About Book

Climate represents the composite of the day-to-day weather over a longer period of time. It is the statistics of weather, usually over a 3 decades interval. It is measured by assessing the patterns of variation in temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, precipitation, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological variables in a given region over long periods of time. Climate change includes both global warming driven by human emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Climate differs from weather, in that weather only describes the short-term conditions of these variables in a given region a region's climate is generated by the climate system, which has five components: atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere. This book is a compilation of chapters that discuss the most vital and fundamental concepts in the field of climatology and climate change. It deals with watershed ecology, climate change projection, management strategies, native forest, genetic adaptation, open burning, yield components, methane emission assessment and consequences of climate change. The topics covered in this extensive book deal with the core areas of this subject. Coherent flow of topics, student-friendly language and extensive use of examples make this book an invaluable source of knowledge. It will serve as a valuable source of reference for those interested in this field.

Preface............................................................................................................v

Chapter 1 Methane Emission Assessment from Indian Livestock and Its Role in Climate Change Using Climate Metrics..........................................1

Abstract...................................................................................................1

1. Introduction............................................................................................2

2. Methodology..........................................................................................3

3. Results and discussion.........................................................................6

4. Conclusions..........................................................................................16

Acknowledgements.............................................................................17

Chapter 2 World’s Demand for Food and Water: The Consequences of Climate Change.........................................................................................................21

Abstract.................................................................................................21

1. Introduction..........................................................................................21

2. Outlook of world population...........................................................22

3. Projections of global food demand and supply...........................25

4. Global water demand-availability analysis for 2030 and 2050..29

5. Impact of global climate change on water resources..................34

6. Challenges.............................................................................................41

7. Development opportunities...............................................................47

8. Policy and institution.........................................................................49

9. Conclusions..........................................................................................50

Chapter 3 Yield Components and Biomass Partition in Soybean:

Climate Change Vision...........................................................................58

Abstract.................................................................................................58

1. Introduction..........................................................................................59

2. Yield and yield components.............................................................62

Acknowledgements.............................................................................71

Conflict of interest..............................................................................71

Chapter 4 Wheat Straw Open Burning: Emissions and Impact on

Climate Change.........................................................................................81

Abstract.................................................................................................81

1. Introduction..........................................................................................82

2. Materials and methods......................................................................85

3. Discussion and results.......................................................................88

4. Conclusions..........................................................................................91

Acknowledgements.............................................................................92

Chapter 5 Naturally Available Genetic Adaptation in Common Bean and Its

Response to Climate Change.................................................................95

Abstract.................................................................................................95

1. Common bean: a model to explore the usefulness of wild

relatives and landraces as a resource for the future...................96

2. Strategies to infer adaptability of wild relatives and landraces to

their natural habitats..........................................................................96

3. The adaptive potential of wild relatives and landraces in common

bean......................................................................................................101

4. Conclusions........................................................................................105

5. Prospects.............................................................................................106

Acknowledgements...........................................................................107

Chapter 6 Native Forest and Climate Change — The Role of the Subtropical

Forest, Potentials, and Threats............................................................113

Abstract...............................................................................................113

1. Introduction........................................................................................114

2. Materials and methods....................................................................117

3. Results and discussion.....................................................................123

4. Main remarks.....................................................................................138

Acknowledgements...........................................................................139

Chapter 7 Management Strategies to Adapt Alpine Space Forests to Climate

Change Risks – An Introduction to the Manfred Project............145

1. Introduction........................................................................................145

2. Biotic and abiotic drivers call for an adaptation of forest

management.......................................................................................147

3. Forest engineering approaches – Adaptive forest

management.......................................................................................150

Acknowledgements...........................................................................152

Chapter 8 Wind Speed Regionalization Under Climate Change

Conditions.................................................................................................160

1. Introduction........................................................................................160

2. Previous investigations on wind prediction................................163

3. Climate change impacts...................................................................163

4. Generation of climatic scenarios....................................................164

5. Downscaling.......................................................................................164

6. Frequency analysis............................................................................165

7. Probability distribution function and frequency formula.........165

8. Selection of probability distribution..............................................166

9. Method of moments.........................................................................166

10. Maximum likelihood method.........................................................166

11. L-moments method...........................................................................167

12. At-station goodness of fit tests.......................................................168

13. Regional frequency analysis............................................................169

14. Discordancy test................................................................................169

15. Heterogeneity test.............................................................................170

16. Estimation of the parameters of regional frequency

distribution.........................................................................................172

17. Spatial interpolation.........................................................................172

18. Comparison of different methods..................................................174

19. A case study.......................................................................................175

20. Conclusions........................................................................................178

Chapter 9 Methods of Estimating Uncertainty of Climate Prediction and Climate Change Projection .................................................................183

1. Introduction........................................................................................183

2. Two methods of measuring potential predictability ................184

3. Maximum SNR and PrCA .............................................................192

4. Maximizing PI and PrCA ..............................................................197

5. A practical application – Potential predictability of climate

change projection in AR5 ...............................................................198

6. Conclusion .........................................................................................205

Acknowledgement ...........................................................................206

Chapter 10 Managing the Effects of the Climate Change on Water Resources and Watershed Ecology ........................................................................209

1. Introduction........................................................................................209

2. Simple methods to quantify the climate change .......................212

3. Effects of climate change on water resources and watershed

ecology ...............................................................................................217

4. Effects of climate change on water resources systems ............222

5. Management .....................................................................................223

Citation......................................................................................................231

Index...........................................................................................................233

About Author

Ronald Cole completed his Post Graduation in Applied Meteorology and Climatology from the Public University, Diliman. His primary interests are in ecological monitoring using remote sensing and the effects of climate variability on vegetation. He is engaged in the Technological University at Phayao, as a Senior Science Research Specialist working on LiDAR mapping of agricultural resources. Cole has been the recipient of two awards for his research work in the field of global climate models, weather forecasting and urban climatology. He is a regular contributor to scientific journals; and has many articles and book chapters to his credit.