• Title/Summary/Keyword: global climate

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Balancing Water Supply Reliability, Flood Hazard Mitigation and Environmental Resilience in Large River Systems

  • Goodwin, Peter
    • Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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    • 2016.05a
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    • pp.1-1
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    • 2016
  • Many of the world's large ecosystems are severely stressed due to population growth, water quality and quantity problems, vulnerability to flood and drought, and the loss of native species and cultural resources. Consequences of climate change further increase uncertainties about the future. These major societal challenges must be addressed through innovations in governance, policy, and ways of implementing management strategies. Science and engineering play a critical role in helping define possible alternative futures that could be achieved and the possible consequences to economic development, quality of life, and sustainability of ecosystem services. Science has advanced rapidly during the past decade with the emergence of science communities coalescing around 'Grand Challenges' and the maturation of how these communities function has resulted in large interdisciplinary research networks. An example is the River Experiment Center of KICT that engages researchers from throughout Korea and the world. This trend has been complemented by major advances in sensor technologies and data synthesis to accelerate knowledge discovery. These factors combine to allow scientific debate to occur in a more open and transparent manner. The availability of information and improved communication of scientific and engineering issues is raising the level of dialogue at the science-policy interface. However, severe challenges persist since scientific discovery does not occur on the same timeframe as management actions, policy decisions or at the pace sometimes expected by elected officials. Common challenges include the need to make decisions in the face of considerable uncertainty, ensuring research results are actionable and preventing science being used by special interests to delay or obsfucate decisions. These challenges are explored in the context of examples from the United States, including the California Bay-Delta system. California transfers water from the wetter northern part of the state to the drier southern part of the state through the Central Valley Project since 1940 and this was supplemented by the State Water Project in 1973. The scale of these activities is remarkable: approximately two thirds of the population of Californians rely on water from the Delta, these waters also irrigate up to 45% of the fruits & vegetables produced in the US, and about 80% of California's commercial fishery species live in or migrate through the Bay-Delta. This Delta region is a global hotspot for biodiversity that provides habitat for over 700 species, but is also a hotspot for the loss of biodiversity with more than 25 species currently listed by the Endangered Species Act. Understanding the decline of the fragile ecosystem of the Bay-Delta system and the potential consequences to economic growth if water transfers are reduced for the environment, the California State Legislature passed landmark legislation in 2009 (CA Water Code SS 85054) that established "Coequal goals of providing a more reliable water supply for California and protecting, restoring, and enhancing the Delta ecosystem". The legislation also stated that "The coequal goals shall be achieved in a manner that protects and enhances the unique cultural, recreational, natural resource, and agricultural values of the Delta as an evolving place." The challenges of integrating policy, management and scientific research will be described through this and other international examples.

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Exploring sustainable resources utilization: Interlink between food waste generation and water resources conservation

  • Adelodun, Bashir;Choi, Kyung-Sook
    • Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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    • 2019.05a
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    • pp.232-232
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    • 2019
  • The persistence of drought periods and water scarcity is a growing public concern, as climate change projections indicate a more critical scenario in the future. The sustainability of water resources for the increasing population, and to ensuring crop production will unarguably be a daunting task for the water resources managers, with a projected 9.8 billion people by 2050 as well as the need to increase food production by 70 to 100%. Consequently, there is a need for significant irrigation water use for more crop production in the face of stiff competition among water users. However, the available natural resources are already over-constrained, and the allocation of more resources for food production is not feasible. Currently, about two-thirds of global water withdrawer is used by the agricultural sector while 48% of water resources in Korea is used for agricultural production. Despite the apparent ecological deficit and unfavorable conditions of resources utilization, a staggering amount of food waste occurs in the country. Moreover, wastage of food translates to waste of all the resources involved in the food production including water resources. Food waste can also be considered a serious potential for economic and environmental problems. Hence, exploring an alternative approach to efficient resources utilization in a more sustainable way can ensure considerable resources conservation. We hypothesized that reducing food waste will decline the demand for food production and consequently reduce the pressure on water resources. We investigated the food wastage across the food supply chain using the top-down datasets based on the FAO mass balance model. Furthermore, the water footprint of the estimated food wastage was assessed using the representative of selected food crops. The study revealed that the average annual food wastage across the food supply chain is 9.05 million tonnes, signifying 0.51 kg/capita/day and 48% of domestic food production. Similarly, an average of 6.29 Gm3 per annum of water resources was lost to food wastage, which translates to 40% of the total allotted water resources for agriculture in the country. These considerable resources could have been conserved or efficiently used for other purposes. This study demonstrated that zero food waste generation would significantly reduce the impact on freshwater resources and ensure its conservation. There is a need for further investigation on the food waste study using the bottom-up approach, specifically at the consumer food waste, since the top-down approach is based on estimations and many assumptions were made.

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Exploring sustainable resources utilization: Interlink between food waste generation and water resources conservation

  • Adelodun, Bashir;Choi, Kyung-Sook
    • Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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    • 2019.05a
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    • pp.408-408
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    • 2019
  • The persistence of drought periods and water scarcity is a growing public concern, as climate change projections indicate a more critical scenario in the future. The sustainability of water resources for the increasing population, and to ensuring crop production will unarguably be a daunting task for the water resources managers, with a projected 9.8 billion people by 2050 as well as the need to increase food production by 70 to 100%. Consequently, there is a need for significant irrigation water use for more crop production in the face of stiff competition among water users. However, the available natural resources are already over-constrained, and the allocation of more resources for food production is not feasible. Currently, about two-thirds of global water withdrawer is used by the agricultural sector while 48% of water resources in Korea is used for agricultural production. Despite the apparent ecological deficit and unfavorable conditions of resources utilization, a staggering amount of food waste occurs in the country. Moreover, wastage of food translates to waste of all the resources involved in the food production including water resources. Food waste can also be considered a serious potential for economic and environmental problems. Hence, exploring an alternative approach to efficient resources utilization in a more sustainable way can ensure considerable resources conservation. We hypothesized that reducing food waste will decline the demand for food production and consequently reduce the pressure on water resources. We investigated the food wastage across the food supply chain using the top-down datasets based on the FAO mass balance model. Furthermore, the water footprint of the estimated food wastage was assessed using the representative of selected food crops. The study revealed that the average annual food wastage across the food supply chain is 9.05 million tonnes, signifying 0.51 kg/capita/day and 48% of domestic food production. Similarly, an average of $6.29Gm^3$ per annum of water resources was lost to food wastage, which translates to 40% of the total allotted water resources for agriculture in the country. These considerable resources could have been conserved or efficiently used for other purposes. This study demonstrated that zero food waste generation would significantly reduce the impact on freshwater resources and ensure its conservation. There is a need for further investigation on the food waste study using the bottom-up approach, specifically at the consumer food waste, since the top-down approach is based on estimations and many assumptions were made.

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A Study on the Impacts of Paste Type Torrefied Wood Flour Coagulants on Water Ecosystem (반탄화목분 Paste상 응집제의 수생태계 미치는 영향에 관한 연구)

  • YANG, Seung Min;LEE, Seok Eon;PARK, Hae Keum;KANG, Seog Goo
    • Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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    • v.47 no.6
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    • pp.709-720
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    • 2019
  • Due to global warming and abnormal climate, the incidence and scale of green tracts in rivers and water intake dam are increasing every year. Therefore, in this study, developed eco friendly positively charged Torrefied Wood Flour(TWF) coagulant by reusing wood damaged by blight as a natural material. In order to evaluate the effect of coagulant on water ecosystem, green algae contaminated water was collected and TOC showed high removal rate of 86% ~ 92% under 1% and 5% TWF C-PAM treatment condition. The $NH_3-N$ showed 53% removal efficiency. The average pH of the polluted water was 7.9 in the case of hydrogen ion concentration, and the pH of the treated water was in the range of 6.5 ~ 7.7, It was found to be suitable for water quality standards. In ecotoxicity tests, all the results of the experiment showed that both the number of green algae and that of treated water were not affected by the survival of the daphnia. Therefore, as a result of the analyzing, developed paste type TWF coagulants is considered to be able to remove algae using natural resources.

Estimation of Typhoon Center Using Satellite SAR Imagery (인공위성 SAR 영상 기반 태풍 중심 산정)

  • Jung, Jun-Beom;Park, Kyung-Ae;Byun, Do-Seong;Jeong, Kwang-Yeong;Lee, Eunil
    • Journal of the Korean earth science society
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    • v.40 no.5
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    • pp.502-517
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    • 2019
  • Global warming and rapid climate change have long affected the characteristics of typhoons in the Northwest Pacific, which has induced increasing devastating disasters along the coastal regions of the Korean peninsula. Synthetic Aperature Radar (SAR), as one of the microwave sensors, makes it possible to produce high-resolution sea surface wind field around the typhoon under cloudy atmospheric conditions, which has been impossible to obtain the winds from satellite optical and infrared sensors. The Geophysical Model Functions (GMFs) for sea surface wind retrieval from SAR data requires the input of wind direction, which should be based on the accurate estimation of the center of the typhoon. This study estimated the typhoon centers using Sentinel-1A images to improve the problem of typhoon center detection method and to reflect it in retrieving the sea surface wind. The results were validated by comparing with the typhoon best track data provided by the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) and Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), and also by using infrared images of Himawari-8 satellite. The initial center position of the typhoon was determined by using VH polarization, thereby reducing the possibility of error. The detected center showed a difference of 23.76 km on average with the best track data of the four typhoons provided by the KMA and JMA. Compared to the typhoon center estimated by Himawari-8 satellite, the results showed an average spatial variation of 11.80 km except one typhoon located near land with a large difference of 58.73 km. This result suggests that high-resolution SAR images can be used to estimate the center and retrieve sea surface wind around typhoons.

Review on Coastline Change and Its Response Along the Cotonou Coast, Benin in the Gulf of Guinea, West Africa (서아프리카 기니만에 있는 베냉 코토누의 해안선 변화와 대응에 대한 고찰)

  • Yang, Chan-Su;Hong, Hyeyeon;Shin, Dae-Woon
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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    • v.27 no.5
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    • pp.691-699
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    • 2021
  • The global surface temperature has risen critically over the past century and according to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report 2014, existing risks in natural and human systems will worsen. Coastal erosion is mostly caused by climate change and among all the coastal areas at risk, Benin, which is part of the Gulf of Guinea, has been ranked very highly as a vulnerable region. Therefore, in this review, we focus on the evolution of coastline change in Cotonou of Benin, summarizing its resultant impacts and applied measures around the coast area by reviewing previous studies. Signs of coastal erosion in Cotonou appeared in 1963. After 39 years, the east shoreline of Cotonou has retreated by 885 m, resulting in the disappearance of more than 800 houses. To solve this problem, Benin authorities built seven groynes in 2013, and have increased the number of the structure as a way to interrupt water flow and limit the movement of sediment. Over the region, shorelines appeared preserved accordingly. In contrast, areas located further east, where groynes were not installed, have suf ered from intensive erosion at a rate of 49 m/yr. In the future, as a next step, the effectiveness of groynes should be studied with local and broader perspectives.

Carbon Footprint Awareness on Education in Connection with SDGs of the Pre-service Teachers (SDGs 연계 교육에서 예비교사들의 탄소 발자국 인식)

  • Kim, Yunji
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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    • v.14 no.2
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    • pp.146-158
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    • 2021
  • We are to introduce an example of ESD in connection with SDGs through liberal arts courses opened at the College of Education. We analyzed the awareness of the carbon footprint expressed by 42 preservice teachers in a class designed in connection with SDGs 13 goal, 'climate action'. The pre-service teachers wrote a carbon diet diary, a checklist for the level of practice that emits carbon in daily life, and freely expressed the source and proportion of their carbon emissions through the carbon footprint drawing activity. In items of electricity use, public transportation use, and garbage disposal, the level of practice was positive, but water use was analyzed in a negative way. The pre-service teachers who expressed the carbon footprint in 2-3 items reached a majority, showing limitations in recognizing the carbon emission situation in their daily life. Pre-service teachers will be the main actors of education on the environmental issues of the earth at the school site, and the carbon literacy of pre-service teachers will directly or indirectly affect students. We hope that various ESD programs linked to the 17 SDGs will be developed and applied to the educational field to contribute to sustainable global environmental education.

Investigation on the Key Parameters for the Strengthening Behavior of Biopolymer-based Soil Treatment (BPST) Technology (바이오폴리머-흙 처리(BPST) 기술의 강도 발현 거동에 대한 주요 영향인자 분석에 관한 연구)

  • Lee, Hae-Jin;Cho, Gye-Chum;Chang, Ilhan
    • Land and Housing Review
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    • v.12 no.3
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    • pp.109-119
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    • 2021
  • Global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions has rapidly increased abnormal climate events and geotechnical engineering hazards in terms of their size and frequency accordingly. Biopolymer-based soil treatment (BPST) in geotechnical engineering has been implemented in recent years as an alternative to reducing carbon footprint. Furthermore, thermo-gelating biopolymers, including agar gum, gellan gum, and xanthan gum, are known to strengthen soils noticeably. However, an explicitly detailed evaluation of the correlation between the factors, that have a significant influence on the strengthening behavior of BPST, has not been explored yet. In this study, machine learning regression analysis was performed using the UCS (unconfined compressive strength) data for BPST tested in the laboratory to evaluate the factors influencing the strengthening behavior of gellan gum-treated soil mixtures. General linear regression, Ridge, and Lasso were used as linear regression methods; the key factors influencing the behavior of BPST were determined by RMSE (root mean squared error) and regression coefficient values. The results of the analysis showed that the concentration of biopolymer and the content of clay have the most significant influence on the strength of BPST.

Recent Progress in Conductive Polymer-based Membranes (전도성 고분자 분리막의 최근 연구동향)

  • Park, Shinyoung;Patel, Rajkumar
    • Membrane Journal
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    • v.31 no.2
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    • pp.101-119
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    • 2021
  • The demand for clean water is virtually present in all modern human societies even as our society has developed increasingly more advanced and sophisticated technologies to improve human life. However, as global climate change begins to show more dramatic effects in many regions in the world, the demand for a cheap, effective way to treat wastewater or to remove harmful bacteria, microbes, viruses, and other solvents detrimental to human health has continued to remain present and remains as important as ever. Well-established synthetic membranes composed of polyaniline (PANI), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), and others have been extensively studied to gather information regarding the characteristics and performance of the membrane, but recent studies have shown that making these synthetic membranes conductive to electrical current by doping the membrane with another material or incorporating conductive materials onto the surface of the membrane, such as allotropes of carbon, have shown to increase the performance of these membranes by allowing the adjustability of pore size, improving antifouling and making the antibacterial property better. In this review, modern electrically conductive membranes are compared to conventional membranes and their performance improvements under electric fields are discussed, as well as their potential in water filtration and wastewater treatment applications.

EU Smart City Demonstration and Expansion by the Lighthouse Project (EU 라이트하우스 프로젝트 분석을 통한 스마트시티 실증과 확산을 위한 시사점 도출)

  • Jung, Seung-Hyun;Kim, Min-Ju
    • Land and Housing Review
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    • v.12 no.2
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    • pp.1-12
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    • 2021
  • The purpose of this study is to provide implications for the demonstration and the spread of smart cities. For this, the European Lighthouse project, a well-known smart city initiative, is analyzed. This article investigates agendas, applied solutions, stakeholders and cooperation, and expansion strategies in the 18 Lighthouse projects implemented by the EIP-SCC Smart City Demonstration Project. Four implications are discussed for Korean smart city projects. First, in promoting smart cities, clear philosophies and principles should be established in response to global issues such as climate change. Second, smart cities should be understood as the approaches for problem-solving rather than simply applying advanced technology. Third, a business system should be established in a way to meet the needs of the actors participating in the smart city demonstration project. Finally, an evaluation framework should be established to verify the performance of the project. High-performing best-practice projects should be supported by articulating their standards for their lessons to be spread into other cities. The implications presented here can contribute to developing smart city models along with follow-up studies.