S. Swart

Bio: S. Swart is an academic researcher from University of Cape Town. The author has contributed to research in topics: Sea ice concentration. The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 4 publications receiving 63 citations. Previous affiliations of S. Swart include University of Gothenburg.

State of the Climate in 2018

Abstract: El documento contiene la seccion c. Central America and the Caribbean del capitulo 7. Regional Climates

Antarctica and the Southern Ocean

Abstract: Author(s): Stammerjohn, Sharon; Scambos, Ted A; Adusumilli, Susheel; Barreira, Sandra; Bernhard, Germar H; Bozkurt, Deniz; Bushinsky, Seth M; Clem, Kyle R; Colwell, Steve; Coy, Lawrence; De Laat, Jos; du Plessis, Marcel D; Fogt, Ryan L; Foppert, Annie; Fricker, Helen Amanda; Gardner, Alex S; Gille, Sarah T; Gorte, Tessa; Johnson, Bryan; Keenan, Eric; Kennett, Daemon; Keller, Linda M; Kramarova, Natalya A; Lakkala, Kaisa; Lazzara, Matthew A; Lenaerts, Jan TM; Lieser, Jan L; Li, Zhi; Liu, Hongxing; Long, Craig S; MacFerrin, Michael; Maclennan, Michelle L; Massom, Robert A; Mikolajczyk, David; Montgomery, Lynn; Mote, Thomas L; Nash, Eric R; Newman, Paul A; Petropavlovskikh, Irina; Pitts, Michael; Reid, Phillip; Rintoul, Steven R; Santee, Michelle L; Shadwick, Elizabeth H; Silvano, Alessandro; Stierle, Scott; Strahan, Susan; Sutton, Adrienne J; Swart, Sebastiaan; Tamsitt, Veronica; Tilbrook, Bronte; Wang, Lei; Williams, Nancy L; Yuan, Xiaojun

Understanding the Southern Ocean through sustained observations

Abstract: The Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS; www.soos.aq) is an international initiative sponsored by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) with the mission to facilitate the collection and delivery of essential observations on variability and change of Southern Ocean systems to all international stakeholders. This is achieved through the design, implementation and advocacy of cost-effective observing programs, coupled with efficient systems for accessing and delivering data from the region.

Carbon dioxide storage through mineral carbonation

Abstract: Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has a fundamental role in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement to limit anthropogenic warming to 1.5–2 °C. Most ongoing CCS projects inject CO2 into sedimentary basins and require an impermeable cap rock to prevent the CO2 from migrating to the surface. Alternatively, captured carbon can be stored through injection into reactive rocks (such as mafic or ultramafic lithologies), provoking CO2 mineralization and, thereby, permanently fixing carbon with negligible risk of return to the atmosphere. Although in situ mineralization offers a large potential volume for carbon storage in formations such as basalts and peridotites (both onshore and offshore), its large-scale implementation remains little explored beyond laboratory-based and field-based experiments. In this Review, we discuss the potential of mineral carbonation to address the global CCS challenge and contribute to long-term reductions in atmospheric CO2. Emphasis is placed on the advances in making this technology more cost-effective and in exploring the limits and global applicability of CO2 mineralization. Carbon capture and storage has a fundamental role in limiting anthropogenic warming to 1.5–2 °C. This Review discusses the basis, potential and limitations of in situ mineral carbonation as a carbon capture and storage strategy.

Environmental effects of ozone depletion, UV radiation and interactions with climate change: UNEP Environmental Effects Assessment Panel, update 2017

Abstract: This assessment, by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Environmental Effects Assessment Panel (EEAP), one of three Panels informing the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, provides an update, since our previous extensive assessment (Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2019, 18, 595-828), of recent findings of current and projected interactive environmental effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation, stratospheric ozone, and climate change. These effects include those on human health, air quality, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, biogeochemical cycles, and materials used in construction and other services. The present update evaluates further evidence of the consequences of human activity on climate change that are altering the exposure of organisms and ecosystems to UV radiation. This in turn reveals the interactive effects of many climate change factors with UV radiation that have implications for the atmosphere, feedbacks, contaminant fate and transport, organismal responses, and many outdoor materials including plastics, wood, and fabrics. The universal ratification of the Montreal Protocol, signed by 197 countries, has led to the regulation and phase-out of chemicals that deplete the stratospheric ozone layer. Although this treaty has had unprecedented success in protecting the ozone layer, and hence all life on Earth from damaging UV radiation, it is also making a substantial contribution to reducing climate warming because many of the chemicals under this treaty are greenhouse gases.

Anthropogenic intensification of short-duration rainfall extremes

Abstract: Short-duration (1–3 h) rainfall extremes can cause serious damage to societies through rapidly developing (flash) flooding and are determined by complex, multifaceted processes that are altering as Earth’s climate warms. In this Review, we examine evidence from observational, theoretical and modelling studies for the intensification of these rainfall extremes, the drivers and the impact on flash flooding. Both short-duration and long-duration (>1 day) rainfall extremes are intensifying with warming at a rate consistent with the increase in atmospheric moisture (~7% K−1), while in some regions, increases in short-duration extreme rainfall intensities are stronger than expected from moisture increases alone. These stronger local increases are related to feedbacks in convective clouds, but their exact role is uncertain because of the very small scales involved. Future extreme rainfall intensification is also modulated by changes to temperature stratification and large-scale atmospheric circulation. The latter remains a major source of uncertainty. Intensification of short-duration extremes has likely increased the incidence of flash flooding at local scales, and this can further compound with an increase in storm spatial footprint to considerably increase total event rainfall. These findings call for urgent climate change adaptation measures to manage increasing flood risks. Short-duration rainfall extremes are determined by complex processes that are affected by the warming climate. This Review assesses the evidence for the intensification of short-duration rainfall extremes, the associated drivers and the implications for flood risks.

Examining the asymmetric effects of globalization and tourism on pollution emissions in South Asia

Abstract: The asymmetrical impacts of globalization and tourism on pollution emissions of 5 South Asian countries for the period from 1980 to 2018 are examined through a non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) technique, which shows that both short and long-run coefficients are asymmetric. The findings suggest that positive and negative shocks in globalization affect carbon emissions differently in the case of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, while similar results are found in the case of Nepal and Sri Lanka in the long run. Furthermore, positive tourism shock, in the long run, ameliorates the environmental quality by reducing carbon emissions in Nepal and Sri Lanka, however, increases the carbon emissions in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. While negative tourism shock has an adverse effect on positive shock on carbon emissions in South Asia. The phenomena of globalization and tourism can exert a severe impact in aggravating the pollution emissions that policymakers should forecast and oppose. Based on these findings, some policy suggestions are proposed for South Asian economies.