potentially significant new challenges, most critical are likely to be its impact on local livelihoods, agriculture, biodiversity and environments. Water induced disasters such as landslides, floods, erratic rain etc., are very common in developing countries which lead to changes in biological, geophysical and socioeconomic elements. The extent of damages caused by natural disasters is more sever in least developing countries. However, disasters affect women and men differently. In most of the cases women have to carry more burden as compared to their male counterpart during the period of disasters. METHODS AND RESULTS: This study examines the impact of disasters on the local livelihood especially agriculture and income generating activities of women in three districts of Nepal. The study uses the primary data collected following an exploratory approach, based on an intensive field study. The general findings of the study revealed that women had to experience hard time as compared to their male counterpart both during and after the disaster happen. Women are responsible for caring their children, collecting firewood, fetching water, collecting grass for livestock and performing household chores. Whereas, men are mainly involved in out-migration and remained out-side home most of the time. After the disaster occurred, most of the women had to struggle to support their lives as well as had to work longer hours than men during reconstruction period. Nepal follows patriarchal system and men can afford more leisure time as compared to women. During the disaster period, some of the households lost their agricultural lands, livestock and other properties. These losses created some additional workload to women respondent, however at the same time; they learn to build confidence, self-respect, self-esteem, and self-dependency.Although Nepal is predominantly agriculture, majority of the farmers are at subsistence level. In addition, men and women have different roles which differ with the variation in agro-production systems. Moreover women are extensively involved in agricultural activities though their importances were not recognized. Denial of land ownership and denial of access to resources as well as migration of male counterparts are some of the major reasons for affecting the agricultural environments for women in Nepal. CONCLUSION: The shelter reconstruction program has definitely brought positive change in women's access to decision making. The gradual increase in number of women respondent in access to decision making in different areas is a positive change and this has also provided them with a unique opportunity to change their gendered status in society.Furthermore, the exodus out-flow of male counterparts accelerated the additional burden and workload on women.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.118-124
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• 2020

Background: The poultry industry in Pakistan has flourished since the 1960s; however, there are scarce data regarding the impact of occupational exposure on the pulmonary health of farm workers in terms of years working in the industry. The objective of the present study was to assess the effect of poultry environment on the health of occupationally exposed poultry farmers in countries of warm climatic regions, such as Pakistan. This study will also show the effect of exposure to poultry facilities on the health of poultry farmers in the context of low-income countries with a relatively inadequate occupational exposure risk management. Materials and methods: The lung function capacity of 79 poultry workers was measured using a spirometer. Along with spirometry, a structured questionnaire was also administrated to obtain information about age, height, weight, smokers/nonsmokers, years of working experience, and pulmonary health of farm workers. The workers who were directly involved in the care and handling of birds in these intensive facilities were considered and divided into four groups based on their years of working experience: Group I (3-10 months), Group II (1-5 years), Group III (6-10 years), and Group IV (more than 11 years). The forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and the FEV1/FVC ratio were considered to identify lung function abnormalities. Statistical analysis was carried out using independent sample t test, Chi-square test, Pearson's correlation, and linear regression. Results: Based on the performed spirometry, 68 (86 %) of workers were found normal and healthy, whereas 11 (14 %) had a mild obstruction. Of the 11 workers with mild obstruction, the highest number with respect to the total was in Group IV (more than 11 years of working experience) followed by Group III and Group II. Most of the workers were found healthy, which seems to be because of the healthy survivor effect. For the independent sample t test, a significant difference was noticed between healthy and nonhealthy farmers, whereas Chi-square test showed a significant association with height, drugs, and working experience. Linear regression that was stratified by respiratory symptoms showed for workers with symptoms, regression models for all spirometric parameters (FVC, FEV1, and FEV1/FVC) have better predictive power or R square value than those of workers without symptoms. Conclusion: These findings suggest that lung function capacity was directly related to years of working experience. With increasing number of working years, symptoms of various respiratory problems enhanced in the poultry workers. It should be noted that most of the poultry workers were healthy and young, the rationale being that there is a high turnover rate in this profession. The mobility in this job and our finding of 86% of the healthy workers in the present study also proposed healthy worker survivor effect.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.302-311
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• 2020

There are limitations to cope with flood damage by structural strategies alone because both frequency and intensity of floods are increasing due to climate change. Therefore, it is one of the necessary factors in the nonstructural countermeasures to collect and analyze historical flood damage records for the future flood damage assessments. In order to estimate flood damage costs in Gyeongsangbuk-do where severe flood damage occurs frequently due to geographical and climatic effects, this paper has performed the regression analysis on flood damage records over the past 20 years (1999-2018) by rainfall characteristics, which is one of the major causes of flood damage. This paper has then examined the relationship between the terrain features and rainfall characteristics in the regional regression functions, and also estimated the flood damage risk for 100-year rainfall by using the regional regression functions presented for the 22 administrative districts in Gyeongsangbuk-do excluding Ulleung-gun. The flood damage assessment shows that the relatively high damage risk is estimated for county areas adjacent to the eastern coast in Gyeongsangbuk-do. The regional damage estimate functions in this paper are expected to be used as one of the nonstructural countermeasures to estimate flood damage risk for the design or forecasting rainfall data.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.170-176
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• 2004

This study was carried out to establish a spatial decision support system for evaluating climatic aspects of a given geographic location in complex terrains with respect to the quality apple production. Monthly climate data from S6 synoptic stations across South Korea were collected for 1971-2000. A digital elevation model (DEM) with a 10-m cell spacing was used to spatially interpolate daily maximum and minimum temperatures based on relevant topoclimatological models applied to Jangsoo county in Korea. For daily minimum temperature, a spatial interpolation scheme accommodating the potential influences of cold air accumulation and the temperature inversion was used. For daily maximum temperature estimation, a spatial interpolation model loaded with the overheating index was used. Freezing risk in January was estimated under the recurrence intervals of 30 years. Frost risk at bud-burst and blossom was also estimated. Fruit quality was evaluated for soluble solids, anthocyanin content, Hunter L and A values, and LID ratio, which were expressed as empirical functions of temperature based on long-term field observations. AU themes were prepared as ArcGlS Grids with a 10-m cell spacing. Analysis showed that 11 percent of the whole land area of Jangsoo county might be suitable for quality 'Fuji' apple production. A computer program (MAPLE) was written to help utilize the results in decision-making for site-selection of new orchards in this region.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.155-160
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• 2012

This study was conducted to develop a practical method for estimating the extremes of minimum air temperature with given return-period based on the frequency distribution of daily minimum air temperature in January. Daily temperature data were collected from 61 meteorological observatories country-wide from 1961 to 2010. Most of daily minimum temperature in January could be represented by a normal-distribution, so it is possible to predict stochastically the lowest temperature by the mean and standard deviation. We developed a quadratic function to estimate standard deviation in terms of daily minimum temperature in January. Also, we introduced a coefficient which can be used to predict an extreme of minimum temperature with mean and standard deviation, and is dependent on return-periods. Using this method, we were able to reproduce the past 30-year extremes with an error of 1.1 on average and 5.3 in the worst case.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.613-627
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• 2013

In this study, to understand the May aridity condition of each region for the year of the worst drought on record in each duration (1-, 3-, 6-, 12-, 24 months), monthly climate data recorded from 1973 to 2006 at 53 climatological stations in South Korea were used to estimate the FAO Penman-Monteith reference potential evapotranspiration (RET). Monthly precipitation and RET were used to estimate P/RET as aridity index and variation index (VI) of P/RET, and these indexes are compared with SPI (Standard Precipitation Index). Fifty three climatological stations were grouped into 20 regions, so that May aridity conditions of 20 regions were studied. Furthermore, regional trend of May aridity index was studied by applying Mann-Kendall trend analysis, Spearman rank test, and Sen's slope estimator. The study results show that variation index (VI) of P/RET and SPI have close correlation. Throughout the country, as the duration is shorter, May aridity was more severe. In case of 3-month and 6-month duration, most of region show significant or non-significant decreasing trend of aridity index. However, no region show significant decreasing trend of aridity index in case of 12-month and 24-month duration.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.2D
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• pp.267-274
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• 2011

In this study, around Jeju area where climatic change is most considerably appearing in Han Peninsula, we prepared sea level rise height caused by sea level rise (Seogwipo 5.6 mm/yr, Jeju 5.3 mm/yr) and a sea level rise scenario for the case when an enlarged typhoon attacks during high water ordinary spring tide, and evaluated flooding area and effect on road and facility using Digital Elevation Model(DEM) and GIS Spatial Analysis Technique. As a result, the flooding areas were shown to be 2.9 $km^2$ in 2040, 5.4 $km^2$ in 2070, and maximum 5.4 $km^2$ in 2100. Analyzing the effect of flooding on each type of road, the local roads(Gun-do) were shown to be mostly affected. The most flood effected facilities were individual houses. Especially, as there is a possibility for casualties to occur due to disaster in Hwabuk-dong because the effect of flooding on individual houses in this area was shown to be high. In addition, flood on port facilities will considerably affect logistic and marine activities. This study is thought to be a basic data which can be utilized for establishment of strategic coping measures and policies of government affiliated organizations through analysis of effect of sea level rise on construction field.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.590-600
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• 2011

The research was carried out for prediction of the potential habitats of warm-temperate evergreen broad-leaved trees under the current climate(1961~1990) and three climate change scenario(2081~2100) (CCCMA-A2, CSIRO-A2 and HADCM3-A2) using classification tree(CT) model. Presence/absence records of warm-temperate evergreen broad-leaved trees were extracted from actual distribution data as response variables, and four climatic variables (warmth index, WI; minimum temperature of the coldest month, TMC; summer precipitation, PRS; and winter precipitation, PRW) were used as predictor variables. Potential habitats(PH) was predicted 28,230$km^2$ under the current climate and 77,140~89,285$km^2$ under the three climate change scenarios. The PH masked by land use(PHLU) was predicted 8,274$km^2$ and the proportion of PHLU within PH was 29.3% under the current climate. The PH masked by land use(PHLU) was predicted 35,177~45,170$km^2$ and increased 26.9~36.9% under the three climate change scenarios. The expansion of warm-temperate evergreen broad-leaved trees by climate change progressed habitat fragmentation by restriction of land use. The habitats increase of warm-temperate evergreen broad-leaved trees had been expected competitive with warm-temperate deciduous broadleaf forest and suggested the expand and northward shift of warm-temperate evergreen broad-leaved forest zone.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.122-130
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• 2014

Seasonal variations and long term linear trends of SST (Sea Surface Temperature) at Yeosu Coast ($127^{\circ}37.73^{\prime}E$, $34^{\circ}37.60^{\prime}N$) in Korea were studied performing the harmonic analysis and the regression analysis of the monthly mean SST data of 46 years (1965-2010) collected by the Fisheries Research and Development Institute in Korea. The mean SST and the amplitude of annual SST variation show $15.6^{\circ}C$ and $9.0^{\circ}C$ respectively. The phase of annual SST variation is $236^{\circ}$. The maximum SST at Yeosu Coast occurs around August 26. Climatic changes in annual mean SST have had significant increasing tendency with increase rate $0.0305^{\circ}C/Year$. The warming trend in recent 30 years (1981-2010) is more pronounced than that in the last 30 years (1966-1995) and the increasing tendency of winter SST dominates that of the annual SST. The time series model that could be used to forecast the SST on a monthly basis was developed applying Box-Jenkins methodology. $ARIMA(1,0,0)(2,1,0)_{12}$ was suggested for forecasting the monthly mean SST at Yeosu Coast in Korea. Mean absolute percentage error to measure the accuracy of forecasted values was 8.3%.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.169-177
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• 2010

One of the most obvious climatic manifestations of urbanization in Korea is a trend towards higher air temperature. The trends of long-term annual temperature generally well describe the warming of urban areas. The increase of air temperature in urban area has been observed to the present since the meteorological observations in Korea began. The objective of this study is to explore the actual increase and the regional long-term trends of air temperature attributed to urbanization in the Korean Peninsula. Therefore, temperatures of the selected urban areas were compared with that of the surrounding rural areas, with the results varying by the application of the estimates of each region. The second objective is to separate the long-term trend of surface air temperature of global warming from urbanization and to find the actual temperature increase from urbanization in Korean peninsula. For the data analysis, daily air temperatures observed by the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) during between from 1961 and 2005 were used at five rural sites and cities. The re-analyzed surface air temperatures by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) was also carried out to compare the result from the observed air temperature in the Korean climate domain. In this study, the urban areas in Korea showed high increase rate of air temperature with $0.4^{\circ}C$ per decade during past 50 year period, while rural sites as Chupungryung with the $0.2^{\circ}C$ decadal increase rate. The analyses reflect that the urban area shows the high rate of temperature increase with $1.39^{\circ}C$ of regression value at the urban area, Seoul, and $0.43^{\circ}C$ at the rural site, Chupungnyeong during the period of 30 years. The temperature increas due to the urbanization only showed the increase range between $0.44^{\circ}C$ and $0.86^{\circ}C$, and the observed decrease in diurnal temperature range at five urban areas during the 30 years period.