Assessment of Climate Change and Extremes


With greater certainty of a climate change occurring, there is a need for developing information on its impacts on Agricultural production, particularly on farms with mixed enterprises. This paper outlines a farm simulation model developed to assess the impact of climate change and extremes on a mixed farm in the Canadian Prairies. The model is named MF-CCE -- Mixed Farm Model for the Economic Impact Assessment of Climate Change and Extremes. The model integrates the production models such as agronomic crop simulation model, cattle herd simulation model, pasture yield model for the simulation of crops and hay, livestock production, and pasture production, respectively. The model also includes liner-programming models for the economic decisions such as crop selections for feed rations and the crop mix for market sales. The outputs from these biological and economic models are inputs needed for simulation of farm level economic indicators. This model is applied to a mixed farm operation in Pincher Creek region of Alberta.
The impacts of climate change and extremes are simulated through yield effects measured by biological models under an assumed climate change scenario. The simulation results indicate that the modelled farm is viable business for the planning horizon of 30 years under both the baseline and future scenario. In terms of future climate change impacts, both the crop and beef cattle activities will benefit in the future taking account of both the average climate change as well as weather extreme events. However, the farm will be impacted severely during the period of extremes weather as indicated by negative returns at crop production and farm levels.
The study contributes to the knowledge of climate change impact assessment at the farm level by offering a simple and flexible yet comprehensive assessment framework, MF-CCE model. The model consists of a number of integrated sub-models to assess whole farm economic returns. However, the farm will be impacted severely during the period of extremes weather as indicated by negative returns at crop production and farm levels.
The above Article originally was published at SciFed Journal of Environmental Studies in 2017, to have a glance please visit: Click Here
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Ozone Depletion


SciFed Journal of Environmental Studies is an international, online, peer – reviewed, multidisciplinary open access journal that aims in publishing enormous esteemed manuscripts in various forms in the fields of Environmental sciences Including interdisciplinary field of knowledge that combines physical and chemical sciences with biology and information technology to achieve the best solutions to the emerging environmental challenges in the modern time.
When chlorine and bromine atoms meet ozone in the stratosphere, they destroy ozone molecules. One chlorine atom can destroy over 100,000 ozone molecules before it is removed from the stratosphere. Ozone can be destroyed more quickly than it is naturally created.
Some compounds release chlorine or bromine when they are exposed to intense UV light in the stratosphere. These compounds contribute to ozone depletion, and are called ozone-depleting substances (ODS). ODS that release chlorine include chlorofluorocarbons, hydro chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), carbon tetrachloride, and methyl chloroform. ODS that release bromine include halons and methyl bromide, Although ODS are emitted at the Earth’s surface, they are eventually carried into the stratosphere in a process that can take as long as two to five years.
Some natural processes, such as large volcanic eruptions, can have an indirect effect on ozone levels. For example, Mt. Pinatubo's 1991 eruption did not increase stratospheric chlorine concentrations, but it did produce large amounts of tiny particles called aerosols (different from consumer products also known as aerosols). These aerosols increase chlorine's effectiveness at destroying ozone. The aerosols in the stratosphere create a surface on which CFC-based chlorine can destroy ozone. However, the effect from volcanoes is short-lived.

The above Article originally got published at SciFed Journal of Environmental Studies in 2017, To have a glance please visit: Click Here
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Environmental Science

SciFed Journal of Environmental Studies mainly focuses in the areas of Environmental ethics, Environmental biology, Environmental chemistry, Environmental engineering, Environmental technologies, Environmental pollution, Biogeochemistry etc.,
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