New Approaches for Sustainability & Climate Change research
Abstract
Climate change poses great challenges to the integrity of our natural and social systems. Its impact has accelerated especially over the past decade; for instance, the increasing intensity of tropical cyclones is accelerating the erosion rate at local scales. This has had an impact on the natural terrestrial and aquatic systems via processes such as organic matter dynamics and ecosystem metabolism and is subsequently influencing agricultural systems which are highly dependent on them. Understanding processes driving organic matter dynamics will help us better estimate the carbon budget for climate models and potentially for the emerging carbon market. In addition, the variation of the temporal-spatial distribution of precipitation has undermined fertilizer and pesticide performance while food contamination has exacerbated as mycotoxin levels have increased with higher temperatures. Therefore, we urgently not only need fundamental research to update and refine carbon budgeting, but also more applied research to tackle emerging challenges to human welfare. To this end, the proposed Austria-Taiwan Joint Seminar 2020 will focus on approaches and cutting-edge methodologies that possess great potential for tackling the aforementioned challenges. As a global problem affecting societies worldwide, climate change requires international scientific cooperation in order to understand the nature and scale of its effects. The global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) explicitly recognize the central importance of scientific cooperation in many of the areas affected by a changing climate. The proposed workshop therefore offers a great opportunity for knowledge sharing between experts from Austria and Taiwan, continuing to facilitate interdisciplinary discussions and projects regarding climate change. We have identified the following three common topics according to the expertise of our delegates from the two countries: 1) weathering, soil formation, and erosion processes; 2) water transit history, biogeochemical, and hydrological processes and; 3) safety and sustainability of agricultural systems. So far, approximately 11 Austrian and 13 Taiwanese scientists have agreed to participate in this seminar. Through brainstorming and knowledge sharing, it is expected that practical approaches and future joint projects will be developed.
climate change extreme events ecosystem resilience matter cycling isotope applications
Publikationen
Project staff
Thomas Hein
Univ.Prof. Dr. Thomas Hein
thomas.hein@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-81201, 81229
Project Leader
01.10.2022 - 31.12.2022
BOKU partners
External partners
Montanuniversität Leoben
Thomas Prohaska
partner