Peripherality as key to understanding climate-associated risk and resilience for Pacific island communities

To address the lack of effective sustained interventions for climate-change adaptation in Pacific Island communities, a study to capture individual community risk and resilience profiles using peripherality was undertaken. Based on questionnaires completed in 73 communities, three peripherality indices were tested and refined and demonstrated to adequately capture various things such as community exposure to...

Nunn, P., Joseph, E., Korovulavula, I., & Kumar, R. (2019). Peripherality as key to understanding climate-associated risk and resilience for Pacific island communities. APN Science Bulletin, 9(1). doi:10.30852/sb.2019.888

Management strategy evaluation: Transdisciplinary and transparent natural resource management

Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) is a modelling tool used to evaluate sufficiently realistic simulations of potential policy choices in complex systems. As a contribution to the Integrated Marine Biosphere Research (IMBeR) project IMBIZO V, which occurred in October 2017, a workshop was convened with the goal of developing a coherent understanding of best-practice approaches for...

Hofmann, E., Maddison, L., & Van Putten, I. (2019). Management strategy evaluation: Transdisciplinary and transparent natural resource management. APN Science Bulletin, 9(1). doi:10.30852/sb.2019.895

Comparing effects of untreated and treated wastewater on riverine greenhouse gas emissions

Wastewater may alter riverine fluxes of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and CO2, yet little is known about how treated and untreated wastewater affects riverine DOM biodegradation and CO2 emission to a different degree. In order to compare effects of treated vs untreated wastewater on DOM biodegradation and CO2 emission in downstream rivers, a three-day incubation...

Kim, D., Begum, M., Choi, J., Jin, H., Chea, E., & Park, J. (2019). Comparing effects of untreated and treated wastewater on riverine greenhouse gas emissions. APN Science Bulletin, 9(1). doi:10.30852/sb.2019.872

Assessing the health effects of extreme temperature and development of adaptation strategies to climate change in selected countries in the Asia-Pacific region

While studies show that climate change is exacerbating health effects due to extreme hot weather, scientific evidence in the Asia-Pacific region remains scarce. In this study, we aim to assess the health effects of extreme temperature, identify individual and community factors contributing to population vulnerability, and develop adaptation strategies for temperature-related health risks. Various methods...

Cheng, L., & Huang, C. (2019). Assessing the health effects of extreme temperature and development of adaptation strategies to climate change in selected countries in the Asia-Pacific region. APN Science Bulletin, 9(1). doi:10.30852/sb.2019.854

Opportunities and challenges of compliance to safe building codes: Bangladesh and Nepal

This paper discusses the opportunities and challenges of compliance to safe building codes in Bangladesh and Nepal for increased disaster resilience. Recent disasters in both countries highlight that non-compliance to building codes is one of the significant causes of building-related disasters. Increased institutional and community awareness of the importance of safe building codes presents an...

Ahmed, I., Gajendran, T., Brewer, G., Maund, K., Von Meding, J., Kabir, H., . . . Sitoula, N. (2019). Opportunities and challenges of compliance to safe building codes: Bangladesh and Nepal. APN Science Bulletin, 9(1). doi:10.30852/sb.2019.834

Vulnerability of urban waters to emerging contaminants in India and Sri Lanka: Resilience framework and strategy

Vulnerability and resilience of urban waters, under the shifting paradigm of climate change and urbanization, needs to be evaluated from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. We evaluated the vulnerability of urban waters of Guwahati, the largest city in Northeastern India, and Colombo, the coastal National Capital Territory of Sri Lanka, by analyzing the concurrence of...

Kumar, M., Chaminda, T., Honda, R., & Furumai, H. (2019). Vulnerability of urban waters to emerging contaminants in India and Sri Lanka: Resilience framework and strategy. APN Science Bulletin, 9(1). doi:10.30852/sb.2019.799

Developing an economic, environmental and agronomic case for the increased use of organic amendments in South Asia

Aggressive fertilizer subsidies throughout South Asia have led to a rapid increase in the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers such as urea at the farm level. While this has been successful in increasing yields, significant yield gaps remain between potential and actual farm yields, while unbalanced or over application of fertilizers potentially damages soil and...

Rowlings, D., Liyanage, A., Kholova, J., Jagadabhi, S., Ranwala, S., & Whitbread, A. (2019). Developing an economic, environmental and agronomic case for the increased use of organic amendments in South Asia. APN Science Bulletin, 9(1). doi:10.30852/sb.2019.780

Addressing non-economic loss and damage associated with climatic events: Cases of Japan and Bangladesh

Non-economic loss and damage (NELD) could constitute a major proportion of the total loss and damage caused by any climate-related disasters. Despite this, most NELD has not been well measured and reported in most post-disaster reports and databases and has often not been given the attention it deserves in most disaster risk assessments and risk reduction interventions....

Chiba, Y., Prabhakar, S., & Islam, M. (2019). Addressing non-economic loss and damage associated with climatic events: Cases of Japan and Bangladesh. APN Science Bulletin, 9(1). doi:10.30852/sb.2019.740

Appraising slow onset hazards for loss and damage: Case studies in Southeast Asia

Slow onset processes were investigated in five pilot areas in Southeast Asia, i.e., Kampong Speu Province (Cambodia), Selangor State (Malaysia), Thatdama Kyun Village (Myanmar), Kanan Watershed (Philippines), and Quang Ngai Province (Vietnam). Pilot areas with low-lying coasts are exposed to floods, saline intrusion and sea-level rise while some are also affected by storms and typhoons....

Pereira, J., Pulhin, J., Chhinh, N., Tran, D., & Satari, S. (2019). Appraising slow onset hazards for loss and damage: Case studies in Southeast Asia. APN Science Bulletin, 9(1). doi:10.30852/sb.2019.720

Simulating spatiotemporal changes in land-use functions in Guyuan, China, using an agent-based model dependent on multi-level stakeholder participation

Seeking a more integrative understanding of the coupled human-environment system to tackle critical issues is currently a key concern for policymakers and the scientific community, especially in developing countries. This study developed an agent-based model (ABM) to simulate spatiotemporal changes of land use functions (LUFs) in the environmentally fragile region Guyuan in western China to...

Xue, Z., & Zhen, L. (2019). Simulating spatiotemporal changes in land-use functions in Guyuan, China, using an agent-based model dependent on multi-level stakeholder participation. APN Science Bulletin, 9(1). doi:10.30852/sb.2019.705