Agriculture of the inland arid region in Xinjiang depends on irrigation, which forms oasis of Northwest China. The production and water use of wheat, a dominant crop there, is significantly affected by undergoing climate variability and change. The objective of this study is to quantify inter-annual variability of wheat yield and water use from 1955 to 2006. The farming systems model APSIM (Agr...

While climate change communication research has advanced in the last 10 years, we still lack a thorough discussion on credibility aspects of climate change information and communication. At the same time, and perhaps a bit paradoxically, communication theories suggest that whether a (climate change) frame resonates with a particular audience is due partly to its perceived credibility. This pape...

Statistical methods of climate prediction Analog year forecasts Dynamical climate models Presentation of uncertainty Predicting seasonal climate variability and climate change Conclusions Effects of predictable climate variability on harvests and incomes What are farmers' information needs? How can climate information be best communicated to farmers? Factors limiting farmers' use of climate inf...

This paper describes the work of the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) and its partners towards the development of climate services for the health sector in Africa; integrating research, operational applications and capacity building alongside policy development and advocacy. It follows the evolution of IRI’s health work from an initial focus on the use of seasonal ...

While previous research into understandings of climate change has usually examined general public perceptions and mainstream media representations, this thesis offers an audience-specific departure point by analysing climate change frames and frame formation in Swedish agriculture. The empirical material consists of Swedish farm magazines’ reporting on climate change, as well as eight focus gro...

3.1 The challenges outlined in chapter 2 may seem daunting. But a growing number of countries are making significant improvements to their investment climates—and are being richly rewarded in faster growth and steeper poverty reductions. China, India, and Uganda, mentioned for their achievements in chapter 1, are hardly alone. Many countries have made progress in improving particular areas of t...

The proliferation of 'commercial off the shelf' geographical information systems into the scientific community has resulted in the widespread use of spatial climate data in a variety of applications. This paper presents a review of the role of geographical information systems in climatology and meteorology by i) discussing methods used to derive and refine spatial climate data and ii) reviewing...