Day 1 :
Keynote Forum
Rex J Fleming
Global Aerospace LLC, USA
Keynote: An updated review on carbon dioxide and climate change
Time : 09:40-10:10
Biography:
Rex J, Fleming completed his PhD in 1970 from the University of Michigan. He spent the next 44 years in atmospheric research and program management in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). He served on NOAA’s Council for Long-term Climate Monitoring. He has published more than 25 papers in reputed journals. He served as: Chairman, Probability and Statistics Committee, American Meteorological Society, AMS (1976-1977); Secretary, Atmospheric Science Section of the American Geophysical Union (1984-1986); and Member, AMS Board on Women and Minorities (1986-1991). He received the Department of Commerce Gold Medal Award (1980) for outstanding achievement in directing the USA role in the Global Weather Experiment. He is an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He continues to perform research within his own consulting company on nonlinear systems.
Abstract:
This manuscript will review the essence of the role of CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere. The logic of CO2 involvement in changing the climate will be investigated from every perspective: reviewing the historical data record, examining in further detail the 20th century data record, and evaluating the radiation role of CO2 in the atmosphere -- calculating and integrating the Schwarzschild radiation equation with a full complement of CO2 absorption coefficients. A review of the new theory of climate change – due to the Sun’s magnetic field interacting with cosmic rays is provided. The application of this new theory is applied to climate-change events within the latter part of the Earth’s interglacial period. The application of the new theory to the Earth’s Ice Ages is summarized along with a brief discussion of the role of cosmic rays in creating significant lower layer clouds which increase the albedo of the Earth. The results of this review point to the extreme value of CO2 to all life forms, but no role of CO2 in any significant change of the Earth’s climate.
Keynote Forum
Hector M Guevara
NuEnergy Technologies Corp, USA
Keynote: Thermoelectronic conversion of solar energy and heat into electric power, using graphene membranes and the hydrogen output from our boundary layer turbine. This will create the desalinization/decontamination and production of potable water
Time : 10:10-10:40
Biography:
Dr.Hector M. Guevara is the founder, chairman of the board, and President of various corporations, including NuEnergy Group, Inc., previously a Public Company, trading on the OTC, and now being held inactive (operations/trading stopped). Dr. Guevara has devoted the past 35 years to the research and development of renewable energy systems. Dr. Guevara’s companies designed and or produced many of the most notable solar, wind, and hydroelectric systems deployed throughout the world. The results of his research and development have been assigned to his new Florida Corporation; NuEnergy Technologies Corp. Dr. Guevara is a patent and co-patent holder in various sustainable energy and propulsion technologies. Dr. Guevara has also been the recipient of various grants from Federal Govt. Agencies, e.g., NASA/SATOP, DOE (SBIR), United Nation’s UNICEF, and others.
Abstract:
Electric power may be generated in a highly efficient manner, as demonstrated at NuEnergy’s Clearwater, FL laboratory, by TUV-PTL, as a Proof of Concept (POC). Please see attached POC copy, Appendix C, see Page 12. This POC was carried out from both, heat created by focused solar irradiation and/or the direct incidence of thermal radiation placed upon, or within proximity of NuEnergy’s Thermal Electric Generator (TEG) Cells, which were produced using single layer membranes of graphene, and placed upon a copper substrate.
As the conversion efficiency of the thermionic process tends to be degraded by electron space charges, the efficiencies of thermionic generators have previously amounted to only a fraction of those fundamentally possible. We show that this space-charge problem can be resolved by shaping the electric potential distribution of the converter, such that the static electron space-charge clouds are transformed into an output current. Although the technical development of practical generators will require further substantial efforts, we have concluded and shown that a highly efficient transformation of heat to electric power has been achieved using NuEnergy’s Thermal Electric Generator, which is being integrated with NuEnergy’s Power House Generator (PHG) & Clean Water System. For the sake of simplicity of this Abstract, I will just go on to note that the hydrogen output from the BOUNDARY LAYER TURBINE being used in our PHG is, once again, combined with Oxygen, thereby producing H2O, which is then filtered and treated by the graphene filtering layers or membranes, through which this water flows, ultimately producing copious amounts of distilled potable WATER.
Keynote Forum
Nils-Axel Mörner
Paleogeophys & Geodynam, Sweden
Keynote: New York city: Is the threat of sea level flooding trustworthy?
Time : 10:40-11:10
Biography:
Nils-Axel (”Niklas”) Mörner took his Ph.D. in Quaternary Geology at Stockholm University in 1969. Head of the institute of Paleogeophysics & Geodynamics (P&G) at Stockholm University from 1991 up to his retirement in 2005. He has written many hundreds of research papers and several books. He has presented more than 500 papers at major international conferences. He has undertaking field studies in 59 different countries. The P&G institute became an international center for global sea level change, paleoclimate, paleoseismics, neotectonics, paleomagnetism, Earth rotation, planetary -solar-terrestrial interaction, etc. Among his books; Earth Rheology, Isostasy and Eustasy (Wiley, 1984), Climate Change on a Yearly to Millennial Basis (Reidel, 1984), Paleoseismicity of Sweden: a novel paradigm (P&G-print, 2003), The Greatest Lie Ever Told (P&G -print, 2007), The Tsunami Threat: Research & Technology (InTech, 2011), Geochronology: Methods and Case Studies (InTech, 2014), Planetary Influence on the Sun and the Earth, and a Modern Book-Burning (Nova, 2015).
Abstract:
Hazard predictions must be anchored in well-established obser-vational facts to be meaningful and trustworthy. The tide-gauge station in NYC (The Battery) gives a long term mean rise of 2.84 ±0.09 mm/yr, which does not imply too serious problems for centuries to come [1], (curve 2 in Fig. 1). Recently, however, it has been claimed [2] that there is a potential threat of a 0.6 m rise in 2050, 2.6 m rise in 2100, 10.5 m rise in 2200 and 17.7 m rise in 2300 (curve 1 in Fig. 1). This is a model-based view, which is based on a totally hypothetical “enhanced Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) melting”. We have investigated the global eustatic sea level changes [1] and been able to show that sea level is not in a drastically rising mode. Whilst the regional eustatic factor in the North Atlantic seems to be about +1.0 ±0.1 mm/yr, key sites from all over the world are indicative of present stability (i..e. ±0.0 mm/yr), at least for the last 40-70 years [3]. Also, the satellite altimetry records must be revised to values around +0.55 ±0.1 mm/yr [3]. Detailed sea level studies in the Maldives, Bangladesh, Goa and Fiji [e.g. 4] indicate that the global sea level changes during the last 500 years have been dominated by “rotational eustasy” (not glacial eustasy, as usually assumed), which is driven by solar– planetary interaction with the Earth-Moon system. In the model of [2], the author use the IPCC climate model RCP85 with an extra and totally hypothetical enhanced Antarctic Ice Sheet melting. This hypothesis is convincingly demolished by the observed present increase of the Antarctic Ice Sheet [5]. We conclude that available facts strongly support a modest rise in local sea level (curve 2, Fig. 1), and that the model-based assessment (curve 1, Fig. 1) totally fails in predicting future changes in a meaningful and realistic way. The megacity of New York have enough of problems and threats (terrorism, earthquakes, solar flare black-out, pandemic events, etc), to be bothered by largely exaggerated flooding prospects based on models and hypothetical assumptions ignoring facts observed and measured in nature.
Keynote Forum
Carlos Eduardo Cerri
University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
Keynote: Soil carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emission reduction from agricultural systems in Brazil
Time : 11:25-11:55
Biography:
Dr. Carlos Eduardo is an associate professor at the Soil Science Department at the University of Sao Paulo, where he teaches three courses for undergraduate students and four disciplines for master and PhD students. His main lines of research are related to soil organic matter dynamics in tropical regions, mathematical modeling applied to soil science, soil properties spatial variability and global climate change. He published more than 140 scientific articles, 1 book and 35 book chapters. Finally, the academic is member of the Sociedade Brasileira de Ciência do Solo, International Humic Substances Society, Soil Science Society of America, American Society of Agronomy e Crop Science Society of America. He is also an affiliate member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.
Abstract:
The interactions of land use, management and environment create a varied picture of soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics across the globe. Globally, the amount of carbon in soils, commonly represented by the mass of carbon, is estimated to be about 1500 Pg C (1 Pg C = 1015 g carbon) in the top 1 m of soil, which is 3 times the amount present in the vegetation and twice the amount found in the atmosphere. The amount of SOC has strong physical and biological controlling factors. These include climate; soil chemical, physical, and biological properties; and vegetation composition. Brazil is the third agribusiness leader worldwide, following European Union and the United States (WTO 2009). This presentation will include both an integrative view of global patterns on the distribution and trends in SOC as well as research in South America, specially in Brazil, focusing the impact of land use change and management practices on SOC. Land use change, mainly for previous agricultural practices, has often decreased in SOC stocks due to enhanced mineralization of soil organic matter (mainly to CO2). A significant fraction of the ~32% increase in atmospheric CO2 over the last 150 years stems from the breakdown of soil organic matter after forests and grasslands were cleared for farming. This process increases greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere, exacerbating global warming. Conversely, adoption of “best management practices”, such as conservation tillage, biochar application, can partly reverse the process – they are aimed at increasing the input of SOC and/or decreasing the rates at which SOM decomposes. This mechanism has been called “soil carbon sequestration” and can be defined as the net balance of all GHG (CO2, CH4 and N2O), computing all emission sources and sinks at the soil-plant-atmosphere interface. It must be noted that CO2 fluxes are evaluated trough C stock changes in the different compartments and CH4 and N2O fluxes directly measured, or estimated with the best available estimates. Finally, this presentation will also present the potential effects on soil carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emission reduction due to agricultural systems in Brazil.
Keynote Forum
Don J Easterbrook
Washington University, USA
Keynote: Cause of the ice ages and climate change
Time : 11:55-12:55
Biography:
Dr. Easterbrook is Emeritus Professor of Geology at Western Washington University. He has conducted climate research in North America, New Zealand, and Argentina, has written a dozen books, 185 professional papers, and has presented 30 papers at international meetings in 12 countries. He was chairman of the 1977 national meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA), president of the Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology Division of GSA, U.S. representative to the UN International Geological Correlation Program, and Director of Field Excursions for the 2003 International Quaternary Congress. He has received awards for ‘Distinguished service to the Geological Society of America,’ ‘Lifetime Achievement Award,’ and Honorable mention by the American Men of Science as one of “The Most Influential Scientists in North America.” He has been featured in the NY Times and has appeared on national TV network shows at MSNBC, CNN, CBS and FOX.
Abstract:
Ice Ages and other significant climate changes show excellent correlations of global temperature with sunspot activity, total solar irradiance, production of radiocarbon and beryllium isotopes in the upper atmosphere, and cosmic rays entering the atmosphere. Periods of global cooling coincided with changes in these factors during the Oort, Wolf, Maunder, Dalton, 1880–1915, and 1945–1977 Solar Minimums. How are all of these factors interrelated? During the devastating cold of the Little Ice Age from 1650 to 1700, sun spot activity on the sun virtually ceased and total solar irradiance dropped. That this was not just a coincidence, is shown by the same thing happening during each of five other cold periods. Radiocarbon (14C) and beryllium (10Be) are isotopes produced in the upper atmosphere by colliding cosmic rays, so the more cosmic radiation, the greater the production of these isotopes. The amount of radiocarbon and beryllium produced can be measured and serves as an indicator of the amount of incoming cosmic radiation. Isotope measurements show that cosmic ray incidence was greater during each of the cold periods. Physicists have long known that cosmic rays passing thru the atmosphere produce ions (charged particles) that serve as nuclei for condensation of water vapor. In 1997, Svensmark and Friis-Christensen published the results of experiments at the Cern nuclear laboratory showing that cosmic rays do indeed generate condensation and suggested that increased cloudiness, produced by ionization in the atmosphere by cosmic rays, causes increased reflection of incoming solar energy and results in enough cooling of the atmosphere to cause climate changes. The geologic evidence of the relationships between global temperature, sunspot activity, total solar irradiance, production of radiocarbon and beryllium isotopes in the upper atmosphere, and cosmic ray incidence, provides a satisfactory explanation for the cause of both long-term and short-term climate changes.
- Sessions : Climate Change | Global Warming | Green Energy|Recycling |Pollution |Biofuels and Bioenergy |Oil and Gas |Geosciences |Environmental Toxicology
Location: Tribeca-4
Chair
Don J Easterbrook
Washington University, USA
Co-Chair
Hector M Guevara
NuEnergy Technologies Corp., USA
Session Introduction
James Dahlgren & Patrick Talbott
Medical, USA
Title: Prevalence of Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) in sugar creek residents
Time : 14:05-14:30
Biography:
James Dahlgren MD is a board certified internist retired assistant professor from UCLA School of medicine. He has been in private practice of internal medicine with a sub specialty in toxicology for over forty years. He has studied and treated thousands of patients with toxic chemical injuries including numerous victims of toxic chemical poisoning including the subjects dramatized in the Erin Brockovich movie. Dr. Dahlgren has been treating and evaluating people with exposures to toxic chemicals since the 1970’s.
Abstract:
A former oil refinery located immediately to the north of the a community operated for about 80 years before closing in the 1980s. The plant has a documented history of benzene containing gasoline leaks dating back to its first years of operation. The gasoline produced at this refinery that was shown to have leaked into water sources and neighborhood contained 0.7–5% benzene. It is estimated that more than 6 million gallons of unrecovered leachate remains in the ground beneath and surrounding the plant, including the residential community of Sugar Creek. Acute myelogenous leukemia is a well-known result of benzene exposure that has occurred from low exposures from an environmental or workplace exposure (1). The exposure levels in this study we’re derived from interviews of the residents within 1 mile of the abandoned refinery. All of these subjects lived in the area while the refinery was still operational and described high-level strong gasoline odor. The strong odor threshold for benzene is approximately 150 ppm and a conservative gasoline vapor concentration of 150 ppm was used whenever one reported smelling the odor of gasoline, which was often. There were at least 3,839 people at risk within 1 mile of the refinery during the relevant time frames. I received data on 12 individuals, including children, diagnosed with AML who lived within 1 mile of the old refinery for an average of 25.25 years. One subject’s exposure began in 1949 while the average year of onset of exposure was in 1959. The expected rate in a population of 3,839 based on US national prevalence rates per 100,000 population for all leukemia is 3.11. The rate of sub-type leukemia AML is approximately 27% of the total leukemia (2). Thus, the Relative Risk for AML is 0.837 in a normal population, and we would expect to see a rate of less than 1 in a population the size of Sugar Creek. In this case, there were 12 cases giving a Relative Risk (RR) of 14.37. A recent study found a similar significant excess of leukemia in a community exposed to a gasoline spill with very low exposures compared to the current case (3).
Renalda El-Samra
Rafik Hariri University, Lebanon
Title: Adaptation assessment for silage maize production in response to climate change in a semi-arid region
Time : 14:30-14:55
Biography:
Renalda El-Samra holds a PhD in Environmental and Water Resources from the American University of Beirut. She is an Assistant Professor at Rafik Hariri University. She has over two decades of professional experience in the environmental sector.
Abstract:
The impact of climate change and adaptation strategies on silage maize (Zea Mays var Oropesa) production in a semi-arid region was conducted for the past and the near future (2011-2050) under the conditions of two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) (4.5 and 8.5). For this purpose, outputs from the High Resolution Atmospheric Model (HiRAM), running at 25 km around the globe, were dynamically downscaled using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model at a sequential resolution of 9 and 3 km. Downscaling simulations covered a baseline past dry and hot year (2008) and eight future (2011-2050) years (one year per decade per RCP) identified as the worst case scenarios from a water resources perspective. The resulting climate change scenarios were then used as weather input to CropSyst, a soil-plant growth simulator and experimental data sampled during the 2004 to 2008 growing seasons were used to calibrate and validate the model. .The potential decrease in precipitation and predicted warmer air temperatures associated with an increase in CO2 accelerated plant phenology, reducing crop yields by an average of ~23% under RCP4.5 and ~20% under RCP8.5 in comparison with the baseline yield of 2008. The results indicate that analysis of the implications of variations in the planting date on maize production may be most useful for site-specific analyses of possible mitigation of the impacts of climate change through alteration of crop management practices. The most effective planting date is the one selected based on seasonal forecasting. The selected dates ensure the absence of frost temperatures and the occurrence of the baseline cutoff temperature of 10â°C necessary for silage maize sowing. Other adaptation measures can be to adopt higher-yielding and heat resistant cultivars or sowing other plants that uses less water such as Sorghum and Millet and improve water conservation techniques.
Julie L Skullestad
Asplan Viak, Norway
Title: High-rise timber buildings as a climate change mitigation measure
Time : 14:55-15:20
Biography:
Julie Lyslo Skullestad has her expertise in life cycle assessment (LCA) and sustainable architecture and infrastructure. She finished her studies in Environmental sciences and Industrial Ecology at NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) in 2016. Her research related to her master’s thesis has gained national and international attention, as she produced the first study on the climate change impact of high-rise timber buildings. The study was published in Energy Procedia and presented at the conference “Build Green Renovate Deep) in Tallin in 2016. She is currently working as an environmental advisor in the Norwegian company Asplan Viak, where she is advising architects, builders, municipalities and the government in emission reduction strategies, alongside participating in research and development of LCA methods and -tools. She has also had several lectures and presentations in Norway related to LCA and climate friendly construction materials.
Abstract:
Statement of the problem: Buildings account for a large share of the global GHG emissions. UN Habitat estimates that 3 billion people will need a new home in the next 20 years due to population growth. The climate change impact (CC) of construction and operation of buildings may triple by 2050 if business as usual is practiced to meet the demand. Extensive migration to cities combined with emission reduction targets calls for dense urban areas with high-rise buildings. This allows for efficient energy use and less transport. However, building tall comes with a “CO2-premium”: Tall buildings of steel and concrete require stronger structures, and have greater use of materials per floor area than low buildings. It is therefore crucial to use materials with lower CC. Long-lived timber materials act as a carbon storage, and require less energy in production. Methodology: Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been utilized to compare the CC of functional equivalent load bearing structures in timber and concrete for high-rise buildings. The structures are analysed with several LCA methodologies, covering both attributional and consequential LCA. Conclusion & Significance: Constructing with timber has a great potential of reducing the CC of high-rise buildings, compared to concrete structures. The CO2-premium of building height is substantially less significant for timber structures than concrete structures. Hence, the CC saving potential is increasing with building height for tall structures. The reduction potential varies with regions and production technologies for material production. However, most cases show a significant reduced CC for the timber structures. If the potential for recycling and reusing the materials after the building’s life cycle is taken into account, the timber structures have an even greater advantage, as the materials can be incinerated with heat recovery to substitute other means of heat production.
Gbujie Daniel Chidubem
University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Nigeria
Title: Is climate change the Armegeddon foretold to the world? A review
Time : 15:20-15:55
Biography:
Gbujie Daniel major interest is the protection environment and promotion of sustainable development goals among developing nations in Africa. He works temporarily with in a Teaching Hospital in Rivers State, Nigeria for over six years as a medical officer. An advocate for youth empowerment through education, an environmental activist and an advocate of better health care delivery in Nigeria and West Africa. He has published articles, editorial and made numerous international presentations on sustainable development goals especially on health and leadership challenges. He serves on several local and national boards in Nigeria, an associate member of the World Medical Association, the Chief Volunteer Coordinator of Sure Health Organization an NGO and an official with Junior Doctors of Africa, currently an Atlas Corp Fellow for 2017 and was a delegate to the last UN climate change convention in Marrakesh Morocco.
Abstract:
Statement of the Problem: Climate change impact reveals how man has destroyed earth through burning of fossil fuel and depletion of natural resources. These activities may have worsened and altered the ecological biosphere by causing changes in all the climate entities. This extreme phenomenon called climate change has a negative impact on health. The aim of this paper is to encourage global and national proactive policies and strategic approaches towards tackling climate change. Methodology: This study involved screening of articles that primarily discussed climate change and its consequences. Articles used for this research came from scientific search engines, research journals, Newspapers, TV reporting, Textbooks and international agencies' reports on climate change. Findings: This article identified the causes of climate change and its consequences to mankind. It equally noted the evolving human attitude towards other species and to follow humans manifesting in various forms as extreme violent conflicts, negative laws that hampers the effort to mitigate its impact, as they compete for the depleting natural resources. Further, juxtaposing these thoughts with what should be our urgent action plan to mitigate or manage possible consequences of climate change effects. Though the concept of using technology through geo-engineering system to create a climatic condition conducive for human existence seems promising for future, but promoting healthy lifestyles and public awareness to mitigating the climate change effect still remain a realistic approach in the interim while we encourage innovative energy efficient and renewable technology . Conclusion & Significance: This paper also is intended to contribute to the existing knowledge on climate change while creating awareness on the need to regulate human activities to prevent the likely extinction of life form on earth while providing a collaborative ideas or solutions for developing nations especially to attain sustainable ecological development through adaption and mitigation.
Alyosha Ezra Mallari
University of the Philippines, Philippines
Title: Identifying appropriate indicators for vulnerability to climate change
Time : 16:10-16:35
Biography:
Alyosha Ezra “AE” Mallari is currently finishing his PhD (Urban and Regional Planning) at the School of Urban and Regional Planning, University of the Philippines. He has a master’s degree of urban and regional planning and a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering (cum laude) from the University of the Philippines. His academic and professional interests and advocacies include: Land Use Change Analysis, Land Use Planning, Geographical Information Systems, Climate Change Vulnerability and Risk Assessment. He has presented in two international conferences held in Italy (Urban Planning and Architectural Design for Sustainable Development, 2015) and Spain (World Conference on Climate Change, 2016).
Abstract:
The assessment of an area’s vulnerability to climate change can contribute to improvement of planning and policy making decisions. However, the assessment can only be deemed effective if the appropriate vulnerability indicators are selected. Vulnerability to climate change is composed of three indicators: sensitivity, exposure, and adaptive capacity. In the Philippines, government institutions such as the Housing and Land use Regulatory Board (HLURB) established a framework and methodology for conducting a vulnerability assessment as an input to mainstreaming climate change in land use planning. Part of the methodology includes a set of vulnerability indicators on which local government units can choose from. This research aims to find out which among the indicators from the HLURB’s vulnerability assessment framework are accessible to Magalang, Pampanga. Most of the vulnerability indicators are shown to be not available due to the lack of data. Given this emphasis, determining the appropriate indicators within the context of a specific area is necessary before conducting vulnerability assessment to ascertain their applicability as well as their efficacy.
Mouako Djeumako Boris
University of Ngaoundéré, Cameroon
Title: Design of biofuel production units from Jatropha curcas
Time : 16:35-17:00
Biography:
Mouako Djeumako Boris is a technology enthusiast, who has set himself the goal of designing and making available to African agriculture technologies adapted to the socio-technical context in order to enable farmers to increase the value chain and ensure the good health of consumers. He also conducts research in the fields of hybrid power supplies that can combine biogas with solar energy and optimize the energy efficiency of equipment and buildings thanks to smart systems.
Abstract:
The jatropha curcas has been identified as an oleaginous plant with an oil content of about 45%. Different studies have shown that a transesterification of this oil makes it possible to obtain biodiesel. The project involved the design and manufacture of an oilseed press and the design of winnowing equipment and a transesterification unit to convert Jatropha into biodiesel. Seeds of jatropha curcas selected from the northern regions of Cameroon as part of the ESA project were distributed to farmers in Ngaoundere to popularize this plant in Adamaoua The main long-term objective is the establishment of a biofuel pilot unit; this unit will be duplicated across Africa to contribute to bridging the energy deficit of our continent, through this renewable energy source. In the same way, it will contribute to the reforestation of the continent, especially in the arid zones. In perspective we also plan the design and manufacture of fireplaces adapted to this fuel to offer rural women an alternative to the use of wood for cooking as is customary in Africa.
Leuga Monkam Ignace Bertrand
AfroGreenTech, Cameroon
Title: How did AfroGreenTech work?
Time : 17:00-17:25
Biography:
Leuga Monkam Ignace Bertrand is a young person from a farmer's family. He is passionate about the environment. This allowed him to pursue studies in this field. In this sense, he carried out various studies, among which: The inventory of forest exploitation in the locality of Ngoume in the central region in Cameroon. He then carried out an environmental impact study in the locality of Lolodove in the South region of Cameroon. Subsequently, he worked on the valorization of non-hospital organic waste at the Mother and Children Center of the Chantal Biya Foundation. He also worked on the management of plastic waste in the locality of Ngaoundere and today he is co-founder of AfroGreenTech a Startup that is revolutionizing agriculture in Africa..
Abstract:
According to the Light Power Action report published by the AFRICA PROGRESS PANEL, 620,000,000 Africans are not connected to the electricity grid. Moreover, the incomes of two-thirds of African families depend on agriculture. In most cases, it is a subsistence farming whose labor is family and is practiced with rudimentary tools. Initiatives have been put in place to organize farmers into cooperatives, but the lack of adequate monitoring leads to the ineffectiveness of this approach. Yet, with global warming, we will face two major challenges: how to lead a development in breach with the energies of fossil origin? And how can farmers be protected from the various risks associated with climate change? The answer to these two questions is found: this is technology. This is why in order to provide farmers with the technology needed to improve production, crop transformation and the adaptation to global warming that we have created AfroGreenTech. Here we create a community made up of farmer organizations, trainers, innovators, insurance institutions, investors, distributors. This will boost the sector and produce a significant change.
Mohammed Sherzad
Ajman University, UAE
Title: Climate, desertification and sustainability in the Sahara desert
Time : 17:25 -17:50
Biography:
Dr. Mohammed Sherzad is a faculty member, department of Architectural Engineering at Ajman University. He is also director of University engineering consultant office. His reach interest, Architecture in hot climate, sustainability and environmental behavior.
Abstract:
The transport and deposition of sand by wind are important factors which contribute to desertification process in the Sahara desert. These regions contain more than 350 cities (Razavi, 1989). Sand encroachment and deposition in built environments cause a number of problems such as erosion of building materials, and substantial coverage and often complete burial of urban features such as buildings, transport facilities and roads, which then need continuous clearance and incur continuing costs. In addition, the coverage of vegetation and agricultural lands has led residents in some areas to abandon their houses or even entire settlements. This presents a complex problem to the architects as it demands attention not only to certain aspects of building design but also planning the settlement as a whole. However, there is evidence that specific layouts and building forms of some vernacular settlements in areas of active sand dunes, such as the region of Souf in the Algerian Sahara, have survived and mitigated the impact of sand encroachment and deposition. The destructive effects of sand deposition are more pronounced around contemporarily designed housing projects, which led many of them to be abandoned. The aims of this research were to investigate the relationship between dwelling forms and the sand depositional geometrical patterns formed around them, in particular around those located in areas of active sand dunes in hot arid lands, and to propose some possible design indicators for building forms which may mitigate the undesirable features of sand deposition around them.
- Sessions : Climate Change | Global Warming | Green Energy|Recycling |Pollution |Biofuels and Bioenergy |Oil and Gas |Geosciences |Environmental Toxicology |Natural Gas Recovery |Oceanography and Marine Biology
Location: Tribeca-4
Chair
Rex J Fleming
Global Aerospace LLC, USA
Co-Chair
Tim Kaelin
Impact Analytics, USA
Session Introduction
Dave White
Climate Change Truth Inc, USA
Title: Discovery: Reduction in photosynthesis correlation to atmospheric CO2 increase
Time : 11:30-11:55
Biography:
Dave White graduated in Chemical Engineering in 1984. During the time at Oregon State University Dave worked on a cross flow counter current scrubber for coal fired power plants. Then he moved to Hillsboro with his wife and worked in Semiconductors. In 2006 Dave along with Dr. Tom Wallow produced a paper on ArF double patterning for semiconductors. This multi-pattering scheme is widely used in today’s semiconductor manufacturing plants. In 2011 Dave started a consulting business for Semiconductors. In 2017 Dave Started Climate Change Truth Research Inc. Dave is seeking the truth about climate change. His research interests are evaporation from the ocean, rain forest destruction effects and diffusion of CO2 through the atmosphere.
Abstract:
Since 1950 the Amazon Rain-forest has been deforested. An average of 12 million hectare per year. This deforestation causes a minimum of 30% of the biomass to be burned. The burning of the biomass is adding billion of tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide has overwhelmed the rain-forest and caused massive decay. The rain-forest has now become and oxygen sink and carbon dioxide producer. To solve these issues the deforestation and burning needs to stop. Then after 10 years the burning can continue 10% a year for 10 years. This will heal the amazon and bring down atmospheric carbon dioxide. After a few years the global carbon dioxide will start to decrease. After 10 years the rain-forest will be healed. However minus 860 million hectares. In addition if we plant trees and shrubs worldwide we will bring down the atmospheric carbon dioxide much faster.
Thomas Wysmuller
colderside.com, USA Panel Discussion
Title: The effects of ocean circulation on formation of the great ice ages
Time : 11:55-12:20
Biography:
Tom Wysmuller forecasted weather at Amsterdam’s Royal Dutch Weather Bureau after studying meteorology at NYU and Stanford. Selected for a future executive NASA internship, he worked throughout NASA and its Directorates before, during, and after the Moon Landings. He became administration director of the government operations at Pratt & Whitney and held insurance industry executive and board positions. The Polynomial Regression mathematics, algorithms, or code he personally produced after leaving NASA, is used by almost all climate scientists on the planet for analytical and modeling. He lectures worldwide on the SCIENCE/DATA needed to understand climate. In 2008, Tom was highlighted in the “50th Anniversary of NASA” issue of AIAA’s “Horizons” magazine. He was the meteorologist member of 2012’s NASA 49 and NASA 41; Scientists, Astronauts, Engineers, and NASA Field Center Directors requesting improvements in NASA’s handling of climate issues. He chaired “Water Day” in 2013 at UNESCO-IHE, the world’s leading water research graduate center, and went on to chair the Oceanographic Section of the massive 2016 World Congress on Oceans in Qingdao, China. His http://www. colderside.com/colderside/Temp_%26_CO2. html has gone viral.
Abstract:
Global Climate for the past One Million years has proven to be remarkably symmetrical, in both its temperature variation and temporal periodicity. Geological evidence for the periodicity became evident in the 19th century and certain in the mid-20th, when seabed cores were taken from all oceans in the world. Reconstruction of Oceanic Water Levels added to the evidence of this confirmed symmetry. In the 1950s, Oceanographer Maurice Ewing, heading Columbia University’s Lamont Earth Observatory, and Geologist William Donn, used seabed core evidence to aid in developing a theory of Ice ages and their causes [1,2,3]. Ocean circulation, particularly over the passages on either side of Bear Island, was critical. The framework they proposed underwent a number of revisions and was not well understood [4]. The brilliant Russian research conducted at the Vostok East Antarctica Ice Station helped clarify everything. Their Ice Core project was designed to penetrate into Lake Vostok. This huge lake was situated 3 kilometers under the ice and the 10-year effort yielded stunning results that included exposing Milankovitch signals within the symmetrical periodicity of temperature and CO2. A singular asymmetrical variation covering the most recent 10K years appears to disrupt the sequence, but there is a real likelihood that this pattern is not abnormal and a research proposal to resolve the discrepancy (and confirm the actual symmetry) will be offered. Magnetic effects, Piano Key evidence, & Earth surface vs. core rotational aspects along with Ocean Currents are inclusively addressed.
Quang Nguyen
University of Mississippi, USA
Title: Coastal hazard assessment for Miami and its surrounding areas in Florida
Time : 13:20-13:45
Biography:
Quang Nguyen obtained his Ph.D. degree in Engineering Science from the University of Mississippi in the United States. He earned his M.S. degree from Hiroshima University in Japan. He has 13 years of experience in both academia and industry in the field of environmental science and engineering, emphasis in climate change, coastal hazards, and coastal floods. He has worked for 13 projects funded by prestigious sources such as the U.S. Department of Transportation, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and MacArthur Foundation. He has published numerous papers in journals and international conferences.
Abstract:
Coastal areas are prone to many natural hazards such as extreme rainfall floods, sea level rise (SLR), and tsunami. Miami is known as the most vulnerable areas to weather related natural disaster in the United States due to its low elevation and being surrounded by ocean. The primary objective of this presentation is to present the Hydrologic Engineering Center’s River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) floodplain modeling, Center for Advanced Infrastructure Technology (CAIT) SLR simulation, and CAIT tsunami simulation using high resolution laser-based digital elevation model data of the terrain and Landsat-8 imagery to evaluate the impact of extreme rainfall floods, SLR, and tsunami on Miami and its surrounding areas. The CAIT tsunami simulation methodology was motivated from the 9 m tsunami wave peak height (WPH) that hit the Kesennuma Bay in Japan on March 11, 2011. The key results of the HEC-RAS floodplain modeling indicate that 409.64 km2, or 56.76% of the land area is inundated by floodwater. The affected population due to an extreme rainfall flood is around 1.42 million. The results of the SLR simulation show that the submerged land due to 2 m SLR is 411.96 km2 (57.08 % of the land area). The affected population from a 2 m SLR is 1.43 million. Results of the tsunami simulation show that 703.05 km2, or 97.41 % of the land area is submerged by the 9 m tsunami WPH. The affected population from the 9 m tsunami WPH is 2.40 million. This study indicates that floods caused by rainfall or tsunami in a short period of time affect a larger inundation area than the submerged area caused by SLR simulation for year 2100 gradual seal level rise. A resilience management plan was also recommended to protect people, infrastructure from the coastal hazards.
Pankaj Choudhary
University of Delhi, India
Title: Concerns of fairness, justice and equity to climate change
Time : 13:45-14:10
Biography:
In the past he has been served as a President, P.G. Law Students’ Union, Faculty of Law, Delhi University (2013-14) and Legal Aid Society in the Faculty of Law, Delhi University: this was amongst various firsts that I enunciated as President. The Legal Aid society provides free legal services to the poor, the downtrodden and to the most backward sections of our society and Organized various seminars and workshops on current national and international issues that touched our nation’s interest and people’s sentiments in the Delhi University as a President under the banner “Youth Perspectives”. It provided immense opportunities to the young budding students to have an active interaction with national leaders, scholars, and leading intellectuals of the country. Attended and spoken at multiple international conferences on law, politics, science & technology, and Environment Laws . In November 2016 attended International yoga conference in Vietnam and in January , 2017 attended Lets do it environment conference in Tallinn , Estonia .
Abstract:
Concerns of fairness, Justice and equity are not new to climate change talks. Widespread consensus among scientific community that the earth's climate is rapidly changing mainly as a result of increases in greenhouse gases caused by human activities, has forced policy makers at national and International level to adopt Paris climate change agreement. Even after this agreement came into force on nov 4, 2016, concerns over jts fairness, equity and justice continue to remain a key point of discussion among policymakers of developing countries. India's environmental minister Anil Dave recently remarked in Marrakesh that equal focus should be given to pre-2020 actions by developed countries under Kyoto protocol. In fact, in recent legal literature equity, justice and fairness are considered major legal concept in application of law. This paper is a humble attempt to analyze legislative response to Paris climate change agreement and adoption of justice and fairness in its application It argues, among other things that subjectivity involved in the Concept of climate justice and equity can be removed by adequate elaboration of ethical norms specific to climate change. Adopting a more pluralist understanding of the laws governing climate change regime can also help us to achieve equity and justice in climate change negotiations.
Karina I Paredes Páliz
Departamento de MicrobiologÃa y ParasitologÃa, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Sevilla. Profesor GarcÃa González, 2, 41012-Sevilla, Spain.
Title: Use of bacterial consortia isolated from the rhizosphere of Spartina sp. to reduce the climate change impacts on salt marsh vegetation contaminated by heavy metals
Time : 14:10-14:35
Biography:
Karina Paredes Páliz is a young researcher from Ecuador who has taken her degree in Biology. She has a grant from the Ecuadorian Government and is currently doing her PhD in Molecular Biology and Biomedicine in the Department of Microbiology and Parasitology of the Faculty of Pharmacy (University of Seville). The area that focuses her research is Environmental Biotechnology, specifically the Bioremediation of heavy metals with the use of bacteria and plants. Several of her works focus in the Phytoremediation of estuaries contaminated near to the River Odiel, province of Huelva-Spain.
Abstract:
Ecosystems worldwide are experiencing the effects of climate change, and estuaries and salt marshes are no exceptions. Climate change can affect salt marshes in a number of ways. One of the greatest effects of climate change in salt marshes areas is the increase in the frequency of dry periods, where levels of accumulation of heavy metals reach critical values. Being highly productive, the plant community will be one of the most affected elements by these climatic shifts, both in terms of structure and dynamics, with undeniable effects on its productivity. Our aim was proposing a plant-bacteria association for phytoremediation of polluted salt marshes (Odiel, SW Spain), in order to reducing the effects of climate change associated with the accumulation of metals For this purpose, three autochthonous bacterial strains (gram negative Pantoea agglomerans RSO6 and RSO7, together with gram positive Bacillus aryabhattai RSO25), were previously selected on the basis of metal resistance and biosorption, plant growth promoting properties and the capacity to form biofilms. This work advances a step forward, by using them as inoculants for the halophyte Spartina densiflora. All three bacteria, particularly Pantoea strains, promoted plant growth on polluted sediments. Moreover, they mitigated metal stress, as revealed from physiological parameters, such as, functionality of the photosynthetic apparatus (PSII) and maintenance of nutrient balance. However, whereas gram negative strains did not significantly affect metal accumulation in plants, the gram positive bacterium enhanced metal accumulation in roots, without further loading to shoots. Our results confirm the possibility of modulating plant growth and metal accumulation in polluted sediments upon inoculation with selected bacteria, as well as the suitability of halophyte-rhizobacteria interactions as a biotechnological tool for metal phytostabilization of salt marshes, thus preventing the risk of metal transfer to the food chain.
Aminu Abdul Aziz
University for Development Studies, Ghana
Title: Proposal for the sensitization on galamsey operation in Noyem in the Birim North District in the Eastern region
Time : 14:35-15:00
Biography:
Abdul-Aziz Aminu completed University for Development Studies with Honors in Bachelor of Art Integrated Business Studies in 2013 and Diploma in Management Studies 2011 and Certificate in Tally Accounting Software in 2012 and a member of the Young African Leadership Initiative. Abdul-Aziz Aminu has his expertise in poverty reduction and environmental protection. He has both this model after years in experience in research, administration, accounts and insurance claims both in hospital and Construction Company. Abdul-Aziz Aminu is currently with Bless Nation Foundation as a part time work which aims in giving back to the society and also the founder of non-governmental organization by name Poverty reduction and environmental protection which operates with the permission of social welfare from the year 2015.
Abstract:
Noyem is a farming community located in the Birim North District of the Eastern region of Ghana. The community faces numerous developmental and environmental challenges which include poor drainage system, land degradation, water for domestic activities, and galamsey activities which is the most trivial developmental problem in the community. Galamsey activities have become a big threat to the lives of people in the community, due to the use of poisonous explosives for its activities, which leads to the emission of gaseous substances into the atmosphere, causing greenhouse effect and climatic change. Climatic change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from millions years. This change in weather condition is caused as a result of human activities, of which galamsey is not an exception. Noyem is faced with variations in solar radiation as a result of the indiscriminate way of extracting minerals stuffs in the community. Also natural resource unsustainability as a result of the galamsey activity occurs out of the indiscriminate digging into the land and pollution of water bodies which causes threats to the aquatic life. Also, the galamsey activities undermine the social life of the people in the community, in the sense that children under age are mostly engaged, whereby some lose their lives or their future become deteriorated. However, problems of the galamsey activity form important reason for Noyem's unsustainable natural resource and climatic change. This proposal therefore seeks to address issues concerning galamsey activities, and to come out with preventive mechanisms to curb the alarming situation. To reduce the negative impacts of galamsey activities in Noyem and to ensure natural resource sustainability and favorable climatic conditions The outcome of this proposal is to improve the state of the water bodies in the Noyem community. Also to enhance the re-filling of the lands in which the galamsey activities take place. Furthermore, to ensure the reduction of environmental degradation.
Abdullahi Y Abdi
Kenyatta University, Kenya
Title: Impacts of climate change on pastoral communities, their coping mechanism and government and partners interventions in Garissa county, Kenya
Time : 15:00-15:25
Biography:
Abdullahi Yussuf Abdi is master student of Kenyatta university pursuing Master of Environmental Studies (Climate Change and sustainability) with a good background in Data analysis and Environmental Impact Assessment and furthermore, an independent thinker whose is passionate in working with communities to better their lives. In addition, currently am working with the county Government of Garissa, Department of Special Programmes where I participate with other relevant sectors in drafting climate change bill for County. The main reason why I choose to study Climate field is because the nature of my duty and as well I come from a pastoral community where livestock is the main source of livelihoods and the result of the abrupt climate impact, many people lost their source of income and currently they are in poverty trap
Abstract:
Climate change is a long-term shift in weather conditions identified by changes in temperature, precipitation, winds, and other indicators. Changes in climate have significant impacts on the livestock production. Heat stress, droughts, and events has lead to reductions in pasture and water availability hence loss of livestock productivity Climate change increases the odds of worsening drought in Garissa County. There is no doubt that pastoral livelihoods are under severe threats from recurrent droughts in the ASALS in Kenya. Over the years, these pastoralists have developed mechanisms to cope with these droughts. Unfortunately, these strategies are no longer adequate as the droughts have increased in frequency and magnitude. This is in addition to other compounding political, economic and environmental threats that these pastoralists face. Other actors like the government and developmental partners have also developed and implemented interventions to help pastoralists adapt to these drought events and reduce their vulnerability. Some of these initiatives have been reactionary while some yielded unintended negative consequences that have exacerbated the vulnerability of these pastoralists. The purpose of this study is therefore to establish drought implications on livelihood and adaptation mechanisms; a case study of Garissa County. The research has three objectives. First is to identify the implications of drought on community livelihood in Garissa, secondly is to find out the role played by institutions involved in drought management, and lastly is to assess community beliefs, knowledge and attitudes to enhance adaptation mechanisms in Garissa. Selected methodologies will be used to collect data from the field which includes questionnaires and interviews. The collected data will be analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The findings of this study will establish the determinats of poor drought preparedness and adaptation. Based on the findings of the study, policy recommendations will be made on to the key stakeholders of the drought sector so as to improve the adaptation mechanism
- Poster Sessions
Location: Tribeca-4
Chair
Manal M Zaki
Cairo University, Egypt
Session Introduction
Jae Heon Cho
Catholic Kwandong University, South Korea
Title: Water quality in Lake Soyang watershed affected by sediment runoff from a highland agricultural region
Time : CG-1
Biography:
Jae Heon Cho is Professor of Department of Biosystems and Convergence Engineering at the Catholic Kwandong University, South Korea. His main research area is water quality management and modeling. Representative published articles are: Watershed model calibration framework developed using an influence coefficient algorithm and a genetic algorithm and analysis of pollutant discharge characteristics and load reduction in a TMDL planning area (Journal of Environmental Management 2015, 163, 2-10), A river water quality management model for optimising regional wastewater treatment cost using a genetic algorithm (Journal of Environmental Management, 2004, 73, 229–242).
Abstract:
In the wet season, a large amount of suspended sediments (SS) are discharged into Lake Soyang because of sediment erosion from highland fields. Important multiregional water sources are located in the lower Han River and the suspended sediments of the Lake Soyang affect the the water quality of the water supply. This rainfall-runoff survey was conducted three times at each of the survey points. In the case of the Jaun area of Hongcheon-gun, the Jungjohangcheon, and Johangcheon, the upper part of the Jaun area is identified as a dense area of highland fields. The rainfall-runoff characteristics and the first flushing in the Jaun area were analyzed using the pollutographs and the mass-volume curve. From the Ministry of Environment’s water quality measuring network, the changes on SS, BOD and TN concentration in the Soyang River watershed were analyzed with the yearly rainfall depth. Between 2012 and 2015, due to a low amount of rainfall, the three point’s SS and TP concentration was low. It appears that the reason for the low TP concentration was due to a light precipitation during the year, resulting in low amount of nutrient runoff from the highland fields. Otherwise, the BOD (the index of the organic material) concentration was high because of the reduction of the stream flow on 2012, 2014 and 2015 when the rainfall depth was small. SS, BOD and TP from Soyang River, Naerincheon, Inbukcheon appears to be influenced by rainfall depth.
Inyoung Park
Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea
Title: Long term temperature prediction model based on a long short-term memory neural network in missing data condition
Time : CG-2
Biography:
Inyoung Park is a Ph.D. student in School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea. She received a B.S. degree in Computer Application from the Bangalore University in 2015. Her current research focuses on speech signal processing and climate change modeling based on deep neural networks.
Abstract:
Nowadays, global warming not only intimidates humankind but also threatens the ecosystem due to its unpredictability. The ecosystem has warned about its vulnerability, and the need for long-term climate prediction has become indispensable. To build a long-term prediction model, a huge number of training data need without any flawlessness. However, there is a limitation of climate data that once it passed, we could not measure. Thus, the data are apt to be defective. This paper proposes a new long-term temperature prediction model based on a deep neural network, where some defective weather data obtained from a location are calibrated by using those from other locations. Since temperature is seasonal, we use a long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network which is a kind of recurrent neural network (RNN) known as suitable for a very long period of data. In order to predict weather data in advance up to 2 weeks, the proposed model is trained using actual weather data that are collected in an hourly basis for 36 years (from 1981 to 2016) of 11 different locations of South Korea, including hourly-based measurements for temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, precipitation, and accumulated prediction. In particular, when some data are missing, they are filled with those estimated from the refining model. After that, the model is trained again using the refined data. The performance of the proposed LSTM-based model is measured in terms of the root-mean-squared error (RMSE) between actual temperatures and their predicted ones. Consequently, it is achieved that the RMSE averaged over 11 locations is about 2.29 degrees for 2 weeks prediction. Although the proposed model is applied to refining weather data here, this approach can also be applied to other weather data. Furthermore, the proposed model can be extended to an air pollution prediction model against global warming.
Patricks-E Chinemerem
Environment Education & Development, Nigeria
Title: A projection of future climate refugee growth rate in South eastern Nigeria
Time : CG-3
Biography:
Dr. Patricks-E, Chinemerem is a member of IFTDO Developing Countries Committee & Visiting Lecturer. He is from University of Port Harcourt , Nigeria. He has done his PhD, M.Phil, B.Sc., EnvDipNEBOSH, iCert-Int’l Env. Law, MITD, MNES, MNMGS.
Abstract:
The aim and objective of this paper is to identify the vulnerability of the people residing within mapped communities to be exposed to civil conflicts and forced migration that will be wholly attributed to climate change. A case study approach was adopted to engage people from selected rural communities to share their experiences to civil conflicts and exposure to migration. Two states Enugu and Ebonyi were selected for this study and in each state, three communities were assessed and interacted with. A qualitative methodology adopting focu group interview and participatory approach was utilized to gather facts and data. Major findings indicated that the people residing across selected communities are exposed to growing frequencies of civil conflicts and possibility of forced migration and taking refuge in IDP camps or neighboring towns. The struggle for scarce arable and green grazing land, competition for scarce water resources and food security concerns will increase future civil conflicts and induce high growth rate of climate refugees following current changes in the climate system and its consequences on vulnerable poor communities in South Eastern Nigeria’s Enugu state and Ebonyi state.