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Do alternative energy sources displace fossil fuels?
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A fundamental, generally implicit, assumption of the Intergov- ernmental Panel on Climate Change reports and many energy analysts is that each unit of energy supplied by non-fossil-fuel sources takes the place of a unit of energy supplied by fossil- fuel sources (1–4). However, owing to the complexity of economic systems and human behaviour, it is often the case that changes aimed at reducing one type of resource consumption, either through improvements in efficiency of use or by developing substitutes, do not lead to the intended outcome when net effects are considered (5–9). Here, I show that the average pattern across most nations of the world over the past fifty years is one where each unit of total national energy use from non- fossil-fuel sources displaced less than one-quarter of a unit of fossil-fuel energy use and, focusing specifically on electricity, each unit of electricity generated by non-fossil-fuel sources displaced less than one-tenth of a unit of fossil-fuel-generated electricity. These results challenge conventional thinking in that they indicate that suppressing the use of fossil fuel will require changes other than simply technical ones such as expanding non-fossil-fuel energy production.
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DO CARBON OFFSETS WORK? THE ROLE OF FOREST MANAGEMENT IN GREENHOUSE GAS MITIGATION
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As forest carbon offset projects become more popular, professional foresters are providing their expertise to support them. But when several members of the Society of American Foresters questioned the science
and assumptions used to design the projects, the organization decided to convene a task force to examine whether these projects can provide the intended climate benefits.The authors emphasize the carbon-storage benefits of using wood products in place of nonrenewable, energy-intensive materials and using woodbased
energy instead of fossil fuels.
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Do small tributaries function as refuges from floods? A test in a salmonid-dominated mountainous river
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Excerpts from the text: On 8–10 August 2003, a powerful typhoon hit Hokkaido Island, Japan, accompanied with heavy rain, which allowed us to investigate the potential role of tributaries as refuges from flooding. We had just completed annual population census in four small tributaries of a river system 1–2 days before the typhoon.... Overall, our results did not support the hypothesis that many large fishes immigrate to small tributaries during floods. ... Despite the lack of evidence of mass movement, our result suggested a few immigrants from the main stem (i.e., juvenile white-spotted charr, sculpin and a few relatively large Dolly Varden). Because more than 100 small tributaries exist in the Shiisorapuchi River (Koizumi 2011), only a few individuals escaping to each tributary should accumulate to a great number enough to re-colonise main stem habitats even if fishes in the main stem were extirpated. Multiple refuges at different spatial scales should increase resistance and ⁄ or resilience of fish populations (Sedell et al. 1990; Pearsons et al. 1992). Thus, the roles of tributaries as refuges would deserve further attention
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Documents
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Dodd et al 2005.pdf
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DIN-ECO
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Does global warming favour the occurrence of extreme floods in European Alps? First evidences from a NW Alps proglacial lake sediment record
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Our record suggests climate warming is favouring the occurrence of high magnitude torrential flood events in high-altitude catchments.
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DOES WOOD SLOW DOWN “SLUDGE DRAGONS?” THE INTERACTION BETWEEN RIPARIAN ZONES AND DEBRIS FLOWS IN MOUNTAIN LANDSCAPES
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Conservation measures for aquatic species throughout the Pacific Northwest rely heavily on maintaining forested riparian zones. A key rationale for this strategy is that the presence of standing and downed trees next to streams will provide a continuous source of wood, which is an important structural component of aquatic habitat. Yet little is known about the interactions between wood and debris flows, which are an important way that wood enters streams.Researchers from the PNW Research Station and Oregon State University created a physics-based simulation of debris flow dynamics in a headwater basin within the Oregon Coast Range. They found that the presence of wood funda- mentally changes the behavior of debris flows by reducing the momentum and distance that they travel. Because debris flow deposits are primary storage sites for sediment within headwater catchments, a shift toward shorter flows means that more sediment is stored higher up in watersheds. In addition, they found that zones with high densities of wood and sediment are relatively fixed in space and do not migrate downstream. This suggests that management strategies could specifically target achieving habitat objectives within these high accumulation zones, and there may be multiple management pathways for achieving these objectives.
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DOI Nature-based Solutions Roadmap
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The purpose of the Department of the Interior Nature Based Solutions Roadmap is to provide Department of the Interior (DOI) staff with consistent and credible information about nature-based solutions, such as which strategies match certain conditions and goals, what co-benefits they are likely to provide, example projects, and additional resources for project planning, construction, and monitoring.
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Inbox
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DOI Nature-based Solutions Roadmap
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The purpose of the Department of the Interior Nature Based Solutions Roadmap is to provide Department of the Interior (DOI) staff with consistent and credible information about nature-based solutions, such as which strategies match certain conditions and goals, what co-benefits they are likely to provide, example projects, and additional resources for project planning, construction, and monitoring.
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DomesticandForeignMiscellaniesAnonymous.pdf
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ALD-ANT
