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   Trombe wall is a passive strategy that reduces the energy consumption in buildings and helps for sustainable development of the residential sector. Applying these walls is very important in areas that need heating load in winter. This study evaluates a set of Trombe walls for the energy management of a residential building under real conditions in Binalood region with a cold and dry climate. In order to study the potentials of the Trombe wall, four different designs, including cubic Trombe wall with rectangular structure and three-sided glass, Trombe wall with trapezoidal structure and three-sided glass, Trombe wall with trapezoidal structure and four-sided glass, and Trombe wall with thicker storage wall, trapezoidal structure, and three-sided glass, for Trombe wall are considered. Trombe walls of all four suggested designs are exposed to outdoor conditions and installed at 17 places on the southern walls of the residential building. The results show that the most optimal design, i.e., Trombe wall with thicker storage wall, trapezoidal structure, and three-sided glass, leads to the greatest decrease (1637 kWh) in heating load in January. In addition, this design of the Trombe wall has the greatest effect in increasing the indoor air temperature among other Trombe walls investigated in this study. The Trombe wall with thicker storage wall, trapezoidal structure, and three-sided glass with a storage wall thickness of 40 cm is able to reduce the heating load of the building by 5.59 MWh in 5 months. This plan reduces the energy demand of the building by 8% more than the conventional structure of Trombe wall.

For extremely ionizing radiation-resistant bacteria, survival has been attributed to protection of proteins from oxidative damage during irradiation, with the result that repair systems survive and function with far greater efficiency during recovery than in sensitive bacteria. Here we examined the relationship between survival of dry-climate soil bacteria and the level of cellular protein oxidation induced by desiccation. Bacteria were isolated from surface soils of the shrub-steppe of the US Department of Energy's Hanford Site in Washington State. A total of 63 isolates were used for phylogenetic analysis. The majority of isolates were closely related to members of the genus Deinococcus , with Chelatococcus , Methylobacterium and Bosea also among the genera identified. Desiccation-resistant isolates accumulated high intracellular manganese and low iron concentrations compared to sensitive bacteria. In vivo , proteins of desiccation-resistant bacteria were protected from oxidative modifications that introduce carbonyl groups in sensitive bacteria during drying. We present the case that survival of bacteria that inhabit dry-climate soils are highly dependent on mechanisms, which limit protein oxidation during dehydration.

Arid and semi-arid regions have different spectral characteristics from other climatic regions. Therefore, appropriate remotely sensed indicators of land use and land cover types need to be defined for arid and semi-arid lands, as indices developed for other climatic regions may not give plausible results in arid and semi-arid regions. For instance, the normalized difference built-up index (NDBI) and normalized difference bareness index (NDBaI) are unable to distinguish between built-up areas and bare and dry soil that surrounds many cities in dry climates. This paper proposes the application of two newly developed indices, the dry built-up index (DBI) and dry bare-soil index (DBSI) to map built-up and bare areas in a dry climate from Landsat 8. The developed DBI and DBSI were applied to map urban areas and bare soil in the city of Erbil, Iraq. The results show an overall classification accuracy of 93% (κ = 0.86) and 92% (κ = 0.84) for DBI and DBSI, respectively. The results indicate the suitability of the proposed indices to discriminate between urban areas and bare soil in arid and semi-arid climates.

• Plant species are characterized along a spectrum of isohydry to anisohydry depending on their regulation of water potential (Ψ), but the plasticity of hydraulic strategies is largely unknown. The role of environmental drivers was evaluated in the hydraulic behavior of Larrea tridentata, a drought-tolerant desert shrub that withstands a wide range of environmental conditions. • With a 1.5 yr time-series of 2324 in situ measurements of daily predawn and midday Ψ, the temporal variability of hydraulic behavior was explored in relation to soil water supply, atmospheric demand and temperature. • Hydraulic behavior in Larrea was highly dynamic, ranging from partial isohydry to extreme anisohydry. Larrea exhibited extreme anisohydry under wet soil conditions corresponding to periods of high productivity, whereas partial isohydry was exhibited after prolonged dry or cold conditions, when productivity was low. • Environmental conditions can strongly influence plant hydraulic behavior at relatively fast timescales, which enhances our understanding of plant drought responses. Although species may exhibit a dominant hydraulic behavior, variable environmental conditions can prompt plasticity in Ψ regulation, particularly for species in seasonally dry climates.

Central Asia has a dry climate, scarce water resources, extremely fragile ecosystems, and frequent extreme precipitation events. Using the data of 22 global climate models in the CMIP6 plan, the trend of the extreme precipitation index under four Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) was estimated by calculating eight extreme precipitation indices in Central Asia and optimizing the best multi-model set using the Taylor evaluation and comprehensive score. The results showed that in Central Asia, the CMIP6 mode and multi-mode collection can reasonably reproduce the regional differences of various severe precipitation indices. However, these results only performed well for consecutive dry days (CDD) and annual total precipitation (PRCPTOT), but poorly for the replication of extreme high- and low-value regions. We found that the simulation effect of the multi-mode ensemble results was better than that of a single mode, and that CMIP6 can roughly depict the evolving characteristics of extreme precipitation events. However, the CMIP6 data performed poorly in terms of spatial divergence ability characteristics. According to the estimated results, mountainous regions have experienced considerable changes, and a significant increase in the range of change was observed for severe precipitation (consecutive wet days (CWD), single day maximum precipitation (Rx1day), and PRCPTOT) in wet and dry regions during the twenty-first century. Simultaneously, the humidification trend accelerated after 2050, and four shared socioeconomic paths showed similar trends; however, the extreme precipitation rate was higher under the high forcing path. Consecutive dry days (CDD) in Central Asia decreased by 90% under SSP5-8.5 relative to SSP1-2.6, whereas CWD, Rx1day, and PRCPTOT increased by 20%, 150%, and 118%, respectively.

The study analyzed spatial and temporal patterns and trends of aridity indices in southern and eastern Serbia from 1971 to 2022. Temperature and precipitation data from eight meteorological stations were used to quantify five aridity indices: the de Martonne Aridity Index, Lang Rain Factor, Pinna Combinative Index, Lobova Aridity Index, and Selyaninov hydrothermal coefficient. Calculations for the de Martonne Aridity Index were performed on annual, seasonal, and monthly scales, while the Lang Rain Factor was calculated on an annual scale and during the vegetation period (April to October). Selyaninov hydrothermal coefficient is calculated on the monthly scale and for the vegetation period, with the other indices calculated annually. The results reveal notable regional differences in the de Martonne Aridity Index, distinguishing between two, three, and five climate types on an annual, seasonal, and monthly basis, respectively. The Lang Rain Factor characterizes semiarid and temperate warm climates at an annual scale, while at a monthly level (the Gračanin Rain Factor), an arid and semiarid climate predominates. The Pinna Combinative Index indicates humid conditions, whereas the Lobova Aridity Index reflects arid conditions across the study area. Selyanin’s hydrothermal coefficient shows its lowest values ​​in August at all meteorological stations. During the vegetation period, this index indicates slightly dry climate conditions at two stations (Negotin and Niš) and slightly humid and moderately humid conditions at other stations. During the vegetation period, this index indicates slightly dry conditions at two stations (Negotin and Niš) and slightly to moderately humid conditions at other locations. The Pearson correlation coefficient reveals a statistically significant positive correlation between the indices, with particularly strong correlations between the de Martonne Aridity Index and both the Lobova Aridity Index and Lang Rain Factor. The inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation method was applied to visualize the results of the aridity indices across the study area. The Mann-Kendall test showed that aridity trends at all meteorological stations were not statistically significant.

Weather and climate are important considerations for tourists in selecting their destinations, and climate change may impact these decisions, with implications for economic revenue in tourism-dependent locations. In the Coachella Valley, a desert region in Southern California, the warm and dry climate during winter months attracts seasonal visitors from Canada and northern US states (“snowbirds”). However, global warming may adversely impact the snowbird season and other tourist attractions through rising temperatures. We analyzed how increasing temperatures are likely to impact three key components of the tourism industry in the region: climate in the winter snowbird season, visitation at an outdoor tourist attraction, and the likelihood of extreme heat at an annual festival. We used statistically downscaled climate models to make predictions about future visitation to the region by calculating changing probabilities of extreme heat during the tourist season and local events. Our analysis predicts a shortened snowbird season, which we define as the time of year with daily maximum temperatures below a threshold of 30 °C, under two future climate scenarios and time periods. We find a nonlinear relationship between daily maximum temperatures and daily zoo visits, where visitation sharply declines after a threshold of 30 °C. Using this threshold, we predict a decrease in zoo visitation by up to 18% and a shortening of the snowbird season by up to 36% by the end of the century. We also predict an increased likelihood of extreme heat stress during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

The Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) is a highly allocated and regulated, mostly semiarid basin in south-eastern Australia, where groundwater is a significant water resource. Future climate predictions for the MDB include an expansion of arid and semiarid climate zones to replace temperate areas. The impacts of climate change are already evident in declining groundwater levels and changes in the connection status between rivers and groundwater, and modelling has predicted a further reduction in future groundwater recharge and ongoing declines in groundwater levels. This is predicted to further reduce river baseflow and negatively impact groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs), and these system responses to a changing climate and extreme events are complex and not always well understood. This report provides an overview of the current state of knowledge of groundwater response to a changing climate for the MDB, and outlines challenges and opportunities for future groundwater research and management. Opportunities for the region include improving data systems and acquisition through automation and novel data sources, and growing capability in integrated, risk-based modelling. Quantification of the groundwater/surface-water connection response to declining groundwater levels, and assessing GDE water requirements and thresholds, would enable identification of vulnerable systems and inform the development of metrics for adaptive management, improving the ability to respond to climate extremes. There is potential to adapt policy to support active management of groundwater where required, including conjunctive use and water banking. Improving knowledge sharing and water literacy, including understanding community values of groundwater and GDEs, would support future decision-making.

This paper focuses on Asian monsoon projection with CMIP5 multi-model outputs. A large-scale monsoon herewith is defined as a vector field of vertically integrated moisture flux from the surface to 500 hPa. Results demonstrate that the model ensemble mean underestimated the summer monsoon and overestimated slightly the winter monsoon over South Asia in both CMIP5 historical climate simulation and the monsoon projection for 2006–2015. The major of the bias is the model climate drift (MCD), which is removed in the monsoon projection for 2016–2045 under scenarios RCP4.5 for reducing the uncertainty. The projection shows that two increased moisture flows northward appeared across the Equator of Indian Ocean, the first is nearby Somalia coast toward northwestern part of South Asia, leading to excess rainfall in where the wet jet could reach, and the second starts from the equatorial Sect. (80°E–100°E) toward northeastern Bay of Bengal, leading to more rainfall spreading over the northwestern coast of Indochina Peninsula. In addition, a westward monsoon flow is intensified over the Peninsula leading to local climate moisture transport belt shifted onto South China Sea, which would reduce moisture transport toward Southwest China on one hand, and transport more moisture onto the southeast coast of the China mainland. The anomalous monsoon would result in a dry climate in Northwest China and wet climate in the coast belt during summer monsoon season for the period. Besides, the Asian winter monsoon would be seemingly intensified slightly over South Asia, which would bring a dry winter climate to Indian subcontinent, Northwest China, but would be more rainfall in southeast part of Arabian Peninsula with global climate warming.

The Ghis-Nekkor plain, located in the north of Morocco, is a vulnerable area for climate changes due to its influence by the Mediterranean front and due to its strong urbanization. Therefore, a study of the climate evolution changes of the cited plain is essential for conducting climate change impact studies. However, the various studies of future projections, including those of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), are based mainly on outputs of low-resolution climate models that do not allow to approach the regional and local scales. Hence, the objective of this work is to use the outputs of the Operational Regional Climate Models of the Cordex-Africa Project to evaluate future climate change in the Ghis-Nekkor plain. On the first hand, a comparison between the Regional Climate Models (RCMs) using Taylor’s diagram method was performed, then the best models HIRHAM5 for precipitation and RACMO22T for temperature, which performed well in the study area, were retained. The main results from the projections for 2050 CE show a downward trend for precipitation about 18% and an increase in the average temperature of 0.5 °C under the Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5 (RCP 4.5). These predicted parameters were subsequently exploited to study the future climate change by using the De Martonne aridity index (AI) and the standardized precipitation index (SPI). The latter predicts an increasingly dry climate for the Ghis-Nekkor area; it will be more prone to both moderate and severe droughts but less prone to extreme drought by 2070 CE. Moreover, the results also show a change of climate regime becoming arid at the level of the plain (AI = 9.92 mm/°C) by 2080 CE. Finally, a comparison between the two indices (SPI and AI) was carried out, revealing a statistically significant correlation between them for both the observation (1982–2012) and future (2021–2050) periods. The first application of the obtained results is exploited to estimate quantitatively the future groundwater recharge variation in time for the site study under RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios. The results show that for both scenarios, a reduction of the groundwater recharge would be expected around 40% for the period 2020–2080, as the climate regime would be also arid by 2080 CE.