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1. Exploring pesticide transport, groundwater, and environmental justice in a changing climate: a community engaged research approach

   Martin, P; Wen, Y; Woods, A; Fayida, T; Hobbs, S (August 2024, Environmental research letters)

   Ivey, C; Hobbs, S; Patterson, R; Rice-Boayue, J (Ed.)

   The pressing issue of pesticide exposure disproportionately affecting marginalized communities underscores the immediate necessity to tackle pesticide drift from nearby agricultural areas, especially aggravated by the impacts of climate change. Effective measures including stricter regulations, enhanced monitoring, alternative agricultural practices, and community engagement are essential to mitigate environmental injustices and safeguard community health. This article delves into the intricate relationship between pesticide transport, groundwater vulnerability, and environmental justice within the context of climate change. Employing a geospatial analytical hierarchy overlay model, we comprehensively assess the impact of pesticide transport on groundwater vulnerability while scrutinizing climate change and associated environmental justice concerns. Groundwater vulnerability across the Kentucky River Basin varies, with 18% classified as very low, 23% as low, 27% as prone, and 20% and 12% as high and very high, respectively, concentrated mainly in the mid-eastern and southern regions due to population density and biodiversity. The research integrates a robust analytical detection technique, with a focus on glyphosate and its metabolites concentrations, to validate and refine spatial models. By engaging with communities, this study enhances understanding of environmental complexities, offering insights for sustainable environmental management. 

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2. Flood regime alters the abiotic correlates of riparian vegetation

   https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12572  

   Steinberg, Kelly A.; Eichhorst, Kim D.; Rudgers, Jennifer A.; Hölzel, ed., Norbert (April 2021, Applied Vegetation Science)

   Abstract QuestionsPredicting the influence of climate change on riparian plant communities improves management strategies. The sensitivity of riparian vegetation to climate and other abiotic factors depends on interactions between properties of the ecosystem, like flood regime, and plant characteristics. To explore these interactions, we addressed three questions: (a) does the composition and diversity of riparian vegetation vary with the flood regime; (b) do abiotic correlates of vegetation, including climate and groundwater, differ between sites that flood compared to locations that did not experience floods; and (c) which plant functional groups account for differential plant community sensitivity to abiotic factors between flood regimes? LocationMiddle Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico. MethodsWe used long‐term observations of plant community composition, groundwater depth, precipitation and interpolated temperature from 24 sites spanning 210 km of the Rio Grande riparian cottonwood–willow forest to explore the relative importance of climate and hydrologic correlates of riparian vegetation diversity and composition. ResultsRiparian plant diversity was higher at sites flooding compared to non‐flooding sites. Plant diversity positively tracked shallower groundwater depth at flooding sites, but was best predicted by intra‐annual groundwater variability at non‐flooding sites. Plant community composition correlated with groundwater depth and air temperature at all sites, but at non‐flooding sites, also with intra‐annual groundwater variability and precipitation. Relationships between native plant cover and potential environmental drivers diverged strongly between the two flood regimes; non‐native plant cover had only weak relationships with most environmental predictors. ConclusionsThe current flood regime of a site determined the climate and hydrologic factors that best predicted riparian plant community composition and diversity. Relationships between plant diversity or total cover and groundwater, temperature, precipitation, or groundwater variability can change in strength or direction depending on a site's flood history, highlighting the importance of flood regime to predicting the sensitivity of riparian woodlands to future environmental change. 

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3. Coastal Typology: An Analysis of the Spatiotemporal Relationship between Socioeconomic Development and Shoreline Change

   https://doi.org/10.3390/land9070218  

   Mack, Elizabeth A.; Theuerkauf, Ethan; Bunting, Erin (July 2020, Land)

   null (Ed.)

   Globally, coastal communities are impacted by hazards including storm events, rising water levels, and associated coastal erosion. These hazards destroy homes and infrastructure causing human and financial risks for communities. At the same time, the economic and governance capacity of these communities varies widely, impacting their ability to plan and adapt to hazards. In order to identify locations vulnerable to coastal hazards, knowledge of the physical coastal changes must be integrated with the socio-economic profiles of communities. To do this, we couple information about coastal erosion rates and economic data in communities along the Great Lakes to develop a typology that summarizes physical and economic vulnerability to coastal erosion. This typology classifies communities into one of four categories: (1) High physical and economic vulnerability to coastal erosion, (2) High physical but low economic vulnerability to coastal erosion, (3) Low physical and low economic vulnerability to coastal erosion, and (4) High economic but low physical vulnerability to coastal erosion. An analysis of this typology over three time periods (2005–2010), (2010–2014), and (2014–2018) reveals the dynamic nature of vulnerability over this fourteen year time span. Given this complexity, it can be difficult for managers and decision-makers to decide where to direct limited resources for coastal protection. Our typology provides an analytical tool to proactively address this challenge. Further, it advances existing work on coastal change and associated vulnerability in three ways. One, it implements a regional, analytical approach that moves beyond case study-oriented work and facilitates community analyses in a comparative context. Two, the typology provides an integrated assessment of vulnerability that considers economic vulnerability to coastal erosion, which is a contextual variable that compounds or helps mitigate vulnerability. Three, the typology facilitates community comparisons over time, which is important to identifying drivers of change in Great Lakes coastal communities over time and community efforts to mitigate and adapt to these hazards. 

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4. How forcing community resilience in rural communities harms sustainable development

   https://doi.org/10.1186/s42055-024-00071-0  

   Ketola, Zoe; Tiwari, Shardul; Schelly, Chelsea (January 2024, Sustainable Earth Reviews)

   Abstract Community resilience is critical to managing the effects of climate change and in achieving the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Resilient communities are able to manage stressors and recover from them, such as in instances of energy service outages. Instances like these can lead to communities that feel forced to exhibit individual characteristics of resilience, such as neighbors relying on each other in times of need because history has shown them that they cannot rely on outside institutions for help. Communities may adopt factors of individual psychological resilience in the face of energy service outages because they lack structural support to exhibit community resilience or to pursue resilient energy systems. This lack of access to support and resources is in conflict with principles of procedural justice and energy sovereignty while reinforcing institutional mistrust within affected communities and contributing to social vulnerability. This article contemplates and expounds on the idea of coerced resilience in the face of energy service outages and severe weather within a rural, remote community in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (UP). The UP is located at the tail end of electricity infrastructure, putting its residents at increased risk of experiencing energy service outages that are further complicated by its isolation and severe winter weather. We examine the idea of coerced resilience, its relation to social vulnerability, and how it conflicts with concepts of energy justice and the UN’s SDG. We further go on to highlight how certain populations and youth can minimize instances of coerced resilience and contribute to sustainable development making it an important consideration to achieve sustainable development goals. 

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5. High‐Resolution Modeling and Projecting Local Dynamics of Differential Vulnerability to Urban Heat Stress

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EF004431  

   Marginean, I; Crespo_Cuaresma, J; Hoffmann, R; Muttarak, R; Gao, J; Daloz, Anne Sophie (October 2024, Earth's Future)

   Abstract Climate change‐induced heat stress has significant effects on human health, and is influenced by a wide variety of factors. Most assessments of future heat‐related risks however are based on coarse resolution projections of heat hazards and overlook the contribution of relevant factors other than climate change to the negative impacts on health. Research highlights sociodemographic disparities related to heat stress vulnerability, especially among older adults, women and individuals with low socioeconomic status, leading to higher morbidity and mortality rates. There is thus an urgent need for detailed, local information on demographic characteristics underlying vulnerability with refined spatial resolution. This study aims to address the research gaps by presenting a new population projection exercise at high‐resolution based on the Bayesian modeling framework for the case study of Madrid, using demographic data under the scenarios compatible with the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways. We examine the spatial and temporal distribution of population subgroups at the intra‐urban level within Madrid. Our findings reveal a concentration of vulnerable populations, as measured by their age, sex and educational attainment level in some of the city's most disadvantaged neighborhoods. These vulnerable clusters are projected to widen in the future unless a sustainable trajectory is realized, driving vulnerability dynamics toward a more uniform and resilient change. These results can guide local adaptation efforts and support climate justice initiatives to protect vulnerable communities in urban environments. 

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