Description: The pre-industrial millennium is among the periods selected by the Paleoclimate Model Intercomparison Project (PMIP) for experiments contributing to the sixth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) and the fourth phase of the PMIP (PMIP4). The past1000 transient simulations serve to investigate the response to (mainly) natural forcing under background conditions not too different from today, and to discriminate between forced and internally generated variability on interannual to centennial timescales. This paper describes the motivation and the experimental set-ups for the PMIP4-CMIP6 past1000 simulations, and discusses the forcing agents orbital, solar, volcanic, and land use/land cover changes, and variations in greenhouse gas concentrations. The past1000 simulations covering the pre-industrial millennium from 850 Common Era (CE) to 1849 CE have to be complemented by historical simulations (1850 to 2014 CE) following the CMIP6 protocol. The external forcings for the past1000 experiments have been adapted to provide a seamless transition across these time periods. Protocols for the past1000 simulations have been divided into three tiers. A default forcing data set has been defined for the Tier 1 (the CMIP6 past1000) experiment. However, the PMIP community has maintained the flexibility to conduct coordinated sensitivity experiments to explore uncertainty in forcing reconstructions as well as parameter uncertainty in dedicated Tier 2 simulations. Additional experiments (Tier 3) are defined to foster collaborative model experiments focusing on the early instrumental period and to extend the temporal range and the scope of the simulations. This paper outlines current and future research foci and common analyses for collaborative work between the PMIP and the observational communities (reconstructions, instrumental data).

Description: Volunteer geographical information (VGI), either in the context of citizen science or the mining of social media, has proven to be useful in various domains including natural hazards, health status, disease epidemics, and biological monitoring. Nonetheless, the variable or unknown data quality due to crowdsourcing settings are still an obstacle for fully integrating these data sources in environmental studies and potentially in policy making. The data curation process, in which a quality assurance (QA) is needed, is often driven by the direct usability of the data collected within a data conflation process or data fusion (DCDF), combining the crowdsourced data into one view, using potentially other data sources as well. Looking at current practices in VGI data quality and using two examples, namely land cover validation and inundation extent estimation, this paper discusses the close links between QA and DCDF. It aims to help in deciding whether a disentanglement can be possible, whether beneficial or not, in understanding the data curation process with respect to its methodology for future usage of crowdsourced data. Analysing situations throughout the data curation process where and when entanglement between QA and DCDF occur, the paper explores the various facets of VGI data capture, as well as data quality assessment and purposes. Far from rejecting the usability ISO quality criterion, the paper advocates for a decoupling of the QA process and the DCDF step as much as possible while still integrating them within an approach analogous to a Bayesian paradigm.

Description: IJERPH, Vol. 15, Pages 11: Evaluation of Behavior Change Communication Campaigns to Promote Modern Cookstove Purchase and Use in Lower Middle Income Countries International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health doi: 10.3390/ijerph15010011 Authors: William Evans Michael Johnson Kirstie Jagoe Dana Charron Bonnie Young A. Rahman Daniel Omolloh Julie Ipe Nearly three billion people worldwide burn solid fuels and kerosene in open fires and inefficient stoves to cook, light, and heat their homes. Cleaner-burning stoves reduce emissions and can have positive health, climate, and women’s empowerment benefits. This article reports on the protocol and baseline data from the evaluation of four behavior change communication (BCC) campaigns carried out in lower to middle income countries aimed at promoting the sale and use of cleaner-burning stoves. Interventions implemented in Bangladesh, Kenya, and Nigeria are using a range of BCC methods including mass media, digital media, outdoor advertising, and inter-personal communication. The mixed methods evaluation comprises three large-scale surveys: one pre-BCC and two follow-ups, along with smaller scale assessments of stove uptake and patterns of use. Baseline results revealed varying levels of awareness of previous promotions and positive attitudes and beliefs about modern (i.e., relatively clean-burning) cookstoves. Differences in cookstove preferences and behaviors by gender, socio-demographics, media use, and country/region were observed that may affect outcomes. Across all three countries, cost (lack of funds) a key perceived barrier to buying a cleaner-burning stove. Future multivariate analyses will examine potential dose-response effects of BCC on cookstove uptake and patterns of use. BCC campaigns have the potential to promote modern cookstoves at scale. More research on campaign effectiveness is needed, and on how to optimize messages and channels. This evaluation builds on a limited evidence base in the field.