1,720,961 research outputs found
The impact of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU food chain: A quantitative and economic assessment using an environmentally extended input-output approach
Full text linkIn order to provide a valuable knowledge basis for future global warming mitigation strategies and policy implementation, this study carries out an integrated assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions throughout the EU-25 food supply chain, considering the highest available level of product disaggregation. Based on an environmentally extended input-output (EE-IO) approach, we estimate the environmental impacts resulting from the ‘food and non-alcoholic beverages’ supply chain from production to waste management, by 44 food products, grouped in 11 categories. Further, we perform a Structural Path Analysis to identify the hotspots along the supply chain with the highest emissions. Finally, we carry out an assessment of the economic impact of GHG emissions on each product category, considering both the related environmental pressure intensity and the cost of environmental damage (social cost). The results offer new insights on the amount, composition and origin of GHG emissions in the food supply chain. More precisely, detailed evidence is provided in support of the findings of previous studies that have shown that the contribution of farm-level activities on overall GHG emissions is mostly related to N2O and CH4 emissions. Moreover, we highlight the large environmental impact associated with CO2 emissions, even if they are scattered among a very high number of activities, with a limited contribution each. Hence, we infer that multiple hotspots for CO2 exist along the whole supply chain and that many of them occur in downstream stages, e.g. transportation, processing, packaging, waste disposal, as well as in the cold chain activities. As for the economic assessment of emissions, the highest costs are attributed to the highest emitting product categories, but the share of social costs of these emissions as compared to the overall production value, affect each product differently. Hence, the impact of a hypothetical price control measure, introduced to internalize the social cost of emissions, would vary significantly from one product category to another. Overall, our findings suggest that, in order to achieve effective and efficient GHG mitigation in the food system, an integrated approach is required, including both concrete technological and managerial measures at various stages of the food supply chain and for specific product categories, as well as appropriate economic incentive-based mechanisms accounting for the social cost of damage (e.g. a ‘carbon tax’), that can prompt polluters to reduce their emissions along the whole supply chain
A heat wave forecast system for Europe
Full text linkWe introduce a Heat Wave Forecast System (EHWP) useful for detecting incoming heat waves in Europe at a high-medium spatial-temporal resolution. Historical and forecast temperatures feed a heat wave detection algorithm whose outcomes on duration and intensity of incoming heat waves within the next 14 days. The model has been empirically validated with numerous official sources on the hottest European heat wave in 2017 ('Lucifer'). The EHWP is a novel tool for emergency alert warnings both for local and European scale
A study of the use of agricultural practice as an instrument for development of Protected Areas in the Adriatic Ionian Basin
Full text linkIn the last decade the amount of Protected Areas have increased and are still increasing. With the problems of loss of biodiversity and climate changes Protected Areas can be used as a tool to save and protect the nature and biodiversity. Protected Areas are used for different purposes, as protecting the nature, education and tourism. The Adriatic Ionian Basin connects today the European Union and the Western Balkans and there are different initiatives that are taking place in the area. The Network of Adriatic parks (N.A.P.) is a project that has the goal to create a network of Protected Areas in the Adriatic Ionian Basin countries. The project Network of Adriatic Parks is a cross cooperation project in tourism and culture. The countries in the project are Italy, Albania, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. The Project aims at promoting, enhancing and conserving the natural resources of the Parks and natural oases of the Adriatic region.
Today there is demand from consumers for a different way of food than the industrialized production. One example of that is the recognized value of local food products that have kept the tradition and culture of the specific area. This could be used as a tool, by means of involving the local inhabitants living in the area of the park for social, economical and environmental sustainability of the park and for the rural people living there. The tradition and knowledge in the countries rural area where the parks in the N.A.P. project are situated are not yet familiar with the concept of local products as the parks from the Italy in the project. Because of this, the N.A.P. project could work as a tool for collaboration in this subject and promotion of local products in the Western Balkan countries Protected Areas
Environmental Assessment of the Agricultural Sector
No full textOne of the main problems recognized in sustainable development goals and sustainable agricultural objectives is Climate change. Farming contributes significantly to the overall Greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere, which is approximately 10-12 percent of total GHG emissions, but when taking in consideration also land-use change, including deforestation driven by agricultural expansion for food, fiber and fuel the number rises to approximately 30 percent (Smith et. al., 2007).
There are two distinct methodological approaches for environmental impact assessment; Life Cycle Assessment (a bottom up approach) and Input-Output Analysis (a top down approach). The two methodologies differ significantly but there is not an immediate choice between them if the scope of the study is on a sectorial level. Instead, as an alternative, hybrid approaches which combine these two approaches have emerged.
The aim of this study is to analyze in a greater detail the agricultural sectors contribution to Climate change caused by the consumption of food products. Hence, to identify the food products that have the greatest impact through their life cycle, identifying their hotspots and evaluating the mitigation possibilities for the same. At the same time evaluating methodological possibilities and models to be applied for this purpose both on a EU level and on a country level (Italy)
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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