Framing responsibility in climate change discourse: Ethnocentric attribution bias, perceived causes, and policy attitudes

"Food safety, which is directly related to agricultural and animal production, has been a priority on mankind’s agenda since ancient times. Especially in the 20th century, the provision of food safety is considered an issue to be solved by the actors playing a role in the global arena as well as the states. The demand for agricultural and livestock production is growing in parallel with the world’s ever-increasing. The diversity of plant and animal resources, which form the basis of agricultural production, directly impacts people’s healthy and balanced nutrition. Food safety, which depends on the protection and promotion of biodiversity through the conservation of natural resources, highlights the importance of sustainable agricultural production for the future. Depending on changing consumption patterns in agricultural and livestock production processes, factors such as excessive energy use and intensive natural resource consumption, and climate change, drought will continue to have far-reaching negative impacts on the world’s food and livelihood regions. Finally, on the basis that it will not be possible to talk about increasing or diversifying agricultural and livestock production in the event of the loss of biodiversity important for food safety, it is estimated that global institutions such as FAO and the UN will make significant contributions to the continuity of global food safety and security by conducting studies and taking decisions on the establishment of plans and strategies for adequate and balanced food activities, ensuring the sustainability of biodiversity by protecting biodiversity at the level of ecosystems, species, and genetic resources."

The excessive use of energy in buildings due to increased populations and economic development leads to more greenhouse gas emissions, which affect climate change and global warming. Changes in prevailing outdoor weather conditions significantly affect the energy systems of buildings through increased cooling and decreased heating. In this paper, 30 years of data of dry and wet bulb temperatures (1990–2020) with a time interval of 3 h were considered in order to estimate the climatic outdoor design conditions in the cities of Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio in the state of Texas. The results suggest that the dry bulb temperature (DBT) had significantly higher increases in Dallas–Fort Worth (2.37 °C) than the wet bulb temperature (WBT) in Houston (4.1 °C) during the study period. Furthermore, this study analyzed the effects of climate change on cooling degree hours (CDH) and heating degree hours (HDH) and the results suggest the most significant drop in HDH in Dallas–Fort Worth with a maximum CDH fluctuation as compared to other two cities. The effect of climate change on the performance of cooling systems is also investigated in this study via direct evaporative coolers (DECs) and direct-indirect evaporative coolers (IDEC), which do not perform well in the selected cities. In contrast, absorption system (Abs) and vapor compression (VC) systems show an increase in the number of additional loads. The second part of this study is related to the future projection using the ARIMA model, which suggests that DBT would rise significantly in Houston (from 37.18 °C to 37.56 °C) and Dallas–Fort Worth (39.1 °C to 39.57 °C) while diminishing in San Antonio (from 34.81 °C to 33.95 °C) from 2020 to 2030. In contrast, WBT will experience an upward trend in Houston (from 36.06 °C to 37.71 °C) and Dallas–Fort Worth (from 31.32 °C to 31.38 °C) and a downward trend in San Antonio (from 32.43 °C to 31.97 °C) during 2020–2030. Additionally, the future performance prediction of Abs and VC systems is also performed, which reveals that the amount of additional load required is significantly higher in 2030 compared to 2020 and is more prominent in Houston. Conversely, amount of additional load required for cooling systems in San Antonio shows a decreasing trend in 2030.

Facades perform many different functions and are made up of many different parts and materials. Mike Davies [1] was the first to describe a facade made up of one layer that was still able to cater different functions. In an effort to realise this ‘polyvalent facade’ as described by Davies, multiple features have since been integrated into the facade, each addressing a specific need. Building skins that are considered to be at the forefront of modern facade technology however are basically all variations on the same theme, with hardly doing anything but react to the current environmental conditions and the situation created by the facade itself. As such, they are ad hoc devices, able to adjust to a specific circumstance at that specific time, but unable to save, store or prepare for another circumstance. The outdoor climate changes through time and season, alternately supplying energy to and drawing energy from the building skin. Most modern facades have no means to buffer between the two, other than trapping air in a double skin facade to use as a warm blanket in winter. Although some buildings utilise thermal mass in floors/ceilings and aquifers to store heat/cold between day/night and seasons, these are technologies that function independently from the building skin, aiding the building installations. Climate Adaptive Skins (CAS) should differ from ‘conventional’ facades in a way that they are able to adjust their characteristics to and mediate between the changing environments. By doing so they are able to provide a comfortable indoor temperature, lighting level and air quality (parameters influencing energy consumption) without excess use of energy.

At present, debates on climate change, fossil fuel depletion, and energy saving highlight the need for a sustainable built environment to reduce energy consumption and emission trends. The Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system is a priority due to its significant share of a building’s electricity consumption. While energy efficiency strategies for central air conditioning systems focus on both waterside and airside components, implementing airside efficiency strategies is notably lacking in Sri Lanka. This is a concern because airside inefficiencies lead to excessive energy use, higher operational costs, and compromised indoor air quality. Thus, the study aims to address this gap by identifying the barriers to implementing energy efficiency strategies for HVAC airside systems in Sri Lankan commercial buildings. To explore these barriers, a qualitative research approach was employed, involving interviews with 17 industry experts. The study identified 27 barriers, with key barriers being a lack of technical expertise, rapid technological advancements, misalignment with organisational objectives, limited financial resources, inadequate training and technical knowledge, and insufficient regulatory support. The insights gained from this study can assist industry professionals in enhancing HVAC energy performance and encourage further academic research on this sub-branch of HVAC systems in the Sri Lankan context.

This study investigates a domestic vapor-compression freezer system utilizing R404A refrigerant and a 0.75 kW-rated compressor, with a focus on the impact of different liquid refrigerant levels in the receiver on system performance and energy consumption. One major issue in household freezers is excessive energy use, particularly in systems lacking fluid regulation mechanisms such as a receiver. To explore this, an experimental setup was developed to test six operating conditions: one without a receiver and five with varying refrigerant fill levels in the receiver, ranging from less than 0% to over 60%. Experimental results showed that the freezer without a receiver recorded the highest Coefficient of Performance (COP) of 2.55 but also had the highest energy usage at 1.90 kWh. In contrast, the configuration with 30% refrigerant fill in the receiver demonstrated optimal performance, achieving a 47% reduction in compressor power, the lowest energy consumption (1.01 kWh), and an evaporator temperature reaching –31°C. These improvements are attributed to more stable refrigerant flow, enhanced subcooling, and better pressure regulation enabled by the receiver. The use of a liquid receiver allowed for smoother thermodynamic operation, minimizing energy loss through irregular phase distribution. The findings suggest that fine-tuning the refrigerant charge within the receiver can significantly improve the system’s energy efficiency, without the need for extensive redesign of main components. This approach offers a simple, low-cost, and effective solution, especially relevant for household and small-scale commercial freezer applications where practicality and long-term savings are priorities

World energy consumption is increasing proportional to the rapid advancement of technology. While efforts to supply the ever-growing energy demand were done continuously, increasing the supply for pre-existing industries is expensive and bound by various limitations. Therefore, there is a growing interest in energy efficiency with energy audit analysis plays an important role in discovering energy-saving opportunities. The most potential equipment for energy efficiency in agricultural industry are the boilers of fertilizer factories. PT. Pupuk Kalimantan Timur, Indonesia's largest urea and ammonia producer, uses Circulating Fluidized-Bed Boiler; a very promising subject of energy audit analysis in agriculture industry. Case study using direct and indirect methods was done in order to identify coal efficiency and excessive energy use. Data were collected from primary and secondary sources and analyzed through several stages. Result shows that using medium-rank coal yields higher boiler efficiency. Using direct method, medium-rank coal efficiency is found to be 91.84% and 93.09% compared to using low-rank coal, which is 89.70% and 91.84%. Meanwhile, calculation using indirect method found the efficiency using medium-rank coal is 95.03% and 95.35% compared to using low-rank coal, 93.39% and 93.81%, respectively. This efficiency difference is influenced by coal calorific value, fuel and steam rates, flue gas, fuel factor, specific heat, and air temperature with the correlation between one another described in this study.

This paper aims to empirically analyze the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth measured by the industrial production index in Tunisia from January 1986 to December 2021. Using the Non-linear Logistic Smooth Transition Model, the results show a non-linear impact. In fact, in the first regime, where optimal energy consumption growth is lower than the threshold of 0.027, energy consumption has a significant and positive impact on economic growth evaluated at 0.715. However, in the second regime, we found a substantial and negative elasticity equal to −0.028, which shows an unfavorable effect on the growth of the industrial production index in Tunisia, especially at the threshold level higher than 0.027. Consequently, the relationship between Tunisia’s energy consumption and growth could be more stable. According to the study, energy consumption and economic growth in Tunisia have a non-linear relationship, which raises the possibility that excessive energy use may eventually harm economic performance or result in diminishing benefits. This emphasizes controlling and balancing energy consumption levels to achieve the best possible economic growth.

Traditional SiC grinding technologies face significant limitations, including a lack of on-demand sizing, excessive energy use, and impurity introduction via iron or tungsten components. We present Telesterion, a modular, iterative, and continuous-stage manufacturing architecture for SiC grit sizing, offering precise customization in grit output (8-220), zero dust pollution, reduced maintenance, and minimized impurities. Our approach replaces iron/Tungsten Carbide (WC) components with recrystallized SiC grinding media, enhancing process efficiency and sustainability. This paper outlines the Telesterion architecture, its operational advantages, and the potential for positive disruption across multiple supply chains. There have been some efforts and research dissemination to address some of the above drawbacks [6,7]. However, none of those efforts address the root causes of why these inefficiencies are introduced in the first place, which happens to be the absence of an effort to simplify and overhaul the core practices that have been in place in the sector for many decades now.

The GCC’s path to a sustainable future: Navigating the barriers to the adoption of energy efficiency measures in the built environment

Affective imagery, or connotative meanings, play an important role in shaping public risk perceptions, policy support, and broader responses to climate change. These simple “top-of-mind” associations and their related affect help reveal how diverse audiences understand and interpret global warming. And as a relatively simple set of measures, they are easily incorporated into representative surveys, making it possible to identify, measure, and monitor how connotative meanings are distributed throughout a population and how they change over time. Affective image analysis can help identify distinct interpretive communities of like-minded individuals who share their own set of common meanings and interpretations. The images also provide a highly sensitive measure of changes in public discourse. As scientists, political elites, advocates, and the media change the frames, images, icons, and emotions they use to communicate climate change, they can influence the interpretations of the larger public. Likewise, as members of the public directly or vicariously experience specific events or learn more about climate risks, they construct their own connotative meanings, which can in turn influence larger currents of public discourse. This article traces the development of affective imagery analysis, reviews the studies that have implemented it, examines how affective images influence climate change risk perceptions and policy support, and charts several future directions of research.

While climate change discourse on Western platforms like Twitter often reveals signs of polarization and misinformation, discussions on Chinese social media remain less explored. Building on the theoretical framework of the green public sphere, this study aims to explore the features of the content (topics and veracity), the characteristics of engaged users (regular users and social bots), and the communication strategies adopted by engaged users in climate change discussions on Chinese social media. We employed machine learning methods to analyze 452,167 climate change-related posts generated by 311,214 users from 2010 to 2020 on Weibo, finding that climate change discourse concentrated on environmental and health impacts and action advocacy, and misinformation was not prevalent. Regarding the composition of engaged users, only a small proportion were social bots which concentrated on action advocacy and politics and governance, rather than skeptical and denialist discourses. In terms of communication strategies, we found that social bots on Weibo were more likely to forward a post or mention another user than regular users. This study expands our understanding of climate change discourse and the green public sphere on social media and provides insights into leveraging social bots in climate change communication in an AI-powered society.

Dramatic alterations to the natural environment due to human activity have produced a permanent rupture in the Earth system; the relative stable epoch of the Holocene has given way to a volatile Anthropocene. Acceptance of these claims means that we now live in this altered physical reality, inviting us to rethink how we conceptualise disasters. Yet, disaster scholars have been hesitant to apply the Anthropocene label and to acknowledge the profound changes that it can bring to the study of disasters. This paper queries whether this label is a necessary adage or unnecessary baggage for disaster studies by examining the possibilities and the challenges associated with engaging with the Anthropocene. An analysis of the concepts, causes, and consequences of disasters reveals how the Anthropocene provides, as the very least, a theoretical heuristic for challenging linear temporal assumptions, the epistemological status of uncertainty, and the location of agency in disaster studies.

Energy use has a significant impact on the environment, economy, and society. The correlation between increased energy use and development has led to excessive energy use and waste. Energy use leads to a vicious circle of increasing natural resource consumption and waste. Much of the energy used in energy production goes towards the manufacturing and installation of energy infrastructure and creates pollution and habitat destruction. A significant amount of energy is wasted in the conversion, transmission, and distribution process. The challenge is to minimize energy losses and waste by using the right form of energy for the right application and understanding the outcome of energy use.

This paper summarizes the current literature on public responses to climate change in China. The paper first provides a “macro view” by reviewing what we know about public climate change knowledge, risk perceptions, policy preferences, and behaviors based on large‐scale survey research. The paper also examines what sociodemographic, psychological, and cultural variables – such as age, gender, rural/urban status, and income – can best predict public understanding and responses to climate change. Second, it provides a “micro view” by presenting findings from place‐based and contextualized research projects in China. The review concludes by suggesting next steps to advance the understanding of public engagement with climate change in China.This article is categorized under: Perceptions, Behavior, and Communication of Climate Change > Perceptions of Climate Change

The current study examines how Egyptian media outlets on Facebook framed and discussed climate change during the period from May 6, 2022, to May 6, 2023, a timeframe encompassing six months before and after the COP27 Conference. Using AI-assisted keyword generation via TextRazor, 21 Arabic and English keywords related to climate change were identified to retrieve relevant posts from three major Egyptian media outlets, Youm7, CBC, and Al-Masry Al-Youm, yielding a total of 230 posts. Guided by Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-phase framework Thematic Analysis was employed to identify dominant narratives surrounding climate change. The findings revealed four main themes: the political framing of climate change, Africa’s prominence within the discourse, calls for international solidarity, and the portrayal of climate change as a dreadful or threatening phenomenon. Overall, the results indicate that climate change communication on social media in Egypt remains largely top-down, politically driven, and event-oriented, reflecting country’s efforts to assert leadership in regional and global climate action.